St. Frances of Rome was born in 1384 to a wealthy, noble family which means that she grew up destined to be a noblewoman but there was a problem. Frances decided at 11 that she wanted to grow up and become a nun and give her life to God but in the 1300s noblewomen had a duty, marry a rich, powerful man and unite families. At twelve years old, she was forced to marry a powerful military commander arranged at her father’s wishes and most would think that it would be a messy marriage with the woman not being happy but the marriage made both of the two happy and it lasted for 4 decades.
Her life wasn’t a good one though; she lived in a time of war and plague. The tragedy of the war resulted in her home being ransacked and her husband being wounded and abounded. The plague which took two of her three children and her only remaining son was then taken as a prisoner of war. While most people would just give up and cry in a corner, Frances knew that she shouldn’t change her life, she should become closer with God by living in the life He gave her. She took her ransacked home and turned it into a hospital that anyone could visit to be treated of their injuries or sickness. She had a prayer that she would always say when she felt that life was tough, this was a direct quote from Job, the ultimate figure of suffering in the Bible “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Frances is the only (as we know of) saint to be given physical discipline by their guardian angel. Frances was at a party, and she was pulled into this frivolous conversation about another person and not wanting to be rude. She just stayed in the conversation gossiping, but her guardian angel didn’t like that, so they slapped her. This slapped echoed the room and everyone in the building could hear it. There was even a hand mark on her cheek for up to a month afterwards.
For the last 27 years of her life, Frances could see her guardian angel vividly all the time and acted as a moral mirror for her. The angel would protect her all throughout her life from demons and other bad spirits when she walked down her dark roads. The angel would even vanish from her view when she displayed pride or impatience and would only reappear to her when she repented of her sins.
As she grew closer to God and increased her holiness, her guardian angel would almost level up in a lack of better phrase. The angel would be replaced with even more powerful beings such as at first, the stage we are all on, an invisible mirror or morals. The angel then became a visible, nine-year-old boy that provided light to read by. Her guardian angel then became a warrior angel that chased away demons.
Frances then died on March 9, 1440, still in her hometown of Rome, Italy. 168 years later, she was canonized by Pope Paul V in 1608 and 485 years after her death, in 1925, she was declared to be the patron saint of Motorists by Pope Pius XI and that might seem weird but it was because her guardian angel acted as a celestial light on dangerous roads thus giving her the title of Patron Saint of car drivers. St. Frances of Rome taught us that holiness isn’t achieved by finding a new life, it is achieved by finding God through all the interruptions in the life that He gave us.
This story has now been concluded of St. Frances of Rome, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day on this 2nd day of Lent.