Saint Juniper
Encyclopedia
Saint Juniper (died 1258), called "the renowned jester of the Lord," was one of the original followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. Not much is known about Juniper before he joined the friars. In 1210, he was received into the order of the Franciscans by St. Francis himself. "Would to God, my brothers, I had a whole forest of such Juniper
s," Saint Francis would pun
.
St. Francis sent him to establish "places" for the friars in Gualdo Tadino
and Viterbo
. When St. Clare of Assisi was dying, Juniper consoled her. Juniper is buried at Ara Coeli Church at Rome
. His feast day is celebrated on 29 January.
Junípero Serra
(1713–1784), originally Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer, took his new name in honor of Saint Juniper.
(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 sick brother, Juniper asked if he could perform any service for the man. The brother asked Juniper simply 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 sick brother.
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 make amends. Juniper, not understanding why the owner should be upset at so charitable an action, 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
(1950).
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
s," Saint Francis would pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
.
St. Francis sent him to establish "places" for the friars in Gualdo Tadino
Gualdo Tadino
Gualdo Tadino, an ancient town of Italy, in the province of Perugia in northeastern Umbria, on the lower flanks of Mt. Penna, a mountain of the Apennines. It is 47 km NE of Perugia and 30 km SE of Gubbio....
and Viterbo
Viterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
. When St. Clare of Assisi was dying, Juniper consoled her. Juniper is buried at Ara Coeli Church at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. His feast day is celebrated on 29 January.
Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
(1713–1784), originally Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer, took his new name in honor of Saint Juniper.
The Legend of the Pig's Feet
Several stories about Juniper in the Little Flowers of St. FrancisLittle Flowers of St. Francis
The Little Flowers of St. Francis is a florilegium , divided into 53 short chapters, on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi which was composed at the end of the 14th century...
(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 sick brother, Juniper asked if he could perform any service for the man. The brother asked Juniper simply 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 sick brother.
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 make amends. Juniper, not understanding why the owner should be upset at so charitable an action, 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
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:Born in Rome, Roberto Rossellini lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito Mussolini had...
film The Flowers of St. Francis
The Flowers of St. Francis
The Flowers of St. Francis is a 1950 film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film is based on two books, 14th century book I Fioretti Di San Francesco Little Flowers of St...
(1950).