On May 29, 1608, Camillo Borghese celebrated the third anniversary of his coronation as Pope Paul V – an auspicious day for the Roman pontiff – by canonizing Francesca Bussa de’Ponziani. Francesca was only the third person elevated to sainthood in the wake of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and the first woman to be canonized since 1461, when her contemporary, Catherine of Siena, was made a saint. In preparation for the lavish ecclesiastical ceremonies staged to herald the canonization of Santa Francesca Romana, St. Peter's Basilica and square were transformed into virtual stages for papal pageantry. At that time, the new (current) Basilica of San Pietro was still under construction; thus, furniture and ceremonial structures were either rearranged or built particularly for Francesca's canonization festivities.

Three ephemeral triumphal arches were erected around the main portals of the basilica, decorated with original oil paintings and embellished with flowers and fruit garlands made of papier-mache. Great swaths of gold, silver, and green brocade festooned the interior walls of the basilica. Enormous tapestries and banners were hung over the main altar and from the ceiling of a makeshift “theater” erected for the event, all dazzlingly illuminated by blazing torches and hundreds of white wax candles. Outside the church, trumpets blared, bells pealed, cannons were fired, and the Pope's Sistine choir sang the “Ave Maria,” all while a magnificent procession of ecclesiastical and civic dignitaries wended its way through the Piazza San Pietro in anticipation of the formal papal benediction and canonization rites.

Official recognition of Francesca Ponziani at this particular moment (168 years after her death and initial canonization proceedings) was as much about papal politics and Counter-Reformation spiritual ideals as about the long overdue elevation of a local holy woman to the sacred altar. The first decades of the seicento also heralded a crucial shift in the complexion and mission of the community of oblates devoted to Santa Francesca across the Tiber from the Vatican. It was at precisely this moment that the community made the surely fraught transition from daily life in their historically “open monastery,” which allowed for movement and work outside the confines of Tor de’Spechhi, to a cloistered convent observing strict enclosure (clausura) in conformance with the Decrees of the Council of Trent.