Saint Florin was a Roman soldier who advanced through the ranks to commander. He also was responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades. He was a Christian who did not enforce proscription ( public identification and official condemnation of enemies of the state) of Christians in his territory. Aquilinus was sent to investigate these reports. He refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods and he was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Standing on the funeral pyre he is reputed to have said, If you wish to know that I am not afraid of your torture, light the fire, and in the name of the Lord I will climb onto it. The apprehensive soldiers decided to drown him instead. They drowned him in the Enns River with a millstone around his neck. ( See painting by Albrecht Altdorfer) The name ‘Florin’ is given to many boys in Bavaria and Austria to secure the saint’s patronage against fire. Saint Florin is the patron saint of Poland and Austria. He is also celebrated in Hungary. Sources Wikipedia The Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

Saint Frances of Rome was an Italian saint who was a wife, mother (six children), organizer of charitable services and a Benedictine oblate (a person dedicated to a monastic or religious life). As an 11 year old she had wanted to be a nun but within a year she was forced to marry Lorenzo Ponziani, a commander of the papal troops in Rome. They were happily married for 40 years- he was frequently at war, she spent her time visiting the poor and taking care of the sick. Twice she turn her home/castle into a hospital. She lost two children because of the plague. With Lorenzo’s approval she founded on August 15th, 1425 the Oblates of Mary. In March 1433 she founded a monastery at Tor de’ Specchi in Campidoglio. For a number of years she looked after Lorenzo after he had been seriously wounded. After his death in 1436 she moved into the monastery and she became the superior. She died in 1440 and was buried in Santa Maria Nova. On May 9th, 1608 she was canonised by Pope Paul V in recognition of her life’s work. In 1925 Pope Pius XI declared her the patron saint of automobile drivers because of a legend that an angel used to light the road before her with a lantern when she traveled keeping her safe from hazards.

She was born Francecesca Cabrini in a village near Milan in Italy. She was a sickly child and had frail health for the rest of her life. She found disappointment and difficulties with every step. She wished to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart but was told she was too frail for their life style. But this did not deter her from founding 67 institutions ( orphanages/schools/hospitals) all over the world over a period of 35 years. In 1877 she went to Rome to seek permission to work in China instead Pope Leo XIII sent her to America. In 1909 she became a naturalized American citizen As a child she was frightened of drowning but she crossed the Atlantic 30 times. There is a great deal of information on the wikipedia web site. I have chosen to include work from Historica’s Women, Church Pop and 8 interesting facts plus franciscanmedia.