Joseph of Cupertino

The Lives Of The Saints: Volume 10, September · S. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, C.

S. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, C.

(a.d. 1663.)

[Roman and Franciscan Martyrologies. Beatified by Benedict XIV. in 1753, and canonized by Clement XIII. in 1767. His office inserted in the Breviary by Clement XIV. Authorities : — A Life by Angelo Pastrovicchio from the process of Beatification. Also an Italian Life by Bernini.]

Joseph Desa was the son of Felix Desa, a carpenter, and his wife Francesca, poor people living at Cupertino, in the kingdom of Naples. He was born on June 17th, 1603, in a stable, whither his mother had retired when officers came to arrest her husband for debt.

He was troubled as a child with abscesses ; and when they were healed, he was left with feet turned inward, so as to walk ungracefully. His appearance was altogether uncouth • and the boys of the village called him “ Gaping Mouth.” His ways also were not those of healthy ordinary children. He would go for a day or two without his meals, and when his attention was called to it, he would say, “ I forgot them J”

Sept. 18.]

■S’. Joseph of Cupertino.

293

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His mother treated him with some severity, punishing him for the least fault, and often for his stupidity.

At seventeen, the boy went to a neighbouring Franciscan convent, in which was his uncle, Fra Franceschi Desa, and begged to be admitted as novice \ but he was refused admission. In no way deterred, he went to the provincial of the Capuchins, Fra Antonio Francavilla, and obtained his consent that he should enter a convent of the Order. He was accordingly drafted into one at Martino, near Tarento, a.d. 1620. But the friars soon had enough of him ; if he was given pots or plates to carry, he let them fall ; if he had to put sticks on the fire, he upset the caul- dron simmering over it,1 and was altogether so clumsy, that at the end of eight months he was dismissed ; the monastic habit was taken off him, and his old tattered clothes were restored to him. Ashamed to return to his native place, he wandered on, with puzzled head- and sad heart, to Vetrara, attacked by shepherd dogs on the road, and only liberated by their masters after he had been nearly frightened out of his few wits. At Vetrara he found his uncle, who was delivering a course of Lent sermons. He flung himself at his feet, sobbing, “ The Capuchins have turned me out, as I am good for nothing/7 His uncle pitied his forlorn con- dition, kept him with him till Easter, and then brought him back to his mother at Cupertino, whom he found in dire straits to meet the demands of her husband’s creditors, he being now dead ; and her temper not being sweetened by distress, she beat Joseph soundly for being such a stupid fool as to come back on her hands.

The unfortunate lad’s scrofulous ulcers had opened on his knees, and he had cut them with a knife, in hopes of removing the swellings, and had thereby incapacitated him-

1 “ Evenit ut vasaque et testas, e manibus lapsas frequenter rumperet, diunquo ligna super focum reponebat, lebetes everteret/' &c.

Biographical overview

Joseