# Matins Nocturn 2 reading for St. Frances of Rome, Widow (Mar 9) —
# SanctiM/03-09.txt inherits the whole day (`@Sancti/03-09`) with no
# Nocturn 2/3 override, so this saint's own vita is sourced from the
# Tridentine track exactly as for a pre-1955 saint (see memory
# vu-matins-pre1955-saints, vu-matins-sanctim-saints).
# web/www/horas/Latin/Sancti/03-09.txt, English/Sancti/03-09.txt.
# Lectio4-6 combined into one reading, one continuous vita, no genuine
# source break. No responsory given in the source.
id: st-frances-of-rome
readings:
  - nocturn: 2
    isGospel: false
    text:
      la: >-
        Francisca nobilis matrona Romana, ab ineunte ætate illustria dedit virtutum exempla:
        etenim pueriles ludos et illecebras mundi respuens, solitudine et oratione magnopere
        delectabatur. Undecim annos nata, virginitatem suam Deo consecrare, et monasterium
        ingredi proposuit: parentum tamen voluntati humiliter obtemperans, Laurentio de
        Pontianis, juveni æque diviti ac nobili nupsit. In matrimonio arctioris vitæ propositum,
        quantum licuit, semper retinuit: a spectaculis, conviviis, aliisque hujusmodi
        oblectamentis abhorrens, lanea ac vulgari veste utens, et quidquid a domesticis curis
        supererat temporis, orationi aut proximorum utilitati tribuens: in id vero maxima
        sollicitudine incumbens, ut matronas Romanas a pompis sæculi et ornatus vanitate
        revocaret. Quapropter domum Oblatarum, sub regula sancti Benedicti, congregationis
        Montis Oliveti, adhuc viro alligata, in Urbe instituit. Viri exsilium, bonorum
        jacturam, ac universæ domus mœrorem non modo constantissime toleravit: sed gratias agens
        cum beato Job, illud frequenter usurpabat: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit: sit nomen
        Domini benedictum.


        Viro defuncto, ad prædictam Oblatarum domum convolans, nudis pedibus, fune ad collum
        alligato, humi prostrata, multis cum lacrimis earum numero adscribi suppliciter
        postulavit. Voti compos facta, licet esset omnium mater, non alio tamen quam ancillæ,
        vilissimæque feminæ, et immunditiæ vasculi titulo gloriabatur. Quam vilem sui
        existimationem et verbo declaravit et exemplo: sæpe enim e suburbana vinea revertens, et
        lignorum fascem proprio capiti impositum deferens, vel eisdem onustum agens per Urbem
        asellum, pauperibus subveniebat, in quos étiam largas eleemosynas erogabat:
        ægrotantesque in xenodochiis visitans, non corporali tantum cibo, sed salutaribus monitis
        recreabat. Corpus suum vigiliis, jejuniis, cilicio, ferreo cingulo, crebrisque flagellis
        in servitutem redigere jugiter satagebat. Cibum illi semel in die herbæ et legumina, aqua
        potum præbuit. Hos tamen corporis cruciatus aliquando confessarii mandato, a cujus ore
        nutuque pendebat, modice temperavit.


        Divina mysteria, præsertim vero Christi Domini passionem, tanto mentis ardore, tantaque
        lacrimarum vi contemplabatur, ut præ doloris magnitudine pene confici videretur. Sæpe
        étiam cum oraret, maxime sumpto sanctissimæ Eucharistiæ sacramento, spiritu in Deum
        elevata, ac cælestium contemplatione rapta, immobilis permanebat. Quapropter humani
        generis hostis variis eam contumeliis ac verberibus a proposito dimovere conabatur: quem
        tamen illa imperterrita semper elusit; Angeli præsertim præsidio, cujus familiari
        consuetudine gloriosum de eo triumphum reportavit. Gratia curationum et prophetiæ dono
        enituit, quo et futura prædixit, et cordium secreta penetravit. Denique meritis et
        miraculis clara, migravit ad Dominum, anno ætatis suæ quinquagesimo sexto. Quam Paulus
        quintus Pontifex Maximus in Sanctorum numerum retulit.
      en: >-
        The noble Roman matron Frances was a pattern of godliness from her earliest years. As a
        child she shrank from games, and set no store by the amusements of the world, but
        delighted to be continually alone and engaged in prayer. At the age of eleven years she
        desired to consecrate her virginity to God, and to enter a convent, but humbly yielded
        obedience to the wishes of her parents, and was married to Lawrence de' Pontiani, a young
        man whose rank was equal to his wealth. As a wife she persevered, as far as she lawfully
        could, in her determination to lead an austere life; she abstained as much as possible
        from going to shows, feasts, and such like amusements, dressed plainly in woollen stuffs,
        and spent in prayer or the service of her neighbour whatever time she did not occupy with
        her duties as mistress of her husband's house. She strove earnestly to wean the married
        women of Rome from the vanities of the world and the frivolities of dress. To this end she
        founded during her husband's lifetime the Sisterhood of the Oblates, under the rule of the
        Benedictine congregation called of the Mount of Olives. When it pleased God that her
        husband should be banished, all her goods taken away, and her home ruined, she meekly bowed
        down before His holy will, often repeating the words of the blessed Job: The Lord gave, and
        the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.


        On her husband's death she betook herself immediately to the house of the Oblates, and,
        with her feet bare and a rope round her neck, threw herself down on the threshold,
        entreating the sisters with tears to receive her into their number. When she obtained her
        wish, although she was the mother of them all, she would be among them only as one that
        served, glorying rather to be called the most degraded of women and a vessel of
        uncleanness. Her lowly esteem of herself was shown both by her word and example. She passed
        often through the city from a vineyard in the country carrying a bundle of sticks on her
        head, or driving an ass laden with faggots; she succoured the needy, for whom she collected
        large alms, and visited the sick in the hospitals, ministering to them both food for the
        body and exhortations healthful for their souls. She strove continually to bring her body
        into subjection by watchings, fastings, haircloth, the wearing of an iron girdle, and the
        often use of a scourge. She never ate but once a day, and then only vegetables, and she
        took no drink but water. These severities she however sometimes relaxed, in obedience to
        her confessor, on whose word and wishes she framed her customs.


        So great was her mental realisation of the things of God, and chiefly of the sufferings of
        the Lord Christ, and so abundant her tears in contemplating them, that she seemed sometimes
        about to sink under her grief. Often when she was engaged in prayer, and principally after
        she had received the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, her spirit became altogether
        lifted up to God, and she remained motionless, carried away by the thought of heavenly
        things. The enemy of man assailed her with diverse reproaches and buffetings to break her
        off her intent, but she feared him not, and with the help of an Angel whom God gave her to
        be her familiar friend, she won a noble victory over the tempter. God glorified her with
        the gifts of healing and of prophecy, whereby she foretold things to come, and saw the
        secrets of the hearts of men. She departed to be with the Lord, famous for good works and
        miracles, in the fifty-sixth year of her age. The Supreme Pontiff Paul V. caused her to be
        numbered among the saints.
    status: { la: verified, en: verified }
