During her mother’s troubled pregnancy, she visited Saint John Joseph of the Cross, who was known for his heroic virtue and penance. He blessed her and stated, “Be not afraid, and take good care of the child God is sending you, for she will become a great saint.”

Anna Maria Gallo was born in Naples, on March 25, 1715 to a middle class family. She suffered from her father Francesco Gallo, who was greedy and severe with a strong temper. He mistreated her and subjected her to hard, incessant labor which brought her close to death. In contrast, her mother Barbara was gentle, pious, and patient in bearing the brutal conduct of her husband. From this, both suffered health issues.

When she was 16, her father sought to force her into marriage with a rich young man, for the prospect of fortune for himself, but she firmly refused. He grew enraged and beat her with a rope unmercifully until her mother rushed in to save her. She endured the suffering as an offering to Jesus Christ. He shut her up in a room with only bread and water where she prayed fervently for her family.

Through the intervention of Father Theophilus, her father finally saw the error in his ways and permitted Anna Maria to receive the habit of St. Peter of Alcantara as a 3rd Order Franciscan.

She took the name “Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus” out of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Saint Francis, and the Sacred Passion.

She showed herself to be a devout and disciplined soul, especially in the practice of devotions and her desire to always please God. On the Friday’s of Lent, she felt in her body, the very pains of the Passion as she made her daily Way of the Cross at the local church. She also developed the pains of the Stigmata but was saddened when she began drawing attention to herself. She therefore prayed that her suffering would be in private.

She gained the gift of prophecy, down to the finest detail. During a great famine of the country, those families she said she would pray for did not perish.

She was gifted with visions of Jesus but was also frequented with visits from her Guardian Angel. The brightness of the light which surrounded her when Jesus appeared would temporarily blind her and she required assistance to move about.

She lived as a recluse, living a life of prayer, but priest, religious, and pious persons went to her for light and counsel. Her charity and compassion, especially towards the afflicted and miserable, knew no bounds.

When she was 72, during a state of prayer before the Church’s Christmas Eve ceremony in front of their stable, Jesus showed her His birth in the grotto of Bethlehem, how wretched and poor it was, and how there was a very cold rain during the time of His birth, causing significant discomfort for the Holy Family.

Towards the end of her life, her body was tortured with a host of ailments, but she remained joyful. She was foretold of her death 1 year in advance and on the day prior she told Father Giovanni that she “will be departing tomorrow.”

On October 6, 1791, she died after receiving the Eucharist and kissing the feet of Christ on the Crucifix that was presented to her. She was 77.

She is the patron saint of Naples, Italy, and the Gallo World Family Foundation.

Her feast day is October 6.

For God’s Glory.