Mother Frances Cabrini The Unsinkable Saint Who Narrowly Missed Boarding the Titanic

In April 1912, Mother Frances Cabrini was traveling through Italy with several of her sisters. Her itinerary included visiting her communities in France, Spain, and England before returning to the United States in the middle of April to continue her work in New York City. Her sisters in England were especially excited for the visit. Wanting to ease her long journey back to America, they bought her a ticket on a new and luxurious ocean liner that was preparing for its maiden voyage, the RMS Titanic.

Mother Cabrini, who would eventually make twenty four transatlantic crossings to establish schools, hospitals, and orphanages, was not fond of sea travel. As a child she had nearly drowned, and the memory stayed with her for life. Still, her missionary calling often required her to face the ocean again and again.

While her sisters in England prepared excitedly for her arrival, urgent news reached her from New York. Columbus Hospital, which she had founded, was overflowing with patients, and important decisions had to be made about a critical expansion project. The situation demanded her immediate attention. Waiting for the Titanic’s scheduled departure was no longer an option. She altered her plans and left early, sailing out of Naples to return to the United States. Her departure, though necessary, left her sisters in England disappointed, as the ticket they purchased would never be used.

In a letter dated May 5, 1912, written to Sister Gesuina Dotti, Mother Cabrini made a brief and touching reference to the Titanic tragedy. The prefix RMS in RMS Titanic meant Royal Mail Ship, since the vessel also carried mail under contract for the British Royal Mail. That detail gave her letter a poignant tone. “Only two of your letters I have received so far,” she wrote. “If you have sent five, then it must be said that the other three went down into the depths with the Titanic. If I was going to London, I might have left with it, but Divine Providence, which is constantly watching, did not allow it. God be blessed.”

This was not the first time she had brushed close to danger at sea. In 1890, during her second voyage to New York, she was among one thousand passengers aboard a ship named La Normandie. One stormy night the ocean grew so rough that nearly all the passengers skipped dinner and remained in their cabins. Mother Cabrini and a handful of others stayed alert, aware of the risks. She kept watch, prepared to guide her sisters to the lifeboats if needed. She later wrote that “the Good Lord lulled us all to sleep on a great seesaw, rocking us back and forth,” a simple yet profound expression of her trust in divine protection.