12390208 Jacoba dei Settesoli

 

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"Friar" Jacoba deu Settesoli.

In the life of Saint Francis there are unique and endearing characters, but not all are friars. This is the case of a woman whom our beloved Saint called "Friar" like his male brothers. It was the noble Roman lady Jacoba dei Settesoli, of the nobility who, having been widowed very young and with two still small children, felt inclined to virtue. Knowing Francisco on one of his visits to Rome, and having become friends, he offered his hospitality and fine details of attention to Francis.

She is portrayed as a penitent, which would be tantamount to being a tertiary, and is not surprising. In Franciscan sources, "Friar" Jacoba is the one who houses Francis in his palace in Rome; He had a little sheep, a gift from Francis, who woke him up every morning to pray. And finally, she arrived in Assisi in the days prior to the Transition, taking the mostaccioli, sweets that she prepared and that the Seraphic Father liked, and also everything necessary for the burial.

There is an image that represents her next to Giovanni Velita, in the Greccio manger next to Francis, but it is very unlikely that this happened.

Now, in her tomb, a few meters from that of Saint Francis, there is a painting that shows her, dressed as a penitent, tied with a cord, carrying in her hand the shroud that she had prepared for him and being guided by an angel. towards Assisi, to bid farewell to his Seraphic Father.

She has not been officially registered in the canon of Saints, but we Franciscans remember the sweet memory of the daughter, sister, friend and confidante of the Saint of Assisi.

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"San Francesco a Ripa, fr. Jacopa's home in Rome"