Saint of the day January 29, 2025

Brother Juniper

DAILY SAINT

Nirmala Josephine

1/29/20252 min read

Brother Juniper is called “the renowned jester of the Lord” and was one of the original followers of St Francis of Assisi. Not much is known about Juniper before he joined the friars. In 1210, he was received into the Order of Friars Minor by St Francis himself.

He had a childlike and honest soul, and he was very humble. He loved God in a simple way and also loved his fellow man in a simple way.

One day Br. Juniper walked peacefully with St. Francis along a road, and on the way they met a certain person who knew Br. Juniper. This person insulted Br. Juniper in a most shameful manner. He heaped insult after insult on the poor brother; indeed it came like a shower of rain on Br. Juniper.

But good Br. Juniper did not lose his peace of soul for one moment nor did he lose the gentleness of the expression on his face. He stood still, took his habit with both hands and raised it a bit, as we do when we want to catch or collect something. Then Br. Juniper said, “Continue my friend! Do not spare any of your precious stones! Give me more of them please!” For he used to call the abuses of people, which happened very often, “precious stones.”

St. Francis did not say one word during this whole event, but afterwards he exclaimed, “Would to God that I had not only one such juniper tree, but a whole juniper forest!” Now in case you didn’t know, there is a tree called a Juniper, just like there are trees such as the Maple, the Oak, the Spruce, and the Elm etc. And St. Francis loved the humility of good Br. Juniper, so he wished that God would give him a huge crowd of people like Br. Juniper. Yes, Francis wished that all his brothers would be humble like Br. Juniper, because he knew that then they would be most pleasing to God and good men for his order of monks.

Several stories about Juniper in the Little Flowers of St Francis illustrate his exasperating generosity. Once Juniper was taking care of a sick man who had a craving to eat pig’s feet. This helpful friar went to a nearby field, captured a pig and cut off one foot and then served this meal to the sick man. The owner of the pig was furious and immediately went to Juniper’s superior. When Juniper saw his mistake, he apologised profusely. He also ended up talking this angry man into donating the rest of the pig to the friars!

He died in 1258 and is buried at Ara Coeli Church in Rome. He was never formally Beatified.

Reflection

What can we make of Juniper? He certainly seems to be the first of many Franciscan "characters" No doubt some of the stories about him have improved considerably in the retelling. Although the stories about Juniper may seem a little quaint, his virtues were not. He was humble because he knew the truth about God, himself, and others. He was patient because he was willing to suffer in his following of Jesus.
It is not always easy to accept humiliations when they come your way. Sometimes they happen to you when you least expect them, or when you are tired or busy with your work. Accept these humiliations and gently try to correct the mistakes—and don’t get angry!
Ask St. Francis to help you to be like Br. Juniper and accept humiliations when they come your way—and turn humiliations into the virtue of humility.