Here’s my point: you may have a dozen excuses in your back pocket, ready to pull them out at any invitation or before accepting any compliment. You may like to say that you are not x enough or not y enough or you don’t have enough z in you to do something. I want to assure you that Francis said “yes” to God over and over again, despite having a patchy beard, small feet and non-milky eyes. You can say “yes” too, no matter how big your head or feet are.
Here is a detailed description of St. Francis’ physical appearance, provided to us by Thomas of Celano, his first biographer. I’ve yet to find a painting which depicts this precisely and would love to see an artist take a crack at it.
Overall appearance: cheerful
Face: kind, not lazy, not arrogant
Height: Medium-Short
Head: Medium sized and round
Forehead: neither large nor rough
Eyes: not to big, not too small. not milky. black.
Eyebrows: straight
Hair: dark
Nose: neither uneven nor wide
Ears: neither large nor sagging.
Temples: Smooth
Beard: Patchy
Teeth: White and even
Lips: neither fat nor large
Neck: slender
Fingers: long
Nails: tapered (was not a nail biter)
Legs: thin
Feets: small
Skin: fine
Fat? no
