Saint Frances of Rome, Widow
S. Franciscae Romanae Viduae
Saint Frances of Rome (1384–1440) was a Roman wife, mother, and widow who joined a deep life of prayer to constant works of charity, and founded a community of devout women known as the Oblates. Her feast is kept on 9 March.
Saint Frances was born in Rome in 1384 of a noble family. From childhood she desired to give herself wholly to God, but in obedience to her parents she was married at a young age to Lorenzo Ponziani, a Roman nobleman. Her marriage, which lasted some forty years, was happy and faithful, and she became the mother of children whom she raised in the love of God. She is remembered as a model of holiness lived not apart from the world but within the ordinary duties of a wife and mother.
Charity in a Time of Trial
Frances bore many sorrows with patience: civil strife brought war and plague to Rome, her family suffered loss of property and exile, and she mourned the death of children. Through all this she devoted herself to caring for the sick and the poor, often giving away the goods of her own household, and she drew her sister-in-law and other noble Roman women into a shared life of prayer and service. With the approval of the Church she founded a community of these women, the Oblates, later associated with the Benedictine Olivetans, who bound themselves to God and to works of mercy without withdrawing entirely from the world.
She was favoured with a deep life of prayer and, according to the constant tradition recorded in her life, with the visible companionship of her guardian angel, for which she is often depicted. After the death of her husband she entered the community she had founded and lived in humble obedience among her own daughters. She died in Rome on 9 March 1440 and was canonized in 1608. She is honoured as a patroness of the city of Rome and as an example of holiness in married and family life.
The Collect
O God, who among other gifts of Thy grace didst honour blessed Frances Thy handmaid with the familiar companionship of an angel: grant, we beseech Thee, that by the help of her intercession we may deserve to attain to the fellowship of the angels. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Deus, qui beatam Franciscam famulam tuam, inter cetera gratiae tuae dona, familiari Angeli consuetudine decorasti: concede, quaesumus; ut, intercessionis eius auxilio, Angelorum consortium consequi mereamur. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Patronage
Saint Frances of Rome is venerated as a patroness of the city of Rome, of widows, of married women and mothers, and (from the tradition of her guardian angel and a story of her travelling by night) is sometimes invoked by motorists.
Common Questions
Who was Saint Frances of Rome?
She was a holy wife, mother, and widow of fifteenth-century Rome who united a deep interior life of prayer with tireless charity to the sick and poor, and founded the community of Oblates.
When is her feast day?
Her feast is observed on 9 March in both the traditional calendar of the 1962 Missal and the modern calendar.
Why is she shown with an angel?
The tradition recorded in her life relates that she was granted the visible companionship of her guardian angel. For this reason she is often depicted with an angel at her side, and the traditional Collect for her feast recalls this gift.
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