Asbestoswear by St. Francis: Lipstick

AIDS Research

by Saint Francis

"This, Brother Leo, is what I understood: all lepers, cripples, sinners: if you kiss them on the mouth--"

He stopped, afraid to complete his thought.

"Enlighten me, Brother Francis, enlighten me; do not leave me in the dark."

Finally, after a long silence, he murmured with a shudder:

"All these, if you kiss them on the mouth -- O God, forgive me for saying this -- they all . . . become Christ."

--Kazantzakis, Saint Francis