Prayer for a parking spot

Last Saturday, I drove into Palermo in Sicily, along with a couple of local friends from my parish. We circled around a couple of times trying to find a parking spot. Finally, my friend who was driving uttered a prayer in the local Sicilian dialect:

“Armi pii, armi santi, fatimi truvari un postu vacanti.”

Which translates as “Holy Souls, Holy Saints, help me find an empty space.”

And voila, a space opened up just in front of the restaurant where we were headed.

Finding a parking spot can be a stressful experience for those who live in the big cities. I remember that once my own dad, unable to find a parking spot close to home after a 45-minute search, finally left the car in a parking area far away and took a cab back home.

Though there doesn’t seem to be any official patron saint of parking spaces, Mother Cabrini is often considered to be one, at least unofficially.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was an Italian-American nun who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in New York, which was a great support to the Italian immigrants who were arriving in the United States in the last part of the 19th century.

She became “Mother Cabrini” after she took on the religious habit. She arrived in New York in 1889. In a short time of 35 years she founded 67 institutions, including orphanages, schools, and hospitals, dedicated to caring for the poor, uneducated, sick, and abandoned, especially Italian immigrants. 

She was canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 7, 1946, making her the first United States citizen to be canonized.

Having lived in New York, she probably knew well the sorrow of finding a parking space. Some have used this prayer to great effect:

“Mother Cabrini, Mother Cabrini, please find a spot for my little machiney.”

The next time you find yourself going around in circles, you could call on her, too.

Find more prayers for particular needs here. The list has a wide variety, including prayers for after Communion, prayers for the suffering, a prayer to Our Lady in a time of need, and a prayer for when you’ve had enough of cockroaches, mice or other pests! Not ready for first quarter exams? There’s a prayer for that too.