St. Margaret was raised in a poor family in Tuscany. Following the death of her mother when Margaret was just eleven, a new stepmother turned her out of the house. Eventually, with few apparent options, she eloped with a young nobleman, who kept her as his mistress. Though she bore him a son, he would not marry her. When he was eventually murdered, Margaret took this as a sign of God’s judgment on her life.
Penniless, she returned to her father’s house, but he would not take her in. Now homeless as well as destitute, she made her way to Cortona, where she had heard of the compassion of the Franciscan friars. She introduced herself by walking through town with a rope around her neck, a sign of her penitence. The friars quickly urged her to quit this spectacle and also curbed her proclivity for extremes of asceticism. Eventually she was accepted as a Franciscan tertiary. With other women she formed a nursing community, caring for the sick and the poor. Nevertheless, stories of her former life continued to generate gossip. She observed, “I see more Pharisees among Christians than surrounded Pilate.”
Over time, as reports spread of her holiness and her purported miracles, as well as her private colloquies with Christ, Margaret attracted more positive attention. The Franciscans urged her to embark on a public crusade to call sinners to conversion. Penitents from all over Italy, and as far away as France and Spain, made their way to Cortona to hear her spiritual discourses.
She died on February 22, 1297. She was canonized in 1728.
Show now that thou art converted; call others to repentance…. The graces I have bestowed on thee are not meant for thee alone.
—A message from the Lord to St. Margaret of Cortona
St. Conrad, a young nobleman from Piacenza, was out hunting one day when, in order to drive out his game, he ordered his servants to set fire to the surrounding brush-wood. Following a sudden turn in the wind, Conrad watched in horror as the fire consumed the neighboring fields. After returning quietly to town, he said nothing about his part in this disaster. But when a peasant was subsequently charged with the crime and sentenced to death, Conrad was filled with remorse. Stepping forward, he accepted the blame and paid for all the damages, though this left him nearly ruined. In this misfortune, however, Conrad saw the hand of God. Subsequently, he and his wife decided to give up all their property and pursue religious life. While his wife entered a convent of Poor Clares, Conrad entered the Third Order of St. Francis, joining a group of hermits in the Valley of Noto.
Contrary to his intentions, Conrad’s sacrifice caused him to be widely admired. To escape the throng of visitors, he retired to a remote grotto. But when his prayers were credited with ending a famine, he felt he had no choice but to welcome the stream of suffering pilgrims who came seeking his intervention. Many other miracles were credited to Conrad, and birds were reported to flutter over his head whenever he exited his hermitage. Discerning that his final hour had arrived, he lay on the ground in front of the crucifix and died on February 19, 1351. He was canonized in 1625.
Verdiana served as a housekeeper for rich relatives in Castelfiorentino, a town outside Florence. With the permission of her employers she joined a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James at Compostela in Spain. During the course of this journey, she made such a tremendous impression on her fellow pilgrims that they begged her to remain among them. She agreed on the condition that she might live as a hermit. Gladly, they build her a small cell attached to the wall of St. Antony’s oratory. There, at the age of twenty-six, following a solemn procession that included her confessor and a large crowd, she entered her cell, and allowed the entrance to be sealed behind her. In this room, with only a small window opening onto the oratory, she spent the following thirty-four years of her life.
Many people came to seek her prayers and spiritual counsel. The story circulated that Verdiana was joined in her cell by two snakes, which ate from her bowl. She also received human visitors, among them, apparently, St. Francis of Assisi, who is said to have admitted her to his Third Order.
When Verdiana died on February 10, 1242, the bells of Castelfiorentino spontaneously rang. Her cell became a famous site of pilgrimage. Her feast is observed by the Franciscans of February 16.
Jacoba of Settesoli was a young widow living in Rome. From the moment she first learned about Francis of Assisi, she longed to meet him. That opportunity arose when Francis and his companions traveled to Rome to seek the pope’s approval for their new order. After hearing the saint preach, Jacoba approached and asked how she might also follow in his path. Because she still had children to raise, Francis advised her not to give up her home. “A perfect life can be lived anywhere,” he said. “Poverty is everywhere. Charity is everywhere.”
As Francis was nearing death, he sent Jacoba a message, urging her to come quickly and to bring a shroud for his body and wax candles for his burial.
Following this counsel, Jacoba joined the Third Order of St. Francis, turned over administration of her property to her sons, and devoted herself to prayer and charitable works. She nevertheless remained close to Francis. He gave her a pet lamb, which used to follow her about. As Francis was nearing death, he sent Jacoba a message, urging her to come quickly and to bring a shroud for his body and wax candles for his burial.
She hastened to Assisi, doing as he had asked. She also brought with her a batch of his favorite almond cookies. At first there was consternation among the brothers about allowing a woman into the friary, but Francis interceded and welcomed her as “Brother Jacoba.” Thus, she was admitted and so she remained beside him until his death. Afterward he was buried in her shroud.
Jacoba remained in Assisi until her own death on February 8, 1273. She was buried near the tomb of St. Francis.
While I was praying a voice within me said, “Go, visit your father, blessed Francis, without delay, and hurry, because if you delay long you will not find him alive.”
St. Joan, daughter of King Louis XI of France, was apparently misshapen from birth, a fact that incited her father’s contempt. When she was eight weeks old, he arranged her betrothal to her two-year-old cousin Louis, Duke of Orleans. The marriage transpired when Joan was twelve. Though her husband accepted the arrangement for pragmatic reasons, he felt no affection for his bride. Joan was subjected to constant abuse and ridicule in the court. She accepted all this without shame or complaint. But when Louis, after becoming king, sought to have the marriage annulled on the grounds of Joan’s deformity, she resisted as best she could. In the end, however, Pope Alexander VI decided in Louis’s favor, judging that the marriage had not been entered freely. Joan accepted this decision as the will of God and retired to Bourges to devote herself to a life of prayer and charity. Louis bestowed on her the title Duchess of Berry.
With the support of her Franciscan confessor, Joan established a religious foundation devoted to “the ten virtues of Our Lady.” The first postulants were eleven girls from the local school – some of them not yet ten. Under a rule that eventually received papal approval, they became the Franciscan order of the Annonciades of Bourges. Publicly renouncing her title and her property, Joan embraced a life of voluntary poverty. She died within a year. Her canonization followed in 1950.
