Saint Francis - What is perfect joy?
Source: Riche 1847
It was during the winter; one day, as Saint Francis was traveling from Perugia to Saint Mary of the Angels in very severe cold, he called Brother Leo, who was a few steps ahead of him, and said:
O Brother Leo! May it please God that the Friars Minor give the whole world a great example of holiness; nevertheless, take careful note and write it down that this is not perfect joy.
A little farther on, he continued:
O Brother Leo! If the Friars gave sight to the blind, cast out demons, made the mute speak, and raised the dead after four days, take careful note that this is not perfect joy.
And a little farther on again:
O Brother Leo! he said, if the Friars Minor knew all languages and all sciences, if they had the gift of prophecy and the discernment of hearts, take careful note that this is not perfect joy.
And a little farther:
O Brother Leo! dear little lamb of God, if the Friars Minor spoke the language of angels, if they knew the course of the stars, the power of plants, the secrets of the earth and the nature of birds, fish, men and all animals, of trees, stones, and water, take careful note that this is not perfect joy.
And a little farther still:
O Brother Leo! if the Friars Minor converted, through their preaching, all the unbelieving peoples to the faith of Christ, take careful note that this is not perfect joy.
And he continued speaking this way for several miles. Finally, Brother Leo, astonished, asked him:
O Father! I beg you in God’s name, tell me what perfect joy is.
Saint Francis replied:
When we arrive at Saint Mary of the Angels, soaked, muddy, trembling with cold, dying of hunger, and we knock at the door, the porter says: Who are you? We will answer: We are two of your brothers. He will say: You lie; you are two vagabonds who roam the world and steal alms from the true poor; go away.
And he refuses to open the door for us, leaving us outside all night, exposed to the snow, the cold, and dying of hunger. If we endure this treatment with patience, without being troubled or complaining; if even we think humbly and charitably that the porter knows us well for who we are, and that it is by God’s permission he speaks thus against us, O Brother Leo! believe me, that is where perfect joy is found.
If we persist in knocking, and the porter, enraged, drives us away as bothersome idlers, heaps insults upon us, strikes us with his fists, and says: Get out of here, miserable thieves; go to the hospital, there’s nothing to eat here for you. If we bear these insults with joy and with love, O Brother Leo! believe me, that is where perfect joy is found.
If finally, in such extremity, hunger, cold, and night force us to plead with tears and cries to be allowed into the convent, and the porter, infuriated, comes out with a big knotted stick, grabs us by the hood, throws us into the snow, and beats us until we are covered in wounds, if we endure all these things with joy, thinking of how we must share in the sufferings of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, O Brother Leo! believe me, that is where perfect joy is found.
And now listen to the conclusion, Brother Leo: of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Christ has deigned to pour out on His servants, the greatest is to conquer oneself and willingly endure, for love of Jesus, sufferings, insults, humiliations, and the most pressing needs.
Yes, because we cannot glory in any of the other gifts, since they do not come from ourselves; and the Apostle said: What do you have that you did not receive from God? And if you received it, why do you glory as if it were from yourself? But in the cross of tribulation and affliction, we may truly glory: for, as the Apostle also says: God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.