Mary Frances of the Five Wounds
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Anna Maria Gallo, TOSF, better known as Mary Frances of the Five Wounds ( it, Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe, 25 March 1715 – 7 October 1791), was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
member of the Third Order of St. Francis who is honored as a saint in the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.


Life

She was born Anna Maria Gallo, the daughter of Francesco Gallo and Barbara Basinsin, in the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarter) of
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, a red-light district of the city, still known for its high crime. According to tradition, another saint, the Jesuit,
Francis de Geronimo Francesco de Geronimo, also Francis Jerome (17 December 1642 - 11 May 1716) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Jesuits. He was an energetic pastor who dedicated himself to missions across Naples either in large l ...
, predicted her future sanctity while she was still an infant. Her family was of the middle class, but her father, a weaver of gold lace, was a very violent man, who regularly abused his family physically, often severely.Heckmann, Ferdinand. "St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 6 Aug. 2013
/ref> When Gallo was sixteen, her father attempted to force her into a marriage with a young man of means who was seeking her hand. She refused and asked to join the Franciscan Third Order, through which she could live out a religious life in the family home. The
friars A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
of Naples were part of the reform of
Peter of Alcantara Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...
, and they and the tertiaries under their rule were known for the strictness of their lives. Through the intervention of a friar, Father Theophilus, permission to enter the Order was eventually granted by her father. Gallo was received into the Order on 8 September 1731 and began wearing the religious habit of the Order, which was an uncommon practice by that era. She also adopted the use of the religious name she took upon being received into the Order, out of her devotion to the
Blessed Mother Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, Francis of Assisi and the
Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...
. She continued to live in the family home to serve God as a consecrated virgin, as was customary in those days.''The Franciscan Book of Saints'', ed. by Marion Habig, ofm., Franciscan Herald Press, 1959
/ref> She took as her
spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...
, the Franciscan friar,
John Joseph of the Cross John Joseph of the Cross (15 August 1654 – 5 March 1739) (not to be confused with John of the Cross) - born Carlo Gaetano Calosinto - was an Italian priest and a professed member from the Order of Friars Minor who hailed from the island of Isch ...
, while her
confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Barnabite , image = Barnabites.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = One version of the Barnabite logo. "P.A." refers to Paul the Apostle and the three hills symbolize the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. , a ...
priest, Francis Xavier Bianchi, and she began to be known among her neighbors for her work of charity, helping the poor of the sector. She was a person of deep prayer, often spending long hours in meditation. In 1753 she joined with another Franciscan tertiary, known only as Maria Felice, and they moved into a small house owned by a priest, Giovanni Pessiri, who became their spiritual director. The two women occupied the second floor, sleeping on the floor, and the priest the floor above. She is said to have received the wounds of the
stigmata Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Sti ...
while living there and suffered patiently many physical afflictions and spiritual trials. She would wear gloves to cover the marks on her hands, while she did her work. She is also said to have had visions of Raphael the Archangel, who healed her of several afflictions."Archangel Raphael", Queen of Angels Foundation
/ref>


Veneration

Gallo was buried in the Franciscan Church of Santa Lucia al Monte in Naples, which she attended during her life. This church also contains the tomb of John Joseph, now also declared a saint. Gallo was declared
Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...
by Pope Pius VII, on 18 May 1803. She was
beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
by
Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...
on 12 November 1843. She was
canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1867. Her feast day is celebrated on 6 October. She was the first woman from Naples to have been declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Devotion to Gallo has long continued to be strong in the neighborhood where she lived, and of which she is the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
. The residents credit her intercession with the little damage the sector endured during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, when over 100 bombs were dropped on it. Her home has been preserved as a chapel and museum. Pope Pius IX, who canonized Gallo, declared her to be a patroness of expectant mothers and of women having difficulty conceiving. She is also the patroness of the Gallo World Family Foundation, which was founded to promote the development of Judeo-Christian values in the betterment of the world by members of the Gallo family scattered worldwide. On 6 October 2001, her remains were transferred from the Church of Santa Lucia to the house where she had spent the last half of her life. It is now the Shrine of St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds. It is still a common practice for expectant mothers to go there to be blessed with her relic. Many
votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
s from mothers who credit her with their successful deliveries are displayed in the sanctuary. In Scotland, Margaret Sinclair took the religious name Sister Mary Francis of the Five Wounds during her short-lived vocation in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Her major shrine in
St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh St Patrick's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in the Cowgate part of Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built from 1771 to 1774, and became a Catholic church in 1856. The facade of the church was designed by Reginald Fairlie in 1929. ...
has been given status by both
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
declaration, and
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
description of The Blessed Margaret as being "one of God’s little ones who, through her very simplicity, was touched by God with the strength of real holiness of life."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary Frances Of The Five Wounds 1715 births 1791 deaths 18th-century Neapolitan people Members of the Third Order of Saint Francis Stigmatics Franciscan saints 18th-century Christian saints Italian Roman Catholic saints Canonizations by Pope Pius IX Angelic visionaries Christian female saints of the Early Modern era 18th-century Italian women