One winter day, while walking with Brother Leo along the roads of Umbria, Francis wanted to explain to him what true Christian joy was. Along the way, he listed situations that many people would consider sources of happiness: that the brothers were great preachers, that they worked miracles, that they knew all the secrets of science, or that they converted many people to the faith. Yet after each example he repeated that perfect joy was not to be found in any of these things. 

Finally, Francis described a very different situation. He imagined that he and Brother Leo arrived at night at a friary, tired, soaked, and hungry. The brothers there did not recognize them, treated them as imposters, and threw them out with insults and blows. He then explained that if they could endure that humiliation with patience, without anger, and for the love of Christ, that is where perfect joy was to be found.