St Francis Caracciola'

Before Francis became a priest he was very sick with a skin disease that was almost like leprosy (a sickness that hurts peoples’ skin), but he studied to become a priest anyway.  When he became a priest his disease disappeared, it was a miracle.  He started an Order of priests with a friend of his, St. John Augustine, called the Minor Clerks Regular.  In this Order, he served the Church and the priests in the order with great humility.  The Pope thought he was such a good priest that he wanted to make him a Bishop, but Fr. Francis was too humble and refused to become a Bishop.  He made sure that anytime he could, he told people about how much God loved them; through him many people came to know about the love God had for them.  He made sure that in the Order there was always someone praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, where Jesus’ body is really present to us.  He died when he was still pretty young, he was only in his 40s, but he was so ready to go to heaven.  Shortly before he died, one of the priests in his Order heard him say, “Let’s Go!” and the priest asked, “Where are we going?”.  Fr. Francis answered “To Heaven!”.