Fifteenth-century Roman wife and mother who served the poor and founded a community of consecrated women.
Life
Frances of Rome was born in 1384 into a wealthy noble family in Rome. From childhood she wished to enter religious life, but at her parents' wish she married the nobleman Lorenzo Ponziani at about twelve or thirteen, and for some forty years she cared for her household as wife and mother.
In a Rome afflicted by war and plague, she personally cared for the poor and sick, and she also endured the grief of losing children. Around 1425 she began a community of consecrated women, the Oblates of Mary, and after her husband's death she went to live with them. She died in 1440 and was canonized in 1608.
Spirituality
Frances's spirituality is living out both family duty and love of God. When her family called her, even in prayer, she rose willingly to serve them, showing that such everyday service is itself a way of seeking God. She believed that not turning away from a neighbor's pain is the fruit of prayer.
Reflection
Frances lived holiness as a wife and mother. Could I offer the ordinary things I do for my family today as a prayer to God?