Hello!
We recently watched the movie, “Cabrini” for the first time! It was done by Angel Studios! It looked really good and I was excited to see it!
Firstly, I think it was really well produced. It was very beautiful, movie-wise. Angel studios does a great job and it felt like a really high-end movie.
My favorite part was I loved how she would see a need and do something about it. There were a lot of things that got me thinking in my own life and I feel God might be planting some desires in my heart.
Our family thought she reminded us of St. Mother Teresa. She won’t take “no” for an answer, she won’t let men especially who are in higher power push her around and she will usually get what she wants. It’s interesting to see how God used her personality, especially to keep building more and more.
I liked how they made some other likable characters like Vittoria and Paolo. Seeing both of their stories and knowing that real people probably have had similar experiences was very eye-opening to see. I liked how they furthered each of their storylines, especially in seeing Paolo at the beginning and then where he goes and ends up.
I also thought it was interesting seeing what it was like for Italian immigrants specifically, in New York, in the late 1800’s. That’s not something you think much about, and we’ve also been watching the show “America: The Story of Us” so it was interesting to see this from a different perspective.
I noticed through the movie that a lot of it was a big game of pride. The Archbishop was being prideful, obviously the major and the richer people in New York were being prideful.
I know this is a movie and is meant to be dramatic and interesting and all that. The movie was also telling a Catholic story but not necessarily all from a Catholic source. I just wish it would have shown her faith more, her relationship with God and her own humility. Also her openness to God’s will. I don’t know much about her, obviously she was pretty ambitious but I have a feeling she had a lot of love for Jesus and a lot of what she did was fueled by that. So I wish they would have shown that more because she felt kind of prideful, you couldn’t see her relationship with God and they really hit hard on her being a woman and being Italian- which I know were big parts of her identity and what made what she was doing so revolutionary. But I get it- they want to appeal to some not necessarily all Christian and Catholic audiences and not make it a Catholic movie or documentary.
And maybe since they didn’t put as much of that in, it will allow for more people to watch it, be exposed to the Catholic stuff that is in it and maybe become curious. So I can see both sides!
We’ve actually watched quite a few Catholic saint movies lately and that has been very beneficial in my life! Ones like “Mother Teresa”, “St. Philip Neri: I Prefer Heaven”, “Mother Teresa: No Greater Love” and “Pope John Paul II”. This was definitely better produced than those but I could tell the difference in it not being as faith oriented.
She was also very straight faced, only a few times did her smile and love shine through so I wish there would have been more of that. But again, I don’t know much about her personality in real life so maybe she wasn’t that kind of person.
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? I loved seeing her mission and how she was determined to do it because I think I can learn some things from that, because it was inspiring to see and because I feel drawn to certain parts of her mission.
And also, after the orphanage, how she saw the need for a hospital and had that conviction- then let that drive her there. I can relate to that because I sometimes have those convictions and desires about things that I feel need to happen.
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? Again, I wish it would have shown more of her faith, especially her Catholic faith, her love, and her openness to God’s will. Because she felt too prideful and a bit too “of the world”. I know, it’s a lot to ask!
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? Just some of the things God is planting in my life. The desire to serve people, especially the poor and kids- orphans. Seeing religious life more. I liked the part where the Archbishop said “That’s an order of obedience”, I liked seeing how she had to be humble at that point, she couldn’t be prideful and she had to honor the vow of obedience that she made (I’m assuming she did). That would be really hard to do, but that’s where your own ambition and pride can’t get in the way. You have to be open to God’s will because where you thought He was leading is obviously not.
That’s easier said than done. I’m sure some of the times throughout the movie where I was feeling that she should submit to and be okay with His will, like with the fire and stuff- in those moments I would not be able to do that.
I also thought at one point about how she was building things for God, almost like a business where you’re trying to figure out where you can do more- and get more money to fund it. My personality loves things like that, and maybe God will do something like that with me in the future.
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? I’d like to learn more about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and other saints! I’d also like to learn more about desires I feel God is planting in my heart like business and kids.
You should definitely watch Cabrini! It was a great movie!
Thanks for reading!
Lucy