Although her desire was to be a missionary to China, Frances Cabrini was given a mission directly by Pope Leo XIII: to serve the Italian immigrants of the West. In 1889, this small, determined woman, known to many as Mother Cabrini, was sent to New York City, a vibrant, chaotic symphony of languages and dreams, especially for the throngs of Italian immigrants seeking a new life. She arrived with a dream and a handful of sisters from her order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her first days in the bustling metropolis were far from easy. The housing arranged for them fell through, and they found themselves crammed into a dilapidated rooming house, where bed bugs were their unwelcome companions. Even more disheartening, the expected missionary stipend never materialized. But Frances Cabrini was not easily deterred. Ignoring the Archbishop's suggestion to return to Italy, Frances and her sisters, fueled by unwavering faith, began their work, starting in the Italian Quarter of Lower Manhattan. They went door-to-door, navigating the narrow streets and tenement buildings, tending to the sick, teaching children, and offering comfort to the many Italian immigrants who had lost their connection to their faith and traditions in this new land. They established a makeshift school in a church balcony and soon, even the local merchants, initially wary, started providing them with resources. Frances, with the help of a wealthy socialite, secured funding and opened the Sacred Heart Orphan Asylum, the first orphanage dedicated to Italian girls in the United States. The success of this endeavor was evident, but the high costs and friction with church hierarchy soon prompted a move to a more serene location in West Park, New York. There, Cabrini established not only a larger orphanage but also the American headquarters for her order, which served as a boarding school. Unlike many other institutions of the time, she insisted that the girls under her care should not be discharged simply because they turned 14, but rather placed with families or trained for a trade to ensure their self-sufficiency. Mother Cabrini's mission expanded far beyond New York. Her travels included North and South America, and Europe, establishing schools, hospitals, and orphanages in her wake. In 1909, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and in 1946, she was canonized as the first American saint by Pope Pius XII, and later named the Patroness of Immigrants.