It began with adopting his name Mother Cabrini’s veneration of St. Francis Xavier.
In the document entitled “Personnel in charge of the Institute” drafted by Mother Cabrini on a parchment preserved in the Cabriniano Museum in Codogno, she placed the saint as a zealot for the Congregation that was about to be born.
Let’s read an excerpt from “To the Ends of the Earth”.
December 3 – St. Francis Xavier – what a beautiful day! It seems to me that we could not celebrate it in a better way than in the midst of the waves of an ocean toward which that ardent soul, that indefatigable apostle, long sighed. In the short span of a few years he knew how to bring countless souls into the Catholic Church. I will not say anything to you about the life of our dear protector because you know it better than I. I want only to ask you, oh daughters, how did Xavier become the great saint, able to accomplish so much? It was only because he always remembered those words Jesus Christ used to invite those fortunate souls who were His apostles to follow Him. Those words you know, Sequere me (Mt. 9:9; Follow me) and copy my example. He addressed these wonderful, very important words also to us, who have been fortunate to have heeded them, giving ourselves with fullness of heart to our God, consecrating ourselves to Him in the religious life. But it has not ended, oh daughters, it is now up to us to become perfect disciples of the school of Jesus Christ, imitating all the excellent, precious virtues of His Divine Heart. Like Saint Francis Xavier, let us always imagine Christ before us, His sweet dignity, serene patience, tranquil, loving demeanor, the inalterable calmness of that divine model. Let us see how He works, walks, talks and teaches. Let us consider the perfection with which He accomplishes each act, and strive to imitate Him as faithfully as possible.
