Archives and Records - Catholic Northwest History Curriculum
Lesson Plan: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
 

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart
Lesson Plan V.E.

(Printer-friendly version)

Religious Orders: Women, Individuals 

Grades: 6-12
Suggested time frame: 1-2 50-minute periods

Introduction | Important Learnings | Student Activities/Assessments | Teacher Activities
Related Topics | Word Study | Materials and Resources | Sources  
Assessing the Reliability of Resource Materials

Introduction

The purpose of this lesson plan is to provide the student with an opportunity to understand the impact of individual women religious—in this case, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart—on the growth and development of the Catholic Church in Western Washington. Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart came to Seattle in 1903 to establish an orphanage and prepare the way for Mother Cabrini. On October 26, 1903, Mother Cabrini arrived in Seattle, purchased lands for the orphanage and made plans for future projects for the Sisters. She also applied for United States’ citizenship during her stay. It was subsequently granted in 1909 and thus she became the first US citizen to be canonized. In 1916, Columbus Hospital on First Hill in Seattle was established, which later became St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Hospital. Mother Cabrini died in 1917 in Chicago. She was canonized in 1946.

Important Learnings

• The contributions of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to the growth and development of Catholicism in the Pacific Northwest
• The impact of St. Frances Cabrini on Seattle
• The role of faith in everyday activities

Student Activities/Assessments
(independent or group)

• Discuss St. Frances Cabrini’s role in Seattle, particularly relating to her work with immigrants and orphans; discuss how that work is relevant today
• Research St. Frances Cabrini
• Role play an interview with St. Frances Cabrini
• Research the history of Villa Academy as it developed from orphanage to school
• Research the history of Cabrini Hospital, Seattle
• Present the Church’s process for officially recognizing persons as saints
• Write letters to St. Frances Cabrini School, Tacoma

Teacher Activities

• Outline research criteria for histories on the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart
• Arrange a field trip to Villa Academy
• Locate Internet sites of other places Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Saint Frances Cabrini worked

Related Topics

• Women in the church
• The immigrant experience in the Catholic Church

Word Study

• Convent
• Miracle
• Mother
• Mother House
• Novice
• Nun
• Orphanage
• Postulant
• Religious Superior
• Saint

Materials and Resources

• Archives of the Archdiocese of Seattle, (206) 382-4352
• The Catholic Northwest Progress
• Schoenberg, Wilfred P., S.J., A History of the Catholic Church in the Pacific Northwest 1743-1983, Pastoral Press, 1987, pp. 487, 496-97
• diDonato, Pietro, Immigrant Saint: The Life of Mother Cabrini, McGraw Hill Book Co., 1960
• Provenzano, Philippa, M.S.C., St. Frances Xavier Cabrini: A Saint in Seattle. Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, n.d.
• any Catholic encyclopedia
• any Catholic directory

Sources
Electronic versions of primary sources can be downloaded in Portable Document Format (PDF ). You will need Acrobat Reader to view the files. If you do not have it installed on your computer, you can download the software from the Adobe website.

Archives of the Archdiocese of Seattle

• Photographs: RG 900, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart - Mother Cabrini photo
  JPG file, 8KB
• RG 900, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart: Memorabilia, 1902-1971
  - St. Joseph Magazine, “Seattle’s Mother Cabrini,” May 1959
  PDF file, 234KB
  - Mother Cabrini Messenger, “Mother Cabrini’s Last Foundation,” April 1956
  PDF file, 575KB

Assessing the Reliability of Resource Materials

• By whom was it created?
• For whom or what was it created for?
• Does the creator have first hand knowledge of the subject? How does this affect the data recorded?
• Did the creator of the document have an interest in recording accurate information?
• Is this a primary source? Secondary source?