The
Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...
, Juniper, O.F.M., best known as Brother Juniper ( it, Fra Ginepro) (died 1258), called "the renowned
jester of the Lord," was one of the original followers of St.
Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
. 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. "Would to God, my brothers, that I had a whole forest of such
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
s," Saint Francis would
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
.
Arnald of Sarrant Arnald of Sarrant (french: Arnaud de Sarrant) was a Franciscan friar and author. A native of Sarrant and a master of theology, he served as the minister provincial of Aquitaine from around 1361 until 1383. On 19 August 1373, Pope Gregory XI sent h ...
, ''''
trans. Noel Muscat, OFM
(TAU Franciscan Communications, 2010).
Francis sent him to establish "places" for the friars in
Gualdo Tadino
Gualdo Tadino (Latin: ''Tadinum'') is an ancient town of Italy, in the province of Perugia in northeastern Umbria, on the lower flanks of Monte Penna, a mountain of the Apennines. It is NE of Perugia.
History
Gualdo has a long history and was o ...
and
Viterbo
Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...
. When
St. Clare of Assisi was dying, Juniper consoled her. Juniper is buried at
Ara Coeli Church at
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. His feast day is celebrated on 29 January.
St. Junípero Serra (1713–1784), born ''Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer'', took his
religious name in honor of
Brother
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
Juniper when he was received into the Order.
The Legend of the Pig's Feet
Several stories about Juniper in the ''
Little Flowers of St. Francis'' (''Fioretti di San Francesco'') illustrate his generosity and simplicity. Perhaps the most famous of these is the tale of the pig's feet.
When visiting a poor man who was sick, Juniper asked if he could perform any service for the man. The man told Juniper that he had a longing for a meal of pig's feet, and so Juniper happily ran off to find some. Capturing a pig in a nearby field, he cut off a foot and cooked the meal for the man. When the pig's owner found out about this, he came in great wrath and abused St. Francis and the other Franciscans, calling them thieves and refusing repayment. St. Francis reproached Juniper and ordered him to apologize to the pig's owner and to make amends. Juniper, not understanding why the owner should be upset at such a charitable act, went to him and cheerfully retold the tale of the pig's foot, as though he had done the man a favor.
When the man reacted with anger, Juniper thought that he had misunderstood him, so he simply repeated the story with great zeal, embraced him, and begged the man to give him the rest of the pig for the sake of charity. At this display the owner's heart was changed, and he gave up the rest of the pig to be slaughtered as Juniper had asked. The story of Juniper and the pig's feet was depicted in
Roberto Rossellini's film ''
The Flowers of St. Francis
''The Flowers of St. Francis'' (in Italian, ''Francesco, giullare di Dio'', or "Francis, God's Jester") is a 1950 film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film is based on two books, the 14th-century novel ''Fi ...
'' (1950).
Other property ownership difficulties
On another occasion, Juniper was commanded to cease giving part of his clothing to the half-naked people he met on the road. Desiring to obey his superior, Juniper once told a man in need that he couldn’t give the man his
tunic
A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...
, but he wouldn’t prevent the man from taking it either. In time, the friars learned not to leave anything lying around, because Juniper would probably give it away.
"Servant of God Brother Juniper", Foley, O.F.M., Leonard; rev. McCloskey, O.F.M., Pat, ''Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons & Feasts, Franciscan Media, 978-0-86716-887-7''
/ref>
See also
* Servant of God Brother Juniper, patron saint archive
References
External links
Patron Saints Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juniper
1190s births
1258 deaths
People from Bevagna
Italian Friars Minor
Roman Catholic religious brothers
12th-century venerated Christians
13th-century venerated Christians
Italian Servants of God
Burials at Santa Maria in Ara Coeli