Brother Juniper

Brother Juniper was one of the first to join the monks of St. Francis of Assisi. 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.

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. Perhaps your mother will tell you that your room is messy, or your sister will tell you that you’re greedy because you won’t share your candy, or your father will tell you to tie your shoes up properly. Accept these humiliations and gently try to correct these 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.

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