Cabrini: A Worldly, One-Sided View of a Saint!

I checked out two reviews of Cabrini before deciding to go see the film for myself. One gave it a glowing review. The Catholic mom called it one of her five top movies of all times. The other, Thomas Mirus at Catholic Culture lamented the almost complete omission of any spirituality. 

Last night I went to see the film and make up my own mind.

I really wanted to like this movie; I didn't.

If I had to give a short summary of the film's depiction of Mother Frances Cabrini, I would say it showed only one side -- her compassion for the poor and her zeal to help them which resulted in a world-wide apostolate of hospitals, orphanages, and schools spanning the globe. I'll call that the driven, social worker side of the saint.

The WHAT was there -- the WHY was almost invisible. Rather, it was distorted.

As Mirus said, there were Catholic trappings: the sisters in their habits, the priest in his cassock, the archbishop of New York in his red, the pope in his white, St. Peter's basilica. But all the Catholic elements were more of a foil to Mother Cabrini showing her persistence in pursuing her mission and her feisty spirit. They contributed nothing to the big picture, the WHY.

WHY? 

Why did this frail, sick woman relentlessly pursue her mission? Why does any saint do it? Why did the martyrs go to the coliseum and Tyburn tree and all the other bloody sites of their immolation? Why did  missionaries like Francis Xavier, Isaac Jogues, and Damien of Molokai wear themselves out in serving the poor, the pagan, and the sick? Why did Mother Cabrini herself do it?

It wasn't primarily their worldly compassion. They had a zeal to save bodies, yes, but that zeal served the greater purpose: saving souls.

There was almost nothing in Cabrini to illustrate that zeal for souls. Mother sat in a small chapel during the night in one scene supposedly praying about what to do next. Her vision of starting a hospital in New York had been thwarted over and over. But it wasn't the voice of God that urged her to continue fighting. It was the voice of Vittoria, the repentant prostitute, who came into the chapel reminding her that she vowed to fight to the last ounce of her strength.

I suppose one could say that Vittoria was sent by God, but we never saw any deep spirituality in her either. In fact, there just wasn't any in the entire movie. 

Another omission was either a sloppy oversight or deliberate decision by the Mormon film company. In the second scene with Pope Leo XIII, as the interview ends, Mother bows her head to the vicar of Christ. In real life, she would have knelt and kissed his ring. Not once did Mother make the sign of the cross or pause and bow her head in obvious prayer. The only articulated prayer in the entire movie, unless I blinked and missed it, was a brief grace before dinner with all the sisters holding hands around the small table.

What for me, however, was most disconcerting, was the body language of the actress playing the saint. Her nose was continually in the air. In fact, I kept being reminded of Barack Obama. There was no sense ever in the film that she had an ounce of humility. Never once did the script have her refer to the grace of God for her accomplishments, it was always the power of being a woman. When the mayor of New York at the end of the film smiles and says, "You would have made an excellent man." Her response is, "No, men could never do what we do." 

What made me the most disappointed was the fact that this could have been a great film like the wonderful I Prefer Heaven about St. Philip Neri. He and Mother Cabrini both loved and served children, but the depiction of Neri stressed his humility and his deep spirituality. It's a film I've watched over and over. There were many similarities in the lives of these two saints who faced many obstacles from antagonistic clerics. Will I ever watch Cabrini again? No, once was enough.

It was the Helen Reddy tune, "I am woman, hear me roar."

And please, don't take young children to see this movie. It's rated PG-13 for a reason. Some scenes are either too graphic, especially the attempted murder of Vittoria by her pimp, or the subject matter is inappropriate. With subtitles, younger kids might miss it, but leave them home if you decide to go.