St. Francis Embraces the Leper

Commission for Creo Arts’ St. Francis Exhibition

Wilmore, KY | Acrylic on canvas

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This painting depicts the moment when St. Francis - after feeling disgust at encountering a leper - sees Christ in him and chooses to embrace him anyway. In my rendition, Francis embraces this zombie-like leper hunched over and weighed down by the shame of being an outcast. His "leper bell" - a sign of this shame that keeps people away - cracks under the weight of Francis' tenderness. Francis himself, bearing Christ's wounds in the stigmata, identifies with the leper in the bandages he wears. This courageous love transforms revulsion, isolation, and shame into intimacy. There are so many people in our lives that we feel repulsion for: members of different political parties or religions, coworkers, the poor and needy, our own family members, even ourselves. But Francis shows us that to find Christ behind their “distressing disguise” is the greatest treasure. If we have the courage to follow his example and love the lepers in our own lives, we will find that truly “to love another person is to see the face of God.”

© 2026 Mattie Karr