No, I didn’t make a mistake. I’m not Artificial Intelligence. I’m Italian American. St. Francis Xavier Cabrini is well known among Italian Americans. We live in New England and the St. Cabrini Shrine is only a few hours away. So when I heard about the new movie Cabrini, I ware really excited and couldn’t wait to see it. Then there was the flurry of negative press on Facebook. Many people, including priests gave it really poor reviews.
Today, my mother and I finally had the chance to see it for ourselves. I think the movie was really, really good. The acting was superb. I think Cristiana Dell’Anna played the part really well. When she wanted to do something, she could put on that faccia brutea. Literally it means ugly face, but I was say a really tough face, like I’m not going to put up with this BS.
The movie got to the heart of what Mother Cabrini was all about. She was a woman impelled by the Holy Spirt and nothing or no-one was going to stop her without good reason. What she suffered is what many of our ancestors suffered. I even remember being called guinea and dago. None of that really bothers me. But it was only a sign of the great suffering and persecution that my grandparents and great-grandparents went through.
But back to the movie. After seeing Cabrini, I really can’t figure out what some people have against it. Did they expect to see her on her knees in the chapel? Was it really necessary for Mother Cabrini to be praying the Divine Office and saying her Rosary to make the movie acceptable? I really didn’t need that for it to be a good movie. However, she was seen saying grace before a meal and her breviary was lying on her desk.
We all know that Mother Cabrini was a woman of prayer or she would not have had the fortitude to do what she did. I also didn’t see it as having a feminist agenda. If you didn’t know, Mother Cabrini was a woman. It wasn’t a story about a male saint. And the reality is, the men all did fight her. The Archbishop of NY was pretty nasty to her. And, he may have been intolerant of Italians. It is known that some bishops did hold prejudice against Italians. If he didn’t, he might have gone to the aid of the Italian immigrants, who did enter this country legally, by the way.
I know first hand the suffering my family and other Italian families encountered in this county. Yet, they became Americans who loved this nation and contributed a lot to it.
The Cabrini Movie is top rate and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see a great Religious woman (in habit) who had the courage to make a difference even in the face of danger. So don’t let someone else tell you it’s a bad movie, decide for yourself!
I’m an Italian American!
