DENVER (KDVR) — On the first Monday of October, Colorado celebrates Cabrini Day in honor of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini.
In 2020, a Colorado House Bill replaced Columbus Day with the new state holiday. According to the law, Cabrini, a nun, was a “humanitarian champion of immigrants and children” who came to the U.S. from Italy and came to Colorado in 1902.
By 1905, she had opened the Queen of Heaven Orphanage for girls in north Denver. In 1910, the saint founded a summer camp for the Queen of Heaven orphans in Mount Vernon Canyon. The canyon is also where Cabrini reportedly found water on the land, now dubbed the “miracle of the mountains.”
Now, if you visit the area, you’ll find the Mother Cabrini Shrine. The shrine is holding masses on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. that will be followed by the Cabrini Day Celebration of Nations. At 5 p.m., the shrine will hold an adoration event that will feature music, prayer and readings from Mother Cabrini’s writings.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, attends a ceremony unveil the statue of the patron saint of immigrants, Mother Frances Cabrini, in Battery Park Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) 
Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic church is seen, date unknown. (AP Photo) 
Mother Cabrini Shrine (KDVR)
The Cabrini Day Celebration of Nations is a first for this year, and is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 5, from 12:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the picnic pavilion at the shrine. The shrine’s officials said that anyone is welcome to host a table that represents the country of their heritage by sharing food, photos, country information and more. Registration is available here in English and Spanish.
On Monday, the Mother Cabrini Shrine will hold a Cabrini Day Mass at noon.
Colorado ultimately ended up with Cabrini Day because Christopher Columbus “had no knowledge of or contact with the area now known as the state of Colorado, providing no rationale for a Colorado state holiday in his name,” according to the bill text.
That means Cabrini Day is on the same level as Juneteenth, President’s Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day — and that it is up to your employer to determine whether it’s a day off from work.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
