FRANCESCO DA FABRIANO, blessed. — Franciscan, born on 2 September 1251, died on 22 April 1322. A member of the Venimbeni family, he entered the Franciscan Order in 1267; having become a priest, he exercised the ministry of preaching with great fruit in Fabriano and throughout the Marches region. In his native city he erected a large church in honor of St Francis and a convent of his Order, which he endowed with a notable library.
He also pursued a zealous literary activity, of which little, however, remains today. The manuscripts are enumerated by Wadding and Sbaralca: 1) Sermones multi; 2) Ars Praedicantium; 3) De caritate et excellentia indulgentiae S. Mariae de Portiuncola; 4) Tractatus de officio et dignitate praelati et sacerdoti evangelici.
Pius VI approved his cult in 1775.