Born to the aristocracy, the daughter of Paul Bussa and Jacobella de’ Roffredeschi. Married at age twelve to Lorenzo de’ Ponziani; her marriage lasted 40 years. Mother of three in 1400, 1404, and 1407. Widow.
Benedictine. Foundress of the Oblates of the Tor de’ Specchi (Collatines). Said to have been guided by an archangel only she could see. Spent her life and fortune, both as laywoman and religious, in the service of the sick and the poor, including the founding of the first home in Rome for abandoned children. Dictated 97 Visions, in which she saw many of the pains of Hell.
On her feast day priests bless cars due to her patronage of cars and drivers. Frances certainly never drove, but legend says that when she went abroad at night, her guardian angel went before her, lighting the road with a headlight-like lantern, keeping her safe in her travels.
