The Governor has proclaimed today, December 22, 2017, as Mother Cabrini Day in honor of the Catholic Saint who died on this date in 1917. Mother Cabrini came to Denver in 1902 to minister to Italian immigrants who were miners and railroaders. In 1905, she founded the Queen of Heaven Orphanage in Denver to care for girls. She negotiated the purchase of 900 acres in Mt. Vernon Canyon to make a summer camp for the girls. It's now the home of the Mother Cabrini Shrine and a 22-foot statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The statue can be seen from I-70.
When the property in the foothills was purchased, there was not believed to be a source for water on the site. Mother Cabrini famously told her sisters to move a rock to find water clean enough to drink. A spring was found that continues to flow today. During her lifetime, Mother Cabrini opened 67 schools, orphanages and hospitals. She became a saint in 1946.