St Frances Xavier Cabrini is one of several saints who lived and ministered in New Orleans. This itinerary offers a day of pilgrimage walking in Mother Cabrini's footsteps through New Orleans. You will see the still-active convent chapel she established, some of the original buildings she used for her various outreaches to New Orleans' most needy, her personal effects and bedroom, and memorials in her honor. We've included Mass at one of New Orleans' most beautiful churches and, of course, delicious meals and gelato at iconic Italian immigrant-founded local restaurants.
Mother Cabrini arrives in New Orleans.
Mother Cabrini first came to New Orleans in 1892, just three years after she had left Italy to serve New York's rapidly increasing Italian immigrant community. New Orleans was also home to a large Italian immigrant community, but they suffered urgent needs amid severe local discrimination and even a horrifying lynching in 1891. Mother Cabrini and her Sacred Heart sisters immediately got to work. They purchased a French Quarter mansion-turned-tenement housing and established an instantly successful day care, school, and orphanage.
When a yellow fever epidemic devastated the city, the increasing numbers of orphans soon outgrew the French Quarter home. Mother Cabrini quickly engaged benefactors to buy a large plot of land along Bayou St John. There, she built a convent, chapel, and much larger orphanage under the sweeping live oaks of Esplanade Avenue. Mother Cabrini and her sisters also purchased nearby historic Pitot House, one of the city's oldest Creole-colonial structures whose interesting history of owners includes the great-grandmother of painter Edgar Degas. The Sacred Heart sisters remained in New Orleans to serve these apostolates, with Mother Cabrini visiting frequently before her death in 1917. In 1959, the Esplanade Avenue convent and orphanage became Cabrini High School.
Walk in the New Orleans footsteps of a saint.
In advance, prepare for your day pilgrimage by reserving a tour through Cabrini High School. The school hosts tours of her chapel, residence area, and a small museum of her personal effects.
Begin with Mass.
Begin the day with morning Mass at nearby Our Lady of the Rosary (Holy Rosary as we call it locally), one of the most beautiful domed churches in New Orleans. Daily Mass is offered Monday through Friday at 7:00 am.
Grab coffee at Le Ponce.
After Mass, grab coffee and breakfast at Le Ponce on Esplanade Avenue roughly across the street from Holy Rosary and Cabrini High School.
Tour Mother Cabrini's convent chapel and orphanage.
On your guided tour, you will be able to pray in the chapel where St Frances Cabrini prayed when she lived and served in New Orleans, explore her residence, and see many of her personal effects in the small museum.
Tour historic Pitot House, another New Orleans residence of Mother Cabrini.
Around the corner is Pitot House, a historic property that Mother Cabrini and her sisters purchased and owned into the 1960s. It's now part of a historic preservation trust as a rare surviving example of West Indies Creole-colonial architecture. Tours are $15.
Have an Italian lunch and gelato, of course.
After touring Mother Cabrini's workplaces and residences, you'll be ready for lunch. Now, you could easily stroll the surrounding blocks for lunch at one of the wonderful cafés along Esplanade Avenue: Lola’s, 1000 Figs, Santa Fe, or our all-time favorite, Café Degas (wine is 30 percent off on Thursdays—you're welcome). Canseco's Grocery is also in the neighborhood; you can pick up lunch from their incredible deli counter of prepared meals and salads and eat along the banks of Bayou St John.
But!
The really fitting choice would be one of New Orleans' Mid-City Italian restaurants. "New Orleans Italian" is the uniquely delicious result of Italian immigrants marrying their native cuisine with Creole and French ingredients and customs. New Orleans Italian emphasizes seafood, sauce, and cheese (and sometimes cheese on seafood).
Classic choices in Mid-City include Liuzza's or Venezia. After lunch, don't miss the incredible gelato at iconic New Orleans gelateria Angelo Brocato's (right next to Venezia).
Stroll Bayou St John.
All of these sites are located in Bayou St John, one of my favorite New Orleans neighborhoods—non-touristy, quiet, easygoing with wonderful cafés and bars along the banks of an active bayou that connects Lake Ponchartrain to the Mississippi River. You can stroll the bayou banks and, if you’re not too stuffed, head over to the City Park location of Café du Monde for beignets and coffee. You're on pilgrimage, so pray a rosary or listen to sacred music while you stroll.
See Mother Cabrini's original mission in the French Quarter.
Next, head down to the French Quarter to see 817 Saint Philip Street, where Mother Cabrini first established her ministry and housed her original orphanage. No tours are available (it's ironically luxury condos now), but you can take in the textbook example of French Quarter architecture and get a firsthand sense of the saint's world.
Pray and receive confession at St Louis Cathedral.
For your pilgriamge, take the opportunity to pray and receive confession in St Louis Cathedral (confessions offered weekdays 11:30 am to 12:00 pm and Saturdays 4:14-4:45, or by appointment). One of the oldest Catholic places of worship in the United States, the stunning cathedral has strong historic significance for the American Catholic Church.
Celebrate an amazing women with a New Orleans Italian dinner.
End your day of pilgrimage with a special Italian dinner to celebrate the roots, life, and heroic love of Mother Cabrini, patron of immigrants. You can never go wrong with generations-old family institutions like Irene's (French Quarter), Vincent's (Uptown), or Pascal's Manale (Uptown).
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