The saint of the Spanish quarters and the fertility chair

Naples, a city rich in stories and traditions, never ceases to surprise. This story tells of the deep devotion expressed by the faithful for the saint “of the neighborhoods.” There is a reason why she has been called just that in the city. In the Quartieri Spagnoli, in fact, there is a small shrine dedicated to St. Mary Frances of the Three Wounds of Jesus, co-patron saint of Naples-along with St. Gennaro-and the first canonized woman in southern Italy. This place of worship and prayer, is actually the house where the saint spent the last years of her life: a place that has become a well-known pilgrimage destination for many faithful (both Italians and foreigners).

How does this great devotion come about?

The co-patron saint of Naples is also called the “Saint of Motherhood,” this is because – according to various testimonies – there are so many women who, after experiencing great difficulty in becoming mothers, have chosen to go to the shrine of the saint to receive one of her graces and fulfill their desire to have a child.

The fertility chair

To ask for the Saint’s intercession, the young believers go on the sixth day of each month-the date of St. Mary Frances’ death-and sit on the Fertility Chair (i.e., where the Saint once rested from the fatigue and pain that caused her stigmata). Then, together with the nuns, the women begin to pray. During the prayer ritual one of the