Saint of the Day -- March 9 - Saint Frances of Rome
March 9
St. Frances of Rome
Patron Saints for Girls
Frances’s life combines aspects of secular and religious life. A
devoted and loving wife, she longed for a lifestyle of prayer and
service, so she organized a group of women to minister to the needs of
Rome’s poor.
Born
of wealthy parents, Frances found herself attracted to the religious
life during her youth. But her parents objected and a young nobleman
was selected to be her husband.
As she became acquainted with
her new relatives, Frances soon discovered that the wife of her
husband’s brother also wished to live a life of service and prayer. So
the two, Frances and Vannozza, set out together—with their husbands’
blessings—to help the poor.
Frances fell ill for a time, but this
apparently only deepened her commitment to the suffering people she
met. The years passed, and Frances gave birth to two sons and a
daughter. With the new responsibilities of family life, the young
mother turned her attention more to the needs of her own household. The
family flourished under Frances’s care, but within a few years a great
plague began to sweep across Italy. It struck Rome with devastating
cruelty and left Frances’s second son dead. In an effort to help
alleviate some of the suffering, Frances used all her money and sold
her possessions to buy whatever the sick might possibly need. When all
the resources had been exhausted, Frances and Vannozza went door to
door begging. Later, Frances’s daughter died, and the saint opened a
section of her house as a hospital.
Frances became more and more
convinced that this way of life was so necessary for the world, and it
was not long before she requested and was given permission to found a
society of women bound by no vows. They simply offered themselves to
God and to the service of the poor. Once the society was established,
Frances chose not to live at the community residence, but rather at
home with her husband. She did this for seven years, until her husband
passed away, and then came to live the remainder of her life with the
society—serving the poorest of the poor.
Comment:
Looking
at the exemplary life of fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow
human beings which Frances of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help
but be reminded of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who loved Jesus Christ in
prayer and also in the poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of
us not only to look deeply for God in prayer, but also to carry our
devotion to Jesus living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows
us that this life need not be restricted to those bound by vows.
Quote:In Something Beautiful for God,
Mother Teresa said of the sisters in her community: “Let Christ radiate
and live his life in her and through her in the slums. Let the poor
seeing her be drawn to Christ and invite him to enter their homes and
lives.” Says Frances of Rome: “It is most laudable in a married woman
to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And
sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her
housekeeping” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints).
Prayer: Saint Frances of Rome, help us to see the difference between what we want to do and what God wants us to do. Help us to discern what comes from our will and what comes from God's desire. Amen
Source: American Catholic Organization
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SIGNS OF AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Do you:
feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
avoid certain topics fear of angering your partner?
feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
feel emotionally numb or helpless?
Does your partner:
- humiliate, criticize, or yell at you?
- treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
- ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
- blame you for his own abusive behavior?
- see you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?
Does your partner:
have a bad and unpredictable temper?
hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you?
threaten to take your children away or harm them?
threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
force you to have sex?
destroy your belongings?
Does your partner:
- act excessively jealous and possessive?
- control where you go or what you do?
- keep you from seeing your friends or family?
- limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
- constantly check up on you?