FRANCESCO da FABRIANO, Blessed. — Francesco was born on 2 September 1251 and died on 22 April 1322. A member of the Venimbeni family, he entered the Franciscan Order in 1267; after his ordination to the priesthood, he exercised the ministry of preaching with great fruitfulness in Fabriano, in the Picene region. In his native city, he built a large church in honor of St. Francis and a convent of his Order, which he endowed with a notable library.
He also carried out an active literary activity, though little of it remains today. The manuscripts are listed by Wadding and Sbarale: 1) *Sermones multi*; 2) *Ars Praedicantium*; 3) *De veritate et excellentia invisibilis*; 4) *Mariae de Portincotta*; 5) *Tractatus de officio et dignitate praelati et sacerdotis evangelici*.
Pius VI approved his cult in 1775.