La Maddalena

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Quite near the Basicilla of St. Mary of the Angels, on the road to the church of Rivo Torto, is the small, semi-abandoned chapel of La Maddalena (the Magdalen). Here, the lepers worshiped: here St. Francis of Assisi prayed along with them. Here, as we know from the very first sentence of his Last Testament, he found his true vocation: "When I was in sins, the sight of lepers nauseated me beyond measure; but then God himself led me into their company, and I worked mercy with them. Once I got to know them, what had nauseated me became a source of spiritual and physical consolation for me. After that I did not wait long before I left the world."

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