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| Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe, ora pro nobis |
October 6th is the Feast of Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe (St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds), Mystic and Stigmatic. Patroness of expectant mothers and women having difficulty conceiving, she is the protectress of the Quartieri Spagnoli, or Spanish Quarter of Naples.
In 1856, King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies transformed her house on the Vico Tre Re a Toledo into a small church, which he named after her. To this day, pregnant women and couples trying to conceive make a pilgrimage to the sanctuary and pray for her intercession while sitting on her miraculous chair.
In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe. Pictured is a devotee's decade bracelet with the Neapolitan saint’s image. Evviva Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe!
Prayer to Santa Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe
Santa Maria Francesca, who bearing humiliations and suffering you have shared the pain and anguish borne by Jesus in his Passion, help us to understand that pain, to look at Jesus crucified with the tenderness of a mother that would want to substitute herself with Him so to not make Him suffer anymore. Saint Maria Francesca, you who have made the Eucharist the only great desire of your life, help us welcome in us with faith and awareness, the consecrated Host. Santa Maria Francesca, you who have exhorted us to have faith in God and in the Virgin Mary, help us to pray to them with the trust and ardor with which you prayed. Santa Maria Francesca, be our guide, teach us to listen to Jesus and to accompany us on the path that He has prepared for each of us. Amen
