Colorado celebrates first Frances Xavier Cabrini Day

DENVER (AP) - Colorado will celebrate its first ever Frances Xavier Cabrini Day on Monday after a three-decade struggle to replace Columbus Day.

Cabrini is now the first woman to be recognized with a paid state holiday in the United States. Colorado Public Radio reported that Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill in March to recognize the humanitarian contributions of Cabrini on the first Monday of October, the month that Cabrini became a naturalized United States citizen in 1909.

Cabrini was an Italian-American immigrant who arrived in Colorado in 1902. In 1946, she became the first American citizen to be made a saint by the Catholic Church.