Coloma Antònia Martí y Valls

Sister Francesca spent her entire consecrated life within the monastery of Divine Providence in Badalona. This convent had been founded in 1853 under the impetus of Mother Teresa Arguyol i Fontseca, founder of the Poor Clares of Divine Providence, in order to offer free education to poor young girls and the daughters of workers during a period of strong industrialization in the city. Within this institution, Sister Francesca put her talents at the service of education by becoming one of the teachers at the girls' school attached to the monastery. Over the years, the community entrusted her with various positions of trust: she served successively as choir vicar, sacristan, infirmarian, mistress of novices, and mistress of simple professed sisters. She distinguished herself by her joyful obedience, frequently choosing the most humble and arduous tasks of the house.

Sister Francesca led an intense mystical life, characterized by a spousal love for Christ and a constant spirit of penance and reparation for the sins of the world. Her community companions testified to her heroic virtues and extraordinary graces, such as interior locutions, ecstasies, and the gift of prophecy, which she always strove to keep hidden in humility and secrecy. In 1891, she renewed her religious consecration along with all her sisters. Although she had always been considered one of the most robust nuns in the monastery, she fell gravely ill. While the community doctor did not consider her condition alarming, Sister Francesca announced with serenity that she would not survive this illness. She died in the odor of sanctity on June 4, 1899, in Badalona, at the age of 39. She was buried the following day in the monastery crypt.

The reputation for holiness of Sister Francesca grew rapidly after her death. Many faithful from Badalona and the surrounding areas commended themselves to her prayers and requested pieces of her veil or rosary as relics. During the Spanish Civil War, while the monastery suffered significant damage, her tomb was miraculously preserved from desecration. The cause for beatification was officially opened on November 12, 1925, by Msgr. Josep Miralles i Sbert, Coadjutor Bishop of Barcelona. Her spiritual writings were approved by the Congregation of Rites in 1942, and the process of beatification and canonization was formally introduced in Rome in 1956. In 1960, her body was exhumed from the crypt and transferred to the monastery church to be exposed for public veneration. On May 19, 2018, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby declaring her Venerable.

Sister Francesca's spirituality is centered on the contemplation of the wounds of Jesus Christ, a mystery whose name she bears in religion. Her life is an offering of love lived in the silence of the cloister, in reparatory prayer, and in humble service through teaching and caring for the sick. Today, her memory remains alive in Badalona and in Catalonia. The Poor Clares of Divine Providence continue to watch over her tomb and spread her devotion. Her example of a life hidden in God, uniting contemplation and fraternal charity, remains a source of inspiration for the Franciscan family and the faithful.