Footsteps of Love

Dear Friend,

In just a few days we will celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi – the founder of the Franciscan Order to which I belong. His life of poverty, humility and peace has touched hearts for centuries, and continues to inspire and guide us today. Among those deeply moved by his example was Biagio Conte, known to many as Brother Biagio – a modern-day pilgrim of love and compassion.

Biagio was born into a life of comfort – a good family and a promising future in his father’s construction business. But something deep within him resisted the idea that this was enough. By his early 20s, his heart was restless. He looked at the world around him and saw too much injustice, too much pain. And he began to ask the question that can change a life: “What am I really here for?”

In 1990, Biagio walked away from everything – wealth, career, comfort – and chose silence, solitude, and the wild mountains of Sicily. He lived as a hermit, praying, listening, nearly dying from the cold… until a shepherd found him and brought him to an old hermitage not far from Palermo. It was there that Biagio felt deeply drawn to the example of St. Francis – through the Gospel, through the beauty of simplicity, and through a quiet calling that took root in his heart.

After that powerful awakening at the hermitage, Biagio set out on foot for Assisi, drawn by the witness of St. Francis. But it was along the road – meeting the poor, the homeless, and the migrants – that his calling came alive. In their faces he saw the suffering Christ. By the time he reached Assisi, the path ahead had become clear: his mission was not elsewhere, but among the poor.

Back in Palermo, Biagio initially dreamed of becoming a missionary in India or Africa. But before leaving, he began to see – more clearly than ever – the harsh reality in his own city, wounded by mafia violence and deep poverty. He came to understand that his mission wasn’t far away, but right there, at home.

In 1993 he opened the Mission of Hope and Charity in an abandoned building. What began with almost nothing grew into a home for hundreds – a place where people without shelter could find food, care, dignity and love. He didn’t serve from a distance. He lived with them. He slept in the same dorms. He fasted in solidarity. He wept with them.

In 2018, after several people died sleeping on the streets, Biagio set up camp outside the post office. He refused to eat. His peaceful hunger strike drew national attention – and the government responded by expanding the shelter. More lives were saved.

In 2019 he walked from Genoa to Brussels to deliver a personal letter to the European Parliament. In it, he pleaded not for himself, but for the poor, the migrants, the marginalized: “Every human being deserves respect: the right to food, to shelter, to work. No one should be excluded – regardless of color, nationality or religion.”

In 2023 Brother Biagio passed away after a long illness. Yet his mission lives on in the volunteers, the friends, and even in those who were once helped and now help others.

As we honor St. Francis, may his witness – and that of Brother Biagio Conte – stir in us a renewed desire to live with simplicity, generosity and bold compassion. “We are all sons and daughters of God,” Brother Biagio used to say, “called to live in goodness and solidarity, helping especially those most in need. For we will leave behind all riches – only love and good works endure.” Like St. Francis, who saw even the sun and moon as kin, may we become instruments of peace – not only in words, but in how we live, serve and embrace each day with love.

Happy Feast of St. Francis.