St Francis Caracciolo

Francis Caracciolo is one of the more striking founder pages because the whole story begins with a serious illness that seems to put death directly in front of a young nobleman. Born Ascanio Caracciolo in the Abruzzi, he grows up devout but otherwise in the ordinary life of a gentleman until a disease thought close to leprosy brings him to a vow: if he recovers, the rest of his life will belong to God and to the service of others. It then follows him to Naples, to priesthood, and to the Bianchi della Giustizia, where he helps prisoners and condemned criminals prepare for death. The decisive turn comes through what looks almost like providential misdelivery: a letter meant for another Ascanio Caracciolo reaches him instead and draws him into the plans of John Augustine Adorno for a new institute joining active and contemplative life. This life enjoys the strange rightness of that mistake. Francis and Adorno pray, fast, draft rules, gain papal approval, and found the Minor Clerks Regular, whose members take even a fourth vow never to seek dignities.

From there this life becomes a portrait of Francis as the reluctant superior who never stopped being a servant. He sweeps, washes dishes, begs for the poor, spends hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, hears confessions every morning, and keeps his body under hard discipline while helping establish houses in Italy and Spain. It also keeps the final scene vivid: after resigning office and living more and more for contemplation, Francis goes to Agnone, senses his end approaching, and dies with the words "To Heaven! To Heaven!" on his lips.