Blessed Francis Beccaria of Pavia [16th August ??]

Francis Beccaria was a soldier in the service of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan before he became a Franciscan hermit on Monteluco in ca. 1417.  The grotto in which he lived still survives (see Walk III).  He was a close follower of St Bernardino of Siena (died 1444, canonised 1450) and was revered for his gift of prophesy and his celestial visions. 

When he died in 1450, Andreola, the mother of Pope Nicholas V, arranged for his funeral to be held with great solemnity in S Simone e Giuda.  The new chapel, the Cappella di San Bernardino was built to house his body in what is now in the courtyard of San Francesco di Monteluco.  The relics were moved to the  church of San Francesco di Monteluco (across the courtyard) in 1642.