Saint Francis of Assisi

I was born in Italy in 1181. As a teenager, I wanted only riches and fun. My father was wealthy enough to support me in every need I had. But in 1202, I went to war and spent a year in prison. There I had time to think and pray. I realized that money had not brought me happiness. Later, I met a leper. When I saw this person with his contagious disease, I hugged him, for at once I saw the beauty of this human being. In the years that followed I gave away all my money. I preached and begged barefoot on the streets. Groups of followers began to gather around me and I wrote a rule of life for them. In this way, I founded the Franciscan Order. I travelled through Spain and Egypt to try to convert people there. I also shared in the Lord's sufferings, receiving Christ's wounds, the stigmata, in my own flesh in September 1224. I died two years later at the age of 44.