Italy: S. Francesca Romana – Rome patron saint of drivers

Rome: The feast day of the patron saint of motorists, S. Francesca Romana (1384-1444), is marked in Rome each year on March 9.

The Roman saint, who is buried in the crypt of the basilica named in her honour at the Roman Forum, is the patron of drivers because – according to legend – her path was always lit by an angel.

In the past motorists in Rome took their cars to be blessed as close as possible to the eighth-century Basilica di S. Francesca Romana but this is no longer possible due to traffic restrictions on Via dei Fori Imperiali.

The tradition, which began in 1928, once saw hundreds of cars line up in the area around the Colosseum each year.

In recent years a blessing for a token number of cars – with special permission – takes place on the first Sunday after the feast day.

The Monastero Oblate di S. Francesca Romana, near the Teatro di Marcello, also usually opens its doors specially only once a year, on 9 March, however this has not happened since before the covid pandemic.

In 1425 noble woman Francesca Bussi de’ Leoni founded the monastery and the Oblate Congregation of Tor de’ Specchi. She devoted her life to helping Rome’s poor and the sick, until her death in 1440.

She was canonised in 1608, and in 1925 Pope Pius XI declared her the patron saint of drivers.