Foundress
In 1845 Frances' life took an unexpected turn: her father died and a friend, Getrude Frank, told her of a religious experience. Getrude related to Frances, "Our Lord wills that you leave your parental home and your family in order that, in company with those he will more clearly show you, you may save souls for him and heal His wounds." Instead of entering an existing convent, however, on 3 October 1845 she and four other women left their homes to establish a religious community devoted to caring for the poor under Frances' leadership. They formed the nucleus of the community that became known as the Poor Sisters of St. Francis.
From 1845 until 1848, the Sisters continued to care for the sick in their homes and to operate a soup kitchen. They also cared for prostitutes in their own small home and nursed women suffering from syphilis. Relying entirely upon donations for support, the Sisters experienced extreme poverty. The pre-revolutionary potato and grain failures and the refusal of some benefactors to continue their assistance once the Sisters began ministering to prostitutes, intensified their difficulties. More women joined the group in 1849, expanding the ministry beyond Aachen; not only did they care for victims of cholera, smallpox, typhoid fever, and cancer, but they also supervised women prisoners at the Aachen prison and assisted them in finding employment after their release.
The Congregation obtained formal Church recognition from the local bishop on 2 July 1851, despite some authorities' objections to Frances' severe position regarding personal poverty. According to the chronicler of the Congregation, they received state acceptance in 1853 only because "priests and religious persons were considered suitable for pacifying the people who had been roused by revolutionary ideas;" and that the tide of government sentiment turned when "through unification of the conservative elements in the state, the revolution had been overcome."
Soon after they received formal recognition as a religious congregation, the Sisters spread their service overseas. An American foundation was established within seven years of its founding, to serve German emigrant communities in New York, New Jersey and Ohio. At the same time Mother Frances oversaw the foundation of several hospitals and sanatoria in both Europe and the United States for those suffering from tuberculosis, then a widespread cause of death, especially among the working classes.
In 1857, she encouraged Philip Hoever, a Franciscan tertiary, in his efforts to establish the Poor Brothers of St. Francis. Like the Sisters, they are a religious congregation of lay brothers of the Franciscan Third Order Regular, instituted for charitable work among orphan boys and educating the youth of the poorer classes.
Mother Frances visited the United States in 1863, and helped her Sisters nurse soldiers wounded in the American Civil War. St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken, N.J. was founded for this work. She visited the United States one more time in 1868.
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