St Francis Borgia

This modern world is obsessed with youth and physical beauty. People are, more often than not, judged solely on their external appearance and perceived sex appeal, rather than by their inner human qualities. Nowadays fame and celebrity are merely skin deep. We celebrate what is superficial, ephemeral and transient losing sight of what is internal and of lasting worth. I suppose it has never really been any different though. With this in mind, a salutary lesson may be drawn from the experience of a little known Spanish Jesuit, St Francis Borgia. Francis was born in Valencia in 1510. He came from a powerful if somewhat infamous family ( a family that produced the likes of Lucrezia Borgia). Francis mixed in the highest eschelons of Spanish society and was a close friend of Charles V. Charles's wife Isabella, a woman of 36 years who was well known for her physical beauty, died. Francis accompanied the funeral procession from Toledo to Granada, a journey of many miles through the southern half of Spain. The weather was hot and the funeral procession was slow. Eventually they arrived at the tomb and the coffin was opened. The sight and stench of the putrefying corpse of the once fragrant and lovely Isabella had a profound effect on Francis. He threw off his cloak and declared that he could no longer serve that which decays. True to his word, he left the court and became a Jesuit, spending the rest of his days performing penance for his family's and his own wrongdoings.

Bone Idle