Blessed Ludovica Albertoni: Mamma of Rome

On January 31, Franciscans remember Blessed Ludovica (Louise) Albertoni (1473-1533), renowned for her works of charity and deep mystical union with God.

Early life

Ludovica was a child of Renaissance Rome, born in 1473 to the noble couple Stefano Albertoni and Lucretia Tebaldi. Unfortunately, her father died when she was two and her mother quickly remarried, so Ludovica was entrusted to the care of two paternal aunts who nurtured her in the faith and provided her with an excellent education. Her good looks and vibrant personality made her popular among the young nobility of Rome, but she preferred to focus on prayer and study.

At the age of twenty, through family arrangements, Ludovica was betrothed to a noble of the Trastevere quarter of Rome, Giacomo della Cetera. She willingly entered into the union and soon gave birth to three daughters. Unfortunately, her husband was arrogant, moody and hot-tempered; however, Ludovica responded quietly with self-sacrifice and devotion. Giacomo died in 1506 after a long illness, leaving her widowed. These were difficult years, as her brother-in-law tried to gain control of the family estate, but Ludovica fought him in court and won control of the assets for herself and her daughters.

Devotion to works of charity

Ludovica saw this new autonomy as an opportunity to give herself more deeply to God. She reserved the greater part of the estate in trust for her daughters’ future; keeping a smaller portion for herself, she became a Secular Franciscan at the Church of San Francesco a Ripa in Trastevere, devoting herself to works of charity. As she said: “In the past I was more my husband's than myself, so I could not dedicate myself to you, O Jesus. Now, living completely on my own, I stop being ‘mine’ to be all yours.”

The Church of San Francesco a Ripa, where Bl. Ludovica became a Secular Franciscan and was later buried

Mamma of Rome

In a particular way, Ludovica devoted herself to the care of unfortunate young women, bringing them into her home from the streets, saving them from prostitution, and teaching them weaving and other useful trades. Her charitable outreach to the people of Trastevere came to a culmination during the terrible catastrophe of the “Sack of Rome” (1527-28), when thousands of mutinous unpaid troops of the Emperor Charles V stormed the city, looting, killing, and holding citizens for ransom. By late 1527, Rome faced famine and a serious outbreak of the plague. Through all of this, Ludovica poured herself out in works of charity to alleviate the suffering, earning herself the title of “Mamma of Rome.”

The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni distributing Alms (Giovanni Battista Gaulli ca. 1670), Getty Museum

Intense spiritual life

Meanwhile, people noticed Ludovica’s intense spiritual life, telling of her levitations and other experiences of religious ecstasy. Now in failing health, she died of a fever on January 31, 1533 and was buried in the church of San Francesco a Ripa. The people of Rome did not forget her. In 1606, public ceremonies were instituted on the anniversary of her death; in 1625 she was named co-patron of the city of Rome.

Ludovica’s memory in the Church was especially preserved due to her descendant, Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi degli Albertoni (+1698), who had risen in the Roman Curia and was adopted by Pope Clement X in 1670. Ludovica was officially beatified in 1671, and in 1675 her body was moved to a new location in San Francisco a Ripa, where Cardinal Paluzzi commissioned the most famous sculptor of the era, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, to fashion a monumental tomb, considered today to be one of the masterpieces of Baroque art. Bernini chose to capture Ludovica in her last moments, achieving in death total union with God.

Today, Ludovica no longer has a place in the general Franciscan calendar, but her memory is celebrated locally in Rome and some other places.

Cover image: Funerary monument of Blessed Ludovica by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Church of San Francesco a Ripa, Rome