Church of Santa Francesca Romana
The burial place of St. Frances of Rome.
St. Frances of Rome → Plan a trip hereThe Story
The Basilica of Santa Francesca Romana rises at the edge of the Roman Forum, built into the ruins of the ancient Temple of Venus and Roma along the Via Sacra. Known for many centuries as Santa Maria Nova, the church has been in the care of the Olivetan Benedictine monks since the fourteenth century, and it took its present name after the canonization of St. Frances of Rome, whose relics rest in the crypt beneath the high altar. Frances (1384–1440) was a Roman noblewoman who married Lorenzo Ponziani and raised a family while the city suffered war, plague, and famine. She opened her household and its wealth to the sick and the starving, nursing the poor in Rome's hospitals. In 1425 she founded a community of women dedicated to prayer and works of mercy, later known as the Oblates of Tor de' Specchi, which she joined fully after her husband's death. Tradition holds that she was granted the near-constant, visible companionship of her guardian angel, a grace long associated with her memory. She was canonized by Pope Paul V in 1608, and the ancient church that received her body was rededicated in her honor. In 1925 Pope Pius XI named her patroness of automobile drivers, and to this day Romans bring their cars to be blessed near the basilica around her feast on March 9. Today the basilica remains a place of quiet pilgrimage a few steps from the Colosseum, where visitors venerate the saint's relics in the crypt and encounter a model of lay holiness: a wife, mother, and mystic who showed that heroic charity can flourish in the middle of family life.
Church Recognition
Santa Francesca Romana is a minor basilica and titular church of Rome; St. Frances of Rome was canonized by Pope Paul V in 1608, and her relics are venerated in the basilica's crypt with the Church's full approval.
Catholic Teaching
The veneration of St. Frances of Rome's relics reflects the Catholic understanding of the communion of saints (CCC 946–962) and the Church's approval of honoring saints' relics as an expression of popular piety (CCC 1674); her life bears witness to the universal call to holiness lived out in marriage, motherhood, and service to the poor.
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Pilgrims visit the crypt containing the relics of St. Frances of Rome, the twelfth-century apse mosaic, and the ancient Marian icon kept in the basilica. Her feast on March 9 draws Romans for the traditional blessing of automobiles, and the church's setting beside the Roman Forum makes it an easy addition to any pilgrimage through the heart of ancient Rome.
Go Deeper
Read the life of St. Frances of Rome in Butler's Lives of the Saints, and see the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the communion of saints (CCC 946–962) and popular piety (CCC 1674). The Diocese of Rome and the Olivetan Benedictine community provide information on the basilica, which is described in most guides to the churches of the Roman Forum.
Location
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In the Area
Other sacred sites within 40 miles.
- Basilica of Sts. Cosmas and Damian <1 mi
- Basilica of Sts. John and Paul (Tomb of St. Paul of the Cross) <1 mi
- Basilica of San Clemente <1 mi
- Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island <1 mi
- Church of the Gesu (Tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola) <1 mi
- Basilica of St. Mary Major (Relics of St. Jerome) <1 mi
- Basilica of St. Mary Major <1 mi
- Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere <1 mi