Faith that Quenched a Fire
Mother Cabrini had just returned from her first trip to New York in 1899 when a huge fire broke out at the convent in Codogno, Italy. It began in a shed where, Mother Cabrini reported, “I had just finished storing a large quantity of wood.” She may have been the superior general, but she was never above doing chores.
The convent in Codogno, Italy as it looks today
The men of the town rushed over at the first signs of fire. The dry wood provided ample fuel for the fire, and the flames began to reach alarming proportions. Soon they threatened to engulf the chapel and – worse – the dormitory where the orphans slept.
A Difference in the Narrative
Here the story differs between Mother Cabrini’s account and that of a Missionary Sister who was on the scene. According to Mother Cabrini, who mentions the event in a matter-of-fact letter dated September 9, “We were able to avert that disaster with wet blankets.”
Mother Cabrini’s first biographer provides greater detail. She reports that Mother Cabrini was on the scene, her presence calming the frightened onlookers. “The sisters gazed agonizingly at Mother who, with her eyes fixed on the flames, kept moving her lips in supplicating prayer,” the Sister wrote. Mother Cabrini remained motionless, grasping her “holy crusade,” a reliquary containing relics of 42 missionary saints that traveled with her everywhere. Then as the wind picked up she raised her hand and made the sign of the cross with the reliquary. The wind shifted, and the dormitory was saved.
Mother Cabrini’s “crusade” reliquary is on display at the Museo Cabriniano in Codogno, Italy
The Aftereffects
People often commented on Mother Cabrini’s serenity in a crisis. She never appeared to panic. Part of her peaceful demeanor arose from deep connection with Jesus and intense prayer in the moment. An equal portion came from her unfailing acceptance of God’s will. “In all things whether holy, sweet, or bitter,” she once wrote, “we must always bless God with our whole hearts and repeat: ‘Lord it is good when you permit things to happen that will help us exercise the virtues that you are asking of us.’”
Yet what happened after an emergency had passed was often endearingly mundane. “By the grace of God no one panicked,” she wrote about the fire in Codogno, “however, it took me three days to get over the shock and realize what had really happened.”
St. Frances Cabrini, pray that we may learn to reach for Jesus and stay calm in crisis, trusting that we are loved and held secure in his Sacred Heart.
