"It was on the 21st of March, the festival of St. Benedict, that Francesca herself entered the convent, not as the foundress, but as a humble suppliant for admission. At the foot of the stairs, having taken off her customary black gown, her veil, and her shoes, and placed a cord around her neck, she knelt down, kissed the ground, and, shedding an abundance of tears, made her general confession aloud in the presence of all the Oblates; she described herself as a miserable sinner, a grievous offender against God, and asked permission to dwell amongst them as the meanest of their servants; and to learn from them to amend her life, and enter upon a holier course. The spiritual daughters of Francesca hastened to raise and embrace her; and clothing her with their habit, they led the way to the chapel, where they all returned thanks to God. While she remained there in prayer, Agnese de Lellis, the superioress, assembled the sisters in the chapter-room, and declared to them, that now their true mother and foundress had come amongst them, it would be absurd for her to remain in her present office; that Francesca was their guide, their head, and that into her hands she should instantly resign her authority. They all applauded her decision, and gathering around the Saint, announced to her their wishes. As was to be expected, Francesca strenuously refused to accede to this proposal, and pleaded her inability for the duties of a superioress. The Oblates had recourse to Don Giovanni, the confessor of Francesca, who began by entreating, and finally commanded her acceptance of the charge. His order she never resisted; and accordingly, on the 25th of March, she was duly elected to that office."--_Lady Georgina Fullerton's Life of Sta. Francesca Romana._
"Sta. Francesca Romana is represented in the dress of a Benedictine nun, a black robe and a white hood or veil; and her proper attribute is an angel, who holds in his hand the book of the Office of the Virgin, open at the words, '_Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et cum gloria suscepisti me_' (Ps. lxxiii. 23, 24); which attribute is derived from an incident thus narrated in the acts of her canonisation. Though unwearied in her devotions, yet if, during her prayers, she was called away by her husband on any domestic duty, she would close her book, saying that 'a wife and a mother, when called upon, must quit her God at the altar, and find him in her household affairs.' Now it happened once, that, in reciting the Office of Our Lady, she was called away four times just as she was beginning the same verse, and, returning the fifth time, she found that verse written upon the page in letters of golden light by the hand of her guardian angel."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 151.