MARIA FRANCESCA delle CINQUE PIAGHE, saint. - Franciscan tertiary, in the world Anna Maria Rosa Nicoletta Gallo, b. in Napoli on 25 March 1715, d. there on 6 Oct. 1791. At the age of 16 she suffered greatly at the hands of her father, who wished to force her into marriage. In 1731 she enrolled in the Franciscan Third Order, taking the name of Sister M. F. delle C. P., because of the great devotion she had cultivated from childhood to the Passion of the Redeemer, in which she later also participated sensibly, by a mystical gift, receiving the stigmata as well.
She suffered greatly from her relatives and from her own spiritual directors; interior dryness alternated with ecstasies. She distinguished herself by charity toward the poor and the sick, and had great devotion to the Eucharist; she was endowed with the gift of prophecy. At her death she was buried in the church of S. Lucia al Monte in Napoli. Beatified by Gregorio XVI in 1843, she was canonized by Pio IX in 1867. Feast: 5 Oct.