Patron of Oblates
By Peg Gawne-Mark, OblSB
In 1384, a special child was born to Paul de Buxo and Jacobella Rofredeschi in the Trastevere district of Rome. Today we know her as Frances of Rome, Patroness of Oblates. She took the habit on St. Benedict's Day in 1437. Remembered as one of the greatest mystics of the fifteenth century, we celebrate her feast day on March 9.
Raised in an aristocratic family, Frances was known for her piety and purity from a very young age. At eleven, she wanted to enter the monastery, much to her parent's dismay. When her father arranged her marriage, Frances stubbornly prayed to God to prevent the marriage, until her confessor pointed out, "Are you crying because you want to do God's will or because you want God to do your will?"
In 1396, she followed her parents' wishes and married the rich young Roman nobleman, Lorenzo Ponziano. Troubled with illness and carrying out her family duties, Frances found an ally in her sister-in-law Vannozza. Together they prayed daily and performed penance for the Church in its trials at that time. They visited the poor, took care of the sick, brought firewood and food to those in need.
When a flood brought disease and famine to Rome, Her father-in-law was furious that she was giving away their supplies. Frances ordered that no one seeking alms would be turned away. When he sold all their extra corn so Frances could not give it away, Frances sifted through the straw and gave away the left over kernels. After she left, her husband came in and was stunned to find the previously empty granary filled with yellow corn.
Mother of three, Frances outlived two of her children who died of the plague. After the death of her son Evangelista, she had a vision in which he told her that her daughter Agnes was also going to die. In return, God was granting her a special grace by sending an archangel to be her guardian angel for the rest of her life. Her angel was her constant companion and spiritual adviser.
Frances' angel once commanded her to give up her severe penances of eating only bread and water and wearing a hair shirt. "You should understand by now that the God who made your body and gave it to your soul as a servant, never intended that the spirit should ruin the flesh and return it to him despoiled," he confronted her.
Frances had the gift of miracles and ecstasy. She had revelations concerning purgatory and hell, and foretold the ending of the Western Schism. While Lorenzo was off defending the legitimate pope from the anti-popes, his enemies destroyed his property and possessions. Frances cleaned up part of the family villa and turned it into a hospital.
During the epidemics at the time, it was difficult to find even priests to care for the spiritual needs of the ill. Frances herself would seek them out and bring them to those who were disposed to receive the sacraments of penance and Eucharist.
In 1425, Frances founded a society of devout women under the Rule of St. Benedict known as the Oblates of Mary, or Oblates of Tor de Specchi. Her example was such that many Roman ladies gave up a life of pomp and idleness and joined in her pious exercises, putting themselves under the direction of the Benedictine monks of Monte-Oliveto. They did this without leaving the world, making vows or wearing any particular habit.
Frances' followers call their profession an oblation using the word offero, not profiteor. Being a living offering, an Oblate strives to devote oneself to God in all one's actions and designs, to turn one's life into a sacrifice of fidelity, obedience and love offered to God. Even meals, rest and recreational time are sanctified by this intention. Forty years after her original desire to enter religious life, Frances joined the community when her husband died. It appears she had been right in discerning her original vocation -- she just had the timing wrong.
Frances died in 1440 at the age of 56 following a seven-day illness. It was reported that she died with a strange light on her face stating, "The angel has finished his task. He beckons me to follow him." She is buried in the Church of Santa Maria Nuova, now called Santa Francesca Romana.
Frances is often portrayed in the dress of a Benedictine nun, with a black gown and white hood, an angel holding open the book of office of virgins. She is also pictured with the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to her holding a number broken arrows, while dead and dying persons lie around (an allusion to the cessation of an epidemic that was attributed to her prayer). At other times, Frances is shown leading an donkey laden with wood, finding grapes on a leafless vine in midwinter.
Pope Paul V canonized Frances in 1608. Long before the Church formally honored her, Frances was recognized by those around her. Widowed after 40 years, she is remembered as patron of widows. Invoked as patron of taxi cab drivers, Pope Pius IX named her patron of motorists based on Frances' ability to see at night by the light of her angel.
Cited as a model of fidelity and devotedness to her domestic responsibilities, Frances makes a good patron for those who attempt to juggle their priorities. She is attributed to have said, "A wife must, when necessary, leave her devotions at the altar and find God in her household affairs." A lover of solitude and prayer, Frances also makes a good model for all monastics and especially delayed vocations.
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