| March 9, non-binding commemoration | |
| Position: |
mystic and founder of wafers |
| Death: |
1440 |
| Patron: |
of Rome, of car drivers and widows; protector of women |
| Attributes: |
angel, deacon, book, monstrance, dead, Virgin Mary, nun, arrows |
CURRICULUM VITAE
She was the kind and exemplary wife of the nobleman Lorenzo de Ponziani eing an excellent mother to her children. Beneath her magnificent dress, she wore a garment made of horsehair. She helped the poor greatly and lived a virtuous life, especially practicing humility and patience. She experienced enormous tragedy when two of her children died, her husband was mutilated in the war, and her son was taken hostage. She set an example of extreme dedication and bravery. In 1425, she established a community of oblates based on the Rule of St Benedict. She became the abbess of the monastery she had started after becoming a widow.
CV FOR MEDITATION
HER THOUGHTS WERE DIRECTED TO WHAT PLEASED GOD
She was born in 1384 in Trastevere (Zatibeří) in Rome to a wealthy family. At the age of 13, she was married to the nobleman Lorenzo Ponziano, although she wished to enter a religious order. She was modest, delicate, and pious, careful about purity. She was a perfect wife to her husband, attentive to his wishes. He was pious, respected her, and admired her virtues. Frances submitted to the customs of wealthy families in terms of society and external clothing, but under her beautiful clothes, she wore a haircloth belt. With this ascetic detail, out of love for Jesus, she helped her thoughts always be directed to what pleases God. She was courteous and modest around men, but serious and cautious when speaking to women.
After a painful illness, during which she reportedly received a visit from St. Aleš, who announced the end of her life, she stopped dressing ostentatiously with her husband’s consent. She gave the money she had saved for clothes and feasts to the poor. Later, she would often beg for the poor and sick in remote places where she was unknown, helping them greatly. She had the grace to see her guardian angel and received other mystical gifts. She was attentive to the religious duties of everyone in the household and would not tolerate any defective books. She lived in humility and patience in all circumstances.
Biographies do not agree on the number of her children. At the age of 16, her first son, John, was born, and within four years, she had about three more children. Her daughter died at the age of six, and the second boy at the age of seven. Her children were killed by a plague epidemic. When she had only her eldest son left, he was taken as a hostage during the last war with the supporter of the defiant pope, Ladislaus of Naples from Durazzo, who attacked and sacked Rome three times in the years 1404-1413. She had the Ponziani family palace plundered during the last attack and had the seriously wounded Lorenzo, who was the commander-in-chief of the papal army, expelled from the city. He was only able to return when the Neapolitan invaders left Rome.
It was a very difficult time for Francesca. However, her piety and kindness shielded her from despair, enabling her to reach out to those facing even worse circumstances. Perhaps their faith was not as helpful as it could have been. She distributed the remaining provisions to the poor and went to help the sick in three Roman hospitals. She treated them, led them to repentance, and prayed with them and for them.
The example of the selfless Francis also appealed to other Roman women, who then, in 1425, formed with her an association of Benedictine Oblates, spiritually connected with the Roman Benedictine monastery of the “Mount of Olives.” Until 1433, they lived in their own families, and only then did they form a community in one house, called the Oblate Monastery of Tor de’ Specchi. Francis moved there only after the death of her invalid husband in March 1436. She lived there for four years and died at the age of 56.
She was buried in the church of Santa Maria Nuova above the ruins of the ancient Roman forum. She was canonized in 1608.
RESOLUTION, PRAYER
