Franciscan Saints March

Mar 2 - Blessed Agnes of Prague 1205-1282

On the eve of the feast of the holy virgin and martyr Agnes, in the year 1205, a daughter was born to the king of Bohemia, Primislaus Ottokar I. She also received the name Agnes in baptism. Her mother, who was an aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, rejoiced when she noticed an admirable seriousness in her infant. At times she saw how the child folded its little hands in the form of a cross, and then, as if absorbed in deep devotion, would lie quite still.

According to the custom of the time, the king's daughter was betrothed at the age of three years to the son of the duke of Silesia, and hence was sent to the Silesain convent at Trebnitz, where St. Hedwig was superior at that time, to be educated there. Her betrothed died after three years, and she was then taken to the convent at Doxan in Bohemia, where the seeds of sanctity which had been sown by St. Hedwig budded forth in marvelous bloom. The child appeared to be destined for the heavenly Spouse rather than for an earthly one; but earthly monarchs renewed their suit for her hand.

Emperor Frederick II desired to secure her as the bride of his son and successor to the throne, Henry, and Agnes, who was now a mature young woman, was sent to the court of the German emperor. But when the union with Henry came to naught as the result of the prayers of the virgin, King Henry III of England sought her hand in marriage, and finally, even Emperor Frederick II himself, whose consort had meanwhile died. All the opposition raised by Agnes, who desired to belong entirely to the Divine Bridegroom, seemed in vain. Then she begged Pope Gregory IX to intervene, and as a result she obtained her freedom. The emperor declared himself satisfied since Agnes chose not a human being but the God of heaven in preference to him.

Now, however, Agnes strove to embrace the religious state in order to achieve her union with the Divine Bridegroom. The fame of Poor Clare convents had reached Bohemia, and Agnes resolved, with the assistance of her brother, who had meanwhile ascended the royal throne, to establish a convent of Poor Clares in the capital city of Prague. Pope Gregory cheerfully gave his consent, and, at his command, St. Clare sent five sisters from the convent of St. Damian in Assisi, to Prague. Agnes and seven other young women of the highest ranks of society entered the new convent together with these sisters.

Within a short time Agnes distinguished herself among them as a model of virtue; in fervor at prayer, in obedience, in religious discipline, in self-denial, and in humility. The command of the pope to accept the position of abbess was a great trial for her humility; however, she obtained permission not to carry the title, but rather to be known as the "senior sister." Holy zeal, similar to that of her holy mother St. Clare, characterized her vigilance regarding the observance of holy poverty; she declined the royal gifts sent to her by her brother, and would not tolerate that any sister possess anything of a personal nature. God blessed her with the gift of miracles; she recalled to life the deceased daughter of her brother.

Enriched with heavenly merits, she departed from this life in the odor of sanctity, to enter into eternal union with her Divine Bridegroom, on March 6, 1282, having served Him for forty years in the religious state. Devotion to her, which has existed since time immemorial, received apostolic sanction from Pope Pius IX, and her feast, which has long been celebrated in Prague on March 2nd, has been extended to the entire Franciscan Order.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
O God, who didst raise the virgin, Blessed Agnes, to the heights of heaven through her contempt of the pleasures of life at the royal court and her humble following of Thy cross, grant, we beseech Thee, that by her intercession and imitation, we may merit to be partakers of eternal glory. Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

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Mar 3. Bl. Liberatus Weiss, Samuele Marzorati and Michele Pio Fasoli

d. 1716. These three friars lived together in Ethiopia. They were stoned to death because they refused to deny their Faith. They were Franciscan missionaries of Vienna.

Mar 5. St. John Joseph of the Cross

Saint John Joseph of the Cross was born on the Island of Ischia, Southern Italy, 1654; d. 5 March, 1739. From his earliest years he was given to prayer and virtue. So great was his love of poverty that he would always wear the dress of the poor, though he was of noble birth. At the age of sixteen years he entered the Order of St. Francis at naples, amongst the Friars of the Alcantarine Reform, being the first Italian to join this reform which had been instituted in Spain by St. Peter of Alcantara. Throughout his life he was given to the greatest austerity: he fasted constantly, never drank wine, and slept but three hours each night. In 1674 he was sent to found a friary at Afila, in Piedmont; and he assisted with his own hands in the building. Much against his will, he was raised to the priesthood. As superior, he always insisted upon performing the lowliest offices in the community. In 1702 he was appointed Vicar Provincial of the Alcantarine Reform in Italy. He was favoured in a high degree with the gift of miracles, people of every condition being brought to him in sickness. His zeal for souls was such that even in sickness he would not spare any labour for them. His great devotion was to our Blessed Lady, and he was urgent with his penitents that they also should cultivate this. He was beatified in 1789, and canonized in 1839. (from Catholic Encyclopedia Online Edition © 2003 by K. Knight)

