The Party Boy Who Gave It All Away — St. Francis of Assisi

He was the most popular young man in his town. Wealthy, charming, magnetic — the kind of guy everyone wanted to be around. He dreamed of glory, went to war, and ended up in a dungeon for a year.He came out completely different.In this episode of Everyday Saints, host John O'Connor tells the real story of St. Francis of Assisi — not the bird bath in the garden, not the gentle friar in the brown robe. The real one. The radical one. The man who stripped off every piece of clothing in the middle of his hometown, handed them to his father, and walked into the woods singing.And who — eight hundred years later — is still one of the most compelling human beings who ever lived.What you'll hear in this episode: — The golden boy of Assisi and the year everything changed — The leper on the road that nobody saw coming — The voice from a crumbling church — "Rebuild my church" — The most dramatic public moment in medieval Italy — What his life actually looked like after he walked away— The wounds on his hands — and what they mean — What Francis is quietly asking every one of us todayA personal note: This episode was born on John's honeymoon in Santa Fe, New Mexico — standing inside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the oldest churches in the United States, and realizing he didn't actually know this man's real story.Everyday Saints is a weekly podcast telling the real stories of Catholic saints in plain language — for regular people with real jobs, real doubts, and real lives. No theology degree required.New episodes every Thursday.Host: John O'Connor