LIPPI, FRANCO, blessed. — A Carmelite, better known by the name Franco di Siena, born on 3 December 1211 at Grotti (near Siena), died on 11 December 1291 at Siena. Left without his parents, he enlisted when young in the militia in the service of the Sienese and gave himself over to a scandalous life. At the age of 65 he converted and publicly performed the most rigorous penance; five years later he became a lay brother of the Carmelites at Siena. Endowed with charisms, visions, and prophecy, his death occurred amid celestial prodigies. His cult was approved in 1308 by Clement V; his feast is celebrated in the Carmelite Order on 11 December.
BIBL.: G. Lombardelli, La vita del b. Franco Senese da Grotti, Siena 1590; S. Grassi, Vita del b. F. L., Firenze 1680, 1690; L. Evasio, Elogio sacro del b. Franco da Siena, in Opere di Evasio Leone, II, Napoli 1825, pp. 125–48; Stanislao di S. Teresa, Il b. F. L. Cenni storici, in La stella del Carmelo, Siena 1941, pp. 67–79. Ambrogio di Santa Teresa