Trauma and Healing: Santa Francesca Romana

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SANTA FRANCESCA ROMANA

TRAUMA AND HEALING

anta Francesca Romana lived at a time of great violence, in a city filled with violence and evil. Her monastery, at the foot, of Rome's Campidoglio, is immaculate and unchanged from her day. The corridor by her cell is frescoed in grisaille with nightmare visions she had, like the vision Julian of Norwich also had had of the Devil at her throat. While the nuns' chapel is gloriously frescoed in colour with all the tales of miracles she performed, going about the city, healing its wounds, its trauma.

But first she had to heal her own.

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The corridor with her cell painted with the visions she had of evil spirits, from which her guardian angel, given her by her dead son, Evangelista, saved her.

How Blessed Francesca while in prayer in her cell was tormented by demons who beat and bruised her cruelly,

How Blessed Francesca, going to heat a tile to put in her infirm husband's bed was met by a serpent on her way there and by a lion on her way back.

How the evil spirits came to her while she was in prayer in her cell, dragging her from it and throwing her in an ash pile.

How the demon came to the Blessed FRancesca in the form of a many-headed dragon from which St Paul rescued her.
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How the Blessed Francesca in prayer was assailed by evil spirits who floggged her with bundles of dead snakes.

How the Blessed Francesca came across a corpse filled with worms on which the Devil pushed her down.

How, while going to hang out the washing of her ill husband, she met three evil spirits masquerading as religious.

How the Blessed Francesca met the Evil One disguised as her Patron, Saint Onofrio.

How she met a flock of sheep which changed into wolves and a dragon attacking her.

While in glorious colour in the Chapel we see all her miracles of healing, amidst the Quattrocento architecture and culture of Rome. André Vauchez has argued that Canonization documents are as valid as are Inquisition ones for studying the Middle Ages, the Renaissance. Here we see, visually, infinite detail, just as much as in the Lorenzetti panels to the life of St Umiltà, that can tell us everything about domestic archiecture, monastic architectural, church architecture and their liturgy.

Janni had been ill a long time, his leg becoming gangrenous, and Beata Francesca was sent for who immediately healed it. In this she is like St Umiltà who healed the gangrenous leg of the Vallombrosan monk.

A man called Paolo had his head and leg hurt, Beata Francesca making the sign of the cross on his head, healed it, and, making the sign of the cross on the knee, rejoined it.

Coming out of church on the St Mary Bridge the Blessed Francesca, seeing a man with his arm almost cut off, was moved by compassion and, touching it, he was immediately healed.

Thomas had a hump which the Blessed Francesca, putting her hand on it, immediately healed

Arduella, being a long time paralysed, was carried to the Blessed Francesca who immediately healed her.

A girl called Camilla mute from birth had her tongue touched by the Blessed Francesca and immediately began to speak

Beaten by others and left for dead from the blows to his head, while he was dying, Blessed Francesca healed him.

While gathering wood Paul fell into the river and was under the water. Pulled out of the water he was seen to have drowned but the Blessed Francesca, making the sign of the cross, resuscitated him.

Stephen was wounded on the head, the doctor consigning him to Blessed Francesca as a hopeless case. She, touching his head, healed him.

A young man, who had cut his leg while axeing wood in the countryside, begged her to heal its gangrene. Which she did.

A mother in tears asks the Blessed Francesca to raise her dead child, suffocated in the night from sleeping beside her, to life. And she does. St Umiltà carried out a similar miracle in Florence. Likewise did St Birgitta.

Thus she healed an entire city and was beloved by it.

It is in this most beautifully frescoed chapel that the nuns, after having passed along the corridor of trauma, make and consecrate with their prayers the oil Santa Francesca Romana taught them to use in their healing of the sick.