When he found he had pity on the lepers, we know he was no longer thinking primarily of himself and his own safety and comfort. He saw human beings who were suffering, and suddenly the world- and self-fragmenting nature of leprosy had a human face and lost its uncanny threat, Even more: associating with lepers turned out to be "a source spiritual and physical consolation." What had horrified him became "sweet."
— John Ryan Hauled, The Ecstasies of St. Francis