Give Him Up

Our primary source for this story is the Life of St. Frances of Rome, and Others by Georgiana Fullerton. You can read it online for free at Project Gutenberg.

St. Frances' eldest son, Giovanni Baptista, the one in the story, was 8 or 9 years old when these events took place.

This is our second story of St. Frances of Rome. Our first story was told almost a year ago.

Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, the church where St. Frances of Rome prayed after handing over her son, and where she and her son were reunited. Note the large number of stairs. To the left is the back of the “Wedding Cake.”

The exterior of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli belies the interior, which is quite stunning

The Victor Emmanuel II Monument, a.k.a. the “Wedding Cake.” If you search “Rome wedding cake,” this pops up, so that’s official enough of a name for our purposes.

Our source for this story, a very old copy of the Life of St. Francis of Rome

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We really messed up the trivia question, as the real answer was not at all what we intended and is so complicated that it requires a whole bonus episode to explain.