The Downy Oak of Fonte Colombo (Tree of Perfect Gaiety)

Francis of Assisi is said to have told Brother Leo the story of perfect joy somewhere near this sanctuary: that true gaiety is not miracles or fame but bearing insult and hardship for Christ's sake, patiently, without bitterness. It is one of the best known parables in the Fioretti, the Little Flowers of St Francis, and in 2014 this downy oak was put forward for Italy's Tree of the Year under the parable's own name, L'Albero della Perfetta Letizia, the Tree of Perfect Gaiety. It is easy to confuse with an older story on the same grounds. A holm oak once stood nearby marking the spot where the sanctuary's own tradition says Christ appeared to confirm Francis's Rule; that tree came down in a heavy snowfall in the winter of 1622, and its wood was carved into a sculpture that still stands inside the church. The downy oak carrying the Perfect Gaiety name is a separate, living tree, photographed in 2012 for the nomination two years later. Nobody has published an age or a girth for it, an odd gap for a tree carrying this much legend; if you have measured it, tell us. The Sanctuary of Fonte Colombo sits in wooded hills outside Rieti, one of the Franciscan Valley sites where Francis is thought to have written much of his Rule, reachable on the sanctuary's own grounds with no gate keeping the tree itself from view.