St. Francis was born on October 13, 1563 in Villa Santa Maria (Chieti), into the noble and wealthy Caracciolo family.

His love for Jesus, bread of life, which was born very early, like his vocation, when he still lived with his noble and rich family in Villa Santa Maria. No less is the love he felt for the Madonna, honored by wearing the habit of Carmine since he was a child and then by reciting the rosary and fasting every Saturday.

At 22 he is struck by a bad form of elephantiasis that disfigures his entire body. So he vows to forever renounce earthly riches in exchange for healing. He is listened to.

Two years later he was ordained a priest and was noted for some alleged healings among the sick in the hospitals where he exercised his ministry, as well as in prisons. Among the last. Always. Therefore, he asked to join the Company of the Whites that in Naples served among those condemned to death and convicts at the hospice of the Incurables. It was 1588.

One day he receives a letter from a Genoese nobleman, Don Agostino Adorno, and from the abbot of Santa Maria Maggiore in Naples, Fabrizio Caracciolo. In reality, it is addressed to a religious man of the same name who is part of his own congregation, but it is delivered to him, who welcomes it as a sign of Providence. It is due to this misunderstanding that together with the two aforementioned people Ascanio meets at the Camaldolese and writes the constitution of a new institute of which he is co-founder.

It was he who proposed to add to the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, a fourth vow that committed one to refuse any ecclesiastical office. When the new institute was recognized, Ascanio changed his name to Francesco.

In 1589 Francis went to Spain with Adorno, who wanted to expand the new institute there. The trip, however, was a failure: after a year they returned home, Francis was ill, Adorno died. In 1591 Francis was elected perpetual general provost, a position he had to accept in order to fulfill the vow of obedience, but he did not change his way of living penance, fasting, or even his habit of doing the most humble jobs.

He returned to Spain three years later, but in Madrid King Philip II threatened to close the Hospital of the Italians where he was in charge of the care and assistance of the sick. Only in 1601, elected master of novices, did he succeed in founding a house in Valladolid, demonstrating a great capacity for discernment among the young people, predicting to some a vocation to religious life, to others even apostasy. In 1607 he was finally released from all office and to dedicate himself only to prayer.

“Hunter of souls”, “father of the poor”, but also “the man of bronze”: these are the three nicknames by which Francis was known, which perfectly reflect the three faces of his ministry. He never stops visiting the sick and assisting the dying: in the hospital he dedicates himself with great energy to the most humble tasks such as making beds, cleaning rooms, mending the clothes of the sick.

He is always ready to collect alms to provide for the education of girls, he brings everything he has to the poor, literally taking the bread from his mouth, often fasting, and donating the clothes that all the brothers discard. He is also tireless in hearing confessions, in teaching catechism to children, in organizing works of charity and in preaching eternal truths to the faithful.

If he wants the best for others, for himself he wants nothing: Francis always chooses the narrowest rooms, sleeps and eats very little, and also does penance, even wearing a cilice on feast days and on long journeys on foot. But above all he promotes the cult of the Eucharist, establishing that the students of the Order take turns in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

He never tires of urging other priests to do this, exposing the Blessed Sacrament every first Sunday of the month. Having made a pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto, he was born into heaven here on June 4, 1608 after invoking Saints Michael, Joseph and Francis of Assisi. He was canonized by Pius VII in 1807.

https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/francesco-caracciolo.html