Madmen

One listener said, "Either these men are following the Lord in great perfection, or they must be demented, since their way of life appears desperate, with little food and going about barefoot and clad in the poorest garments." For the moment the brothers' manner of holy life frightened those who saw them, and as yet no one was ready to join them. Indeed, the young women fled when they saw them approaching from afar for fear of their being madmen.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions
Chapter VIII

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