At the Fransician monasteries, numerous monks practiced “foolishness for Christ,” which is the behavior of giving up all of one’s worldly possessions, joining a monastic order, and making one seem foolish or crazy in order to mask humility and holiness. Many monasteries in the East practiced this way of monasticism. However, in the West one of the only examples of this radical path is Saint Francis of Assisi and his followers. 

Brother Juniper was viewed as a fool, but Saint Francis swore that he was a holy and wise man. Juniper gave up everything he had on earth to join the monastery and help teach the monks. In order to gain salvation, he stated, you must have unbreakable faith along with devoting works to Christ. 

Another example is Brother Giles, who purposely made his own bread by hand, showing the other monks by example that you had to work to gain rewards. He regarded obedience to God as the true prayer of Christians. So great was Brother Giles’s merit that everyone followed his example, such as doing penance for their sins. 

In their writing the monks explained that virtue is the ladder up to heaven and that humility is the greatest of virtues that can help you get there. Holy fear is a channel of divine grace, they continued, and humility is a sure cause. They stated to not defend your own cause and to turn the other cheek, because Christ said those that are prosecuted and hated for His sake will acquire the kingdom of heaven.

Brother Giles wrote a series of sayings which were included at the end of “Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi.” For instance, he stated that righteousness makes a good life easy, to suffer for Christ is a good thing, and to use Christ’s passion as an example for holy endurance. You should help yourself first before you ever preach to other people and sometimes keeping silent is the best option.