About
In the church that she established, St. Francesca Romana, the patron saint of drivers, resides.
The skeleton of the basilica's namesake is kept in the crypt below, where she is still holding her prayer book and wearing her habit. The Olivetan Oblates of Mary, a religious community for widowed women that provided aid to the needy and ill, were established in 1421 by St. Francesca Romana. She had a dark side despite her piety. She was renowned for her incredibly cruel mortifications, which included flogging and burning herself with animal fat. She even drank for a while from a human skull in an attempt to stave off the devil.
