Francesca Occhino (Merveilles du Monde Map Game)

Francesca Occhino (c.1277 – 30 December 1318) was a wealthy Italian widow, which is remembered by her efforts to help the poors of Viterbo during the Great Famine. She was also a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis.

She was beatified in 1323 by Pope Gregory XI after a miracle credited to her intercession was confirmed.

Life
Francesca was born in Viterbo about 1277. Her parents were Federico and Giulia Ribaudo. Since very young, she wanted to be a nun of the Order of Saint Clare. However, her parents were against it and forced her to marry a rich man named Damiano Occhino. The marriage was happy but Francesca never have children. When Damiano died, he left to her a great fortune.

When the Great Famine ravaged Italy, Francesca started to use her fortune to help the hungry. She distributed food the poor in her house, with crowds forming there. She died in 23 June 1318, surrounded by the people that she helped during the Famine. Due her actions, her body was allowed to be buried in the chapel of convent of the Order of Saint Clare in Viterbo. She leaved her possessions to the Church and her money was added in the Fund of the Poor while her house was given to the nuns of Saint Clare and was turned in a center of charity to the poors.

Miracles
Soon after Francesca death, the convent where Francesca Occhino was buried started to attract pilgrims seeking for miracles. After a petition of the nuns of the Order of Saint Clare and of the people of Viterbo, pope Gregory XI formed a comission to investigate the life of Occhino and due to her actions of charity during the Famine, the pope declared her as Servant of God in 1319. The miracle that allowed her beatification was the cure of the hand paralysis of a boy after his mother prayed for Francesca's intercession.

Pope Gregory XI beatified her in 1323, together with Margaret of Castello. The feast day of Francesca Occhino is June 23.