Saint Saint Frances of Rome, Religious

Francesca Bussa de' Leoni (1384 – 9 March 1440), known as Frances of Rome Obl.S.B. (Italian: Francesca Romana; Latin: Francisca Rōmāna), was an Italian Catholic mystic, organizer of charitable services and a Benedictine oblate who founded a religious community of oblates, who share a common life without religious vows. She was canonized in 1608. Frances was born in 1384 in Rome to a wealthy and aristocratic couple, Paolo Bussa and Iacobella dei Roffredeschi, in the up-and-coming district of Parione and christened in the nearby Church of St. Agnes on the famed Piazza Navona. When she was eleven years old, she wanted to be a nun, but, at about the age of twelve, her parents forced her to marry Lorenzo Ponziani, commander of the papal troops of Rome and member of an extremely wealthy family. Although the marriage had been arranged, it was a happy one that lasted for forty years. With her sister-in-law Vannozza, Frances visited the poor and cared for the sick, inspiring other wealthy women in the city to do the same. Soon after her marriage, Frances fell seriously ill. Her husband called a man in who dabbled in magic, but Frances drove him away, saying, "Begone, thou servant of Satan, nor ever venture into these walls again!" and later recounted to Vannozza that St. Alexis had appeared to her and cured her. When her father-in-law died, Frances became the mistress of the household. During a time of flood and famine, she turned part of the family's house estate into a hospital and distributed food and clothing to people experiencing poverty. According to one account, her father-in-law was so angry that he took away her keys to the supply rooms, but gave them back when he saw that the corn bin and wine barrel had been replenished after Frances finished praying. During the wars between the pope in Rome and various anti-popes in the Western Schism of the Catholic Church, Lorenzo served the former.