St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in Washington Heights is planning its annual bilingual Mass and barbecue celebration of Mother Cabrini’s birthday for Saturday, July 11.

The Italian American saint was born in Italy on July 15, 1850.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is best known as the universal patron saint of immigrants. She is also recognized as the patron saint of hospital administrators, missionaries, and those seeking help with “impossible causes.”

Shrine’s director explains the celebration’s value

“The shrine celebrates Mother Cabrini’s birthday this weekend because we want to help everyone get to know her. She is a saint in the heart of this city, one who lived and worked here. We can all benefit from her intercession,” Julia Attaway, executive director of the shrine, told The Good Newsroom. “There is a barbecue because community matters. And there is a birthday cake because Mother Cabrini knew that celebrations are necessary.”

Saturday’s schedule will start with a 9:30 a.m. recitation of the Holy Rosary, followed by a 10:30 a.m. Mass in English. At 11:30 a.m., a talk in English will begin on the life and spirituality of Mother Cabrini. A similar talk in Spanish will start at 2 p.m., followed by a 3 p.m. Mass in Spanish.

“No tickets are required. Birthday cake will, of course, be provided, and barbecue will be available for purchase all day,” organizers note on the shrine’s website.

St. Frances Cabrini arrived from Italy in 1889 to help struggling Italians who had arrived in New York during the second great wave of immigration. She established schools, orphanages, and medical facilities around New York and other U.S. cities.

Mother Cabrini, the first American saint, became a U.S. citizen in 1909. She died Dec. 22, 1917, in Chicago at age 67. Her feast day is Nov. 13. On that day in 1938, Pope Pius XI beatified her. She was canonized on July 7, 1946, by Pope Pius XII.