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Mar 9 - St. Frances of Rome 1384-1440

Born in 1384, Frances belonged to a noble Roman family, and at the age of 12 she married another Roman noble, Lorenzo Ponziani. She would have preferred to become a nun, but obeyed her father and became an exemplary wife and the mother of three children. Soon after her marriage she fell seriously ill. Her husband called a man in who dabbled in magic, but Frances drove him out of the house in no uncertain terms. St. Alexis then appeared to her and cured her. From that time she began to be conscious of the presence and assistance of her guardian angel. He would give her a little nudge when she fell into any fault.

The Ponziani palace was in the Trastevere section of Rome, and just around the corner was the little church of San Francesco a Ripa. This church had been given in 1212 to St. Francis by the Roman lady Giacoma di Settesoli (Brother Jacoba), who in 1226 was present at the death of the Poverello. By 1414 at least, the adjoining friary was one of 34 belonging to the Observant reform movement in the First Order of St. Francis, which was begun in 1368 by Brother Paul or Paoluccio of Trinci and in the following century was promoted by such saints as St. Bernardin and St. John Capistran. It was at San Francesco a Ripa that Frances Ponziani was received into the Third Order of St. Francis; and one of the priests there, Father Bartholomew Bondi, became her spiritual director.

Living at the Ponziani palace with Frances was Vanozza, the wife of her oldest brother. She too had entertained thoughts of entering a convent before her marriage, and she joined Frances in her works of piety and charity. Together they spent hours of prayer in a disused attic or an old summer cottage in the garden. At seventeen Frances gave birth to her first son, John Baptist; and shortly afterwards her mother-in-law died. Frances was then placed in charge of the household; and she carried out her duties, not only efficiently, but also in a genuinely Christian manner. During a famine she gave away corn and wine to the poor so lavishly that her husband began to object; but when he found an empty granary miraculously filled with forty measures of wheat and an empty cask filled with wine, he allowed his wife full freedom.

Rome was invaded in 1410; and during the civil war which followed, a series of calamities befell the Ponziani family. Lorenzo, who fought with the papal troops, was wounded; and after Frances had nursed him to health, he went back to the war. John Baptist, the oldest son, was taken hostage, and did not return until peace was restored. A plague followed in the wake of the war, and Frances' second son and a daughter died of the disease. The peasants from the wasted Ponziani farm came to Frances, begging for food. Frances heroically devoted herself to the care of the sick, the starving, and the dying, and organized a group of Roman ladies to assist her in this work. For a time she too was stricken by the plague, but after she was suddenly cured she at once resumed her works of charity.

After his death, Frances' second son appeared to her and brought her an archangel to take the place of her guardian angel. The archangel's light was visible to her so that she could read by it. When she committed a slight fault, the archangel would hide himself, and his light would not shine again until she had made an act of contrition.

Shortly after his return, John Baptist married a flighty young lady, who took a strong dislike to Frances. But in the midst of one of her tempers, she was afflicted with a strange illness; and after Frances' hand calmed and cured her, she became a changed person. Frances placed the household in her care, and devoted herself henceforth entirely to works of charity in the city. In 1425, she and a half dozen other Roman ladies, her companions, were clothed as oblates of St. Benedict. This apparently did not cancel her membership in the Third Order; for, at this time she and Vanozza made a pilgrimage to Assisi, walking the one hundred miles from Rome to the city of St. Francis. Near Assisi St. Francis himself appeared to them, and provided the hungry and thirsty pilgrims with fresh, juicy pears by striking a wild pear tree with his stick.

In 1433, after Lorenzo's death Frances and her companions founded a religious community of Oblates. There they worked and prayed for the Holy Father and the peace of Rome, for the city was once more in turmoil. Returning to this convent after a visit to her sick son, Frances suddenly became ill and was taken back to the Ponziani palace. There she died after seven days, on March 9, 1440. Pope Paul V canonized her in 1608. Her tomb is beneath the high altar in the crypt of the Roman church which is now called Santa Francesca Romana in her honor. She is honored as the principal patron of all Benedictine oblates, but she is also one of the greatest saints who wore the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
O Lord, who didst honor Thy servant Frances with the friendly companionship of an angel, among other gifts, grant, we beseech Thee, that by the aid of her intercession we may deserve to be admitted to the company of the angels. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Mar 12. Bl. Angela Salawa

