Martin was born at Upper Pannonia, which is called Hungary today. His father was a Roman military officer and tribune. Although his parents were pagans (did not believe in God), he began to study the Christian religion.

Those who study the Christian religion are called catechumens until they are baptized. He joined the Roman imperial army in Italy when he was only fifteen in a unit that served as the emperor’s bodyguard that very rarely had to fight in battle.

One very cold winter day, when Martin was on horseback, he and his companions came upon a beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. The man’s only clothes were nothing but rags and he was shaking with cold.

The other soldiers passed by him, but Martin felt that it was up to him to help the beggar. Having nothing with him, he drew his sword and cut his long cloak in half. Some laughed at his funny appearance as he gave one half to the beggar. Others felt ashamed of their own selfishness.

That night, Jesus appeared to Martin. He was wearing the half of the cloak that Martin had given away. “Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with this garment,” Jesus said. Right after this wonderful event, St. Martin went to be baptized at the age of eighteen.

Just before a battle, Martin announced that his faith did not allow him to fight. They called him a coward and put him in jail. His commander planned to put him in the front line in the battle, but when the enemy made peace the battle did not take place.

A few years later, the saint left the army. He became a disciple of St. Hilary, the bishop of Poitiers, France. Because of his strong opposition to the Arian heretics (non-believers) in various cities, Martin had to go into exile. But he was happy to live in the wilderness with other monks.

When the people of Tours asked for him as their bishop, he refused but they would not give up. They got him to come to the city to visit a sick person and when he got there, they took him to the church.

As bishop of Tours, St. Martin did all he could to make the people of France friends of Jesus and give up their unbelief. He prayed, he worked and preached everywhere.

Our Lord let Martin know when his death was near. As soon as his followers heard of it, they began to weep. They begged him not to leave them. So the saint prayed: “Lord, if your people need me yet, I will not refuse the work. Your will be done.”

He was still laboring for the Divine Master in a far-off part of his diocese when death finally came in 397. St. Martin’s tomb became one of the most famous shrines in all of Europe.

Frances was born at Lombardy in Italy. She was one of thirteen children and was raised on a farm. As a child, she dreamed about being a missionary to China. She sailed paper boats down a stream to play her “pretend game.”

The paper boats were ships taking missionaries to China. And she began giving up candy because in China, she probably wouldn’t be able to have any.

But when she grew up, Frances was not accepted into the two convents that she asked to join. Her health was not too good, so she taught at girl’s school for six years.

Then a priest asked her to help out in a small home for orphans. Things were very hard for Frances because of the lady who ran the house. Yet Frances stuck to the work, and some other generous women joined her. Together they took vows.

At last the bishop told Frances to begin her own congregation of missionary nuns, which Frances did without hesitation. This congregation is called the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

Soon it began to grow, first in Italy and then in many other countries. Frances, whom everyone called Mother Cabrini, had always had her heart set on going to China. But it seemed that God wanted her to come to America.

When Pope Leo XIII told her, “Go west, not east,” the matter was settled. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini sailed for the United States and became an American citizen. She helped large numbers of Italian immigrants and was like their real mother and friend.

Mother Cabrini and her sisters found things very difficult in the beginning. The archbishop of New York even suggested that they go back to Italy. But Mother Cabrini answered, “Your excellency, the pope sent me here and here I must stay.”

The archbishop admired her pioneer spirit, and so she and her sisters were allowed to begin their great work for God. Schools, hospitals, and homes for children were opened up in different states.

As the years passed, Mother Cabrini made many trips to spread her congregation and its works. She founded 67 institutions, and there were always difficulties, but she put all her trust in the Sacred Heart. “It is he who is doing everything, not us,” she would say.

Mother Cabrini died in Chicago on December 23, 1917.