Friday, December 22, 2017

December 22, 1917 -- Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini Dies



December 22, 1917 – Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini dies of heart diseases at Columbus Hospital.  Mother Cabrini, the founder of the order of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, was the founder of the hospital in which she took her last breath.  She was born on July 15, 1850 in the small Italian town of S’ant Angelo Lodigiano, the youngest of 13 children.  In her late 30’s, at the direction of Pope Leo VIII, she arrived in New York City, a place crying out for schools and orphanages to serve the huge population of Italian immigrants.  Her tireless work was so effective that she received requests for help from far-flung places across the globe, and she made 23 trans-Atlantic crossings, establishing 67 different schools, hospitals and orphanages.  In 1946 Mother Cabrini was canonized by Pope Pius XII.  When Columbus Hospital was demolished to make way for 2550 Lakeview, the chapel of the hospital was painstakingly preserved and today the place where Mother Cabrini worshipped, the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, is open daily and has weekend Masses with opportunities for confession and hosts Eucharistic adoration on Fridays.  The sanctuary of the Shrine is pictured above.


December 22, 1954 – The president of the American Furniture Mart, Lawrence H. Whiting, confirms rumors that the Mart has obtained control of 333 North Michigan Avenue, an art deco tower on the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.  Whiting says, “The American Furniture Mart accumulated this interest as a long term real estate investment in what we consider to be an exceptionally sound real estate enterprise.”  [Chicago Daily Tribune, December 23, 1954]  Arthur M. Wirtz, the chairman of the American Furniture Mart, is also the president of the 333 Building Corporation.  333 North Michigan Avenue was completed in 1927 following a design by the firm of Holabird and Root.  The Art Deco design of its 25 stories is particularly striking because of the building’s location just south of the DuSable Bridge, directly across the river from Tribune Tower.

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