Blessed Angela Salawa, daughter of Bartholomew Salawa and Eva Bochenek poor but religious farmers, was born on September 9, 1881 in Siepraw, very barren and unproductive, distant region 18 kilometers of Cracovia. Angela was the youngest of nine brothers, born and grew up undernourished, weak and sickly, she was somewhat disobedient and capricious. She received some schooling and learned to read, but was not able to spell very well. But she became pious and eager to read good books after a period of rebellion. In her late teens, she entered to the Association of Santa Zita, (working with sick people.) Little by little she understood that her vocation was to suffer with Christ, and accept it resolutely, but conscious of its weakness. She prayed many hours before the Santísimo Sacrament (Blessed Sacrament) and read books of high mystic content, taking notes from the practical points that she found. By order of her confesor, she began to make notes of the mystical experiences. The lady in whose house she worked, became ill seriously and died, attended by Angela . After this, two relatives of the widower happened to live with her, and began to make difficulty for Angela in the life and the work. She wrote that it feels suddenly that Jesus says to her: "Daughter, why do you worry? I have not left to you ". In order to follow more of and near the poor Christ and crucificado, she becomes a Franciscan tertiary on March 15 1912, and is professed on the 6th of August of 1913. (From: Franciscanos.net (original language: Spanish))

Mar 18. St. Salvator of Horta

Saint Salvator of Horta, d. 1567. Franciscan confessor. Born at Santa Colomba, Gerona, Spain, he was orphaned as a child and became a shoemaker before joining the Franciscans in Barcelona as a lay brother. He worked for many years as a humble cook in the friary of Horta, near Tortosa, dying at the friary of Caliari, Sardinia. During his life, he was known for his many and severe austerities and his miracles. He was canonized in 1938. (Source: Catholic Online)



Mar 20. Bl. John of Parma

Born in Parma, Italy, in 1209; died 1289; cultus approved in 1777. After John was professed and ordained as a Franciscan, he taught theology at Bologna and Naples. In 1247, he was elected the 7th minister general of the Franciscans and held the office for ten years. He visited the Franciscan provinces of different countries, including England, and went to Constantinople as papal legate. He lived out his final 30 years in retirement at the hermitage of Greccio.

Mar 22. St. Benvenute of Osimo

Saint Benvenute of Osimo, d. 1282 was a Franciscan bishop. He was born in Ancona, Italy, and studied law in Bologna, a fellow student of St. Sylvester. Appointed archdeacon of Ancona, he went on to become the bishop of Osimo, Italy. Before his episcopal ordination, Benvenutus became a Franciscan. He was canonized by Pope Martin IV. (Source: Catholic Online)

Mar 23. St. Catherine of Genoa

Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447 – 15 September 1510) was an Italian Roman Catholic saint and mystic, admired for her work among the sick and the poor and remembered because of various writings describing both these actions and her mystical experiences.

Mar 24. Bl. Ludovico of Casoria

Blessed Ludovico of Casoria was a man who saw the face of Christ in those around him. He was born in Naples in 1814, and became a priest when he was only twenty-three. In the Franciscan friary he served, he began a Pharmacy as an outreach to the poor, as well as in other places. Also, infirmaries, to assist the poor.



from THE FRANCISCAN BOOK OF SAINTS
edited by Marion Habig, ofm
Copyright 1959 Franciscan Herald Press

Used with Permission

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Mar 30. St. Peter Regaldo

Saint Peter Regaldo, a Friar Minor and reformer, born at Valladolid, 1390; died at Aguilera, 30 March, 1456. His parents were of noble birth and conspicuous for their wealth and virtue. Having lost his father in his early youth, he was piously educated by his mother. At the age of ten years Peter begged to be admitted into the Seraphic Order, which favour was granted him three years afterwards in the convent of his native town. In 1404 he became one of the first disciples of Peter de Villacreces, who in 1397 had introduced into Spain the reform of the Observance of which he became one of the most zealous propagators. In the newly-founded convent at Aguilera Peter found the life of solitude, prayer, and eminent poverty, which had always been the greatest object of his desire. In 1415 he became superior of the convent at Aguilera and, on the death of Peter de Villacreces (1422), also of that at Tribulos or del Abroyo. He observed nine, fasting on bread and water, and was endowed with the gift of miracles and prophecy and of every virtue. When his body was exhumed thirty-six years after his death, at the instance of Isabella the Catholic, it was found incorrupt and placed in a more precious tomb. He was beatified by Innocent XI, 11 March, 1684, and canonized by Benedict XIV, 29 June, 1746. His feast is celebrated 13 May, the day of the translation of his body. In art he is represented with flames bursting from his heart. (from Catholic Encyclopedia Online Edition © 2003 by K. Knight)