paintings
St Francis of Assisi
Before he became a saint, Francis was the leader of a crowd of young people who spent their nights at wild parties. He attracted a whole slew of young people “accustomed to vice." Francis himself said, "I lived in sin" during that time.
One day while riding through the countryside, Francis---who loved beauty, was crazy picky about food, and hated deformity---came face to face with a leper. Repelled by the appearance and smell of the leper, Francis still approached and kissed the hand of the leper. Soon after he was sainted as the Patron of Animals, Merchants and Ecology. Despite his new title, I’m sure he continued to host many backyard parties full of young people, lepers, dogs and cats.