Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

Built on a foundation infused with the
burning faith of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini,
Cabrini High School not only bears the name
of a saint, but every student that passes
through its doors is a living extension of
her legacy.
And what a legacy it is! Born in Italy in
1850 and lured to America by her life’s purpose,
St. Cabrini holds the distinction of
being the first naturalized American citizen to
be canonized by the Catholic Church. Though
she died in 1917, she received her saintly designation
from Pope Pius XII in 1946 in recognition
of a life of serving others.
Mother Cabrini was especially drawn to
helping young women and in 1880 became
the first woman to establish a missionary
order of women—the Missionary Sisters of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus—to assist her. She
and her new sisters set sail for America in
1889 to provide support to Italian immigrants
and, in so doing, established a host of schools,
clinics and orphanages throughout the country
along the way. They opened their first
orphanage in New Orleans on St. Phillip
Street in 1892.
When this orphanage was filled to capacity,
Mother Cabrini acquired a second plot of
land on Esplanade Avenue where a new threestory
orphanage was constructed in 1905.
There, she and the sisters served as mothers
and teachers to hundreds of young women.
In the 1950s, as the need for the orphanage
dwindled, the sisters recruited Sister Aloysius
Almerico, MSC, to restructure the orphanage
into an all-girls Catholic high school founded
on the Cabrinian philosophy that an
education should be of both a young
woman’s mind and heart.
They named it Cabrini High School
and the only school in the New
Orleans area to have a future Saint live,
work and pray on its grounds opened
its doors in 1959. Like the orphanage
that came before, its population grew
so quickly that additions were soon
necessary. The Moss Street complex
was added in 1965 and the repurposed
orphanage building, which still contains
both the chapel and bedroom
where Mother Cabrini once lived and
prayed, is now called the Esplanade Building.
“Our campus is holy ground blessed by
Mother Cabrini’s presence and we make it our
prime mission to develop women who reflect
her great legacy,” said Principal and Alumna
Yvonne Hrapmann.
Serving approximately 500 girls in grades
eight through twelve, Cabrini differentiates
itself by its small class sizes with individualized
attention from a highly-credentialed and
experienced staff. The school offers honors,
advanced placement, and dual enrollment
classes as well as advanced technology, outstanding
athletics, and an engaged student life
accentuated with a strong spirit of service. The
school is still sponsored and governed by the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For more information, call 504-482-1193
or visit www.cabrinihigh.com.
CABRINI HIGH
SCHOOL
Top: Cabrini High School, established 1959.
Bottom: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, also
known as Mother Cabrini, founded the
Missonary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.
QUALITY OF LIFE
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