Servant of God Brother Juniper –Image Courtesy: uCatholic
(Franciscan Media) “Would to God, my Brothers, I had a whole forest of such Juniper’s,” said Saint Francis of this Holy Friar.
One doesn’t know much about Juniper before he joined the Friars in 1210 — Francis, sent him to establish ‘places’ for the Friars in Italy, Gualdo Tadino and Viterbo.
When St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) was dying, Juniper consoled her, he was devoted to the passion of Jesus and known for his simplicity.
Several stories about Juniper, in ‘The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi’ 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, prepared it and served this meal to the sick man he was caring for. The owner of the pig was furious and immediately went to Juniper’s superior. When Juniper realized his mistake, he apologized profusely–he also ended up talking this angry man into donating the rest of the pig to the Friars.
Another time, Juniper had been ordered to quit giving part of his clothing to half-naked people he met along the road. Desiring to obey his Superior, Juniper once told a man in need, that he could not give the man his tunic but he would not prevent the man from taking it either. In time, the Friars learned not to leave anything lying around, for Juniper would probably give it away.
Servant of God Brother Juniper, passed away in 1258 of natural causes and was buried at Ara Coeli Church in Italy Rome.
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