Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, in his autobiography Treasure in Clay recounts a visit he made to a leper colony in Buluba, Africa. He intended to give a silver crucifix to each of the 500 lepers residing in Buluba. The first person came forward to receive the symbol of the Lord's Redemption. The man was so disfigured by the ravages of leprosy that the priest was repulsed by the sight. The man's left arm was eaten off at the elbow by the disease: So he extended his right hand, holding for the most foul, noisome mass of corruption the missionary ever beheld.