--- description: She was canonized on July 7, 1946—after a canonization process that was expedited by Pope Pius Xi title: Mother Frances Cabrini: Story of the First American Saint image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf41b981fea4a2849/6988993a0a4a220c209ca383/cabrini.jpeg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Mother Cabrini Became the First American Saint  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 6, 2016 4:00 PM CUT  A turn-of-the-century portrait of American nun and founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart Francesca Xavier Cabrini (1850 - 1917). She was canonized in 1946\. = A turn-of-the-century portrait of American nun and founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart Francesca Xavier Cabrini (1850 - 1917). She was canonized in 1946\. =Keystone / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 6, 2016 4:00 PM CUT It takes a long time to become a saint — unless you’re Frances Cabrini, the woman who 70 years ago became the first American saint. By the time Catholicism was well established in the United States, it was a lot harder to [become a saint](http://time.com/4139432/kim-kardashian-west-kanye-west-saint-west/ "undefined") than it once had been, as the Catholic Church had stabilized the canonization process, as TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1946-07-15/page/76/ "undefined") after Cabrini’s sainthood was set. The process of investigating miracles performed by the candidate became so involved that the church was less willing to undertake it without strong [preexisting support](http://time.com/vault/issue/1933-09-18/page/40/ "undefined") for the person, and the candidate also had to have been dead for at least 50 years. When it came to Cabrini, however, Pope Pius XI decided that, after her death in 1917, the canonization process could begin early. (One less-savory part of the process: her body was [exhumed](http://time.com/vault/issue/1938-09-12/page/49/ "undefined") in 1938 so one of her limbs could be brought to Rome for ceremonial use as a relic.) What made her so special? It wasn’t just a matter of her claim to the requisite [miracles](http://time.com/vault/issue/1937-11-08/page/53/ "undefined"). Here’s how TIME [described](http://time.com/vault/issue/1946-07-15/page/76/ "undefined") it upon her canonization: --- > “” --- [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined") Though she had been born in Italy, that citizenship would earn her the title of the first American saint. The [first saint born in the U.S. would come later](http://time.com/4029232/how-the-u-s-got-its-first-saint/ "undefined"), when Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975. **_Read the full story, here in the TIME Vault:_** [First U.S. Saint](http://time.com/vault/issue/1946-07-15/page/76/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4380994/frances-cabrini-first-american-saint/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4380994/frances-cabrini-first-american-saint/"},"headline":"How Mother Cabrini Became the First American Saint","datePublished":"2016-07-06T16:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:49:29.178Z","description":"She was canonized 70 years ago on July 7, 1946","url":"https://time.com/4380994/frances-cabrini-first-american-saint/","keywords":["faith"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf41b981fea4a2849/6988993a0a4a220c209ca383/cabrini.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf41b981fea4a2849/6988993a0a4a220c209ca383/cabrini.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mother Cabrini","caption":"Mother Cabrini","creditText":"Keystone / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4380994/frances-cabrini-first-american-saint/","name":"How Mother Cabrini Became the First American Saint"}}]}] ```