Francinaina Cirer Carbonell
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Sencelles, Mallorca, Kingdom of Spain
Sencelles, Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Kingdom of Spain
Francinaina Cirer Carbonell | |
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| Born | 1 June 1781 Sencelles, Mallorca, Kingdom of Spain |
| Died | 27 February 1855 (aged 73) Sencelles, Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Kingdom of Spain |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 1 October 1989, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 27 February |
Francinaina Cirer Carbonell (1 June 1781 – 27 February 1855) was a Spanish Roman Catholic member of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of Mallorca. She later assumed the religious name Francinaina of the Sorrowful Mother of God. Although she was illiterate, she went on to found the Community of the Sisters of Charity despite this impediment. She reportedly experienced angelic visions on numerous occasions. She was beatified on 1 October 1989 a second miracle attributed to her is currently under investigation.[1][2]
Francinaina Cirer Carbonell was born in Spain on 1 June 1781 as the last of six children to Paulo Cirer and Joan Carbonell. She grew up in a pious household and was solicitous of those who required help. Carbonell did not receive an education and as a result of this was illiterate. In 1788 she received the sacrament of confirmation and in 1791 received her first communion. In 1813, she became a member of the Brotherhood of the SS. Sacrament in her parish.[3]
She soon wanted to enter the convent in Palma and manifested her desire to become a religious to her parents but this was something that her father was opposed to. It was not until his death in 1810 that she was able to embark on the path to religious life. It was also around this time that her mother died in 1807 and five brothers died between 1788 and 1804.[4] Carbonell spent the next three decades in her own home in a routine of charitable acts and penance. She also taught catechism and helped the sick and the poor. Soon others sought her for advice and she was a reconciler of estranged married couples and other relationships. This earned her the moniker of the "Saint of Sansellas".[5]
Soon she felt called to establish a sisterhood of Vincentines in her town and thus donated her time to do this with two other women. She ensured the purpose of her congregation was to continue the work that Carbonell herself did and this involved teaching catechism as well as home visitation for the sick. She took as her religious name Francinaina of the Sorrowful Mother of God at her profession on 7 December 1851.[6] She often had visions of angels and once was reported to have levitated from the ground in an ecstatic state. She once had a vision of angels with violins.[7] Carbonell died in 1855 of a stroke. The number of people who attended her funeral was immense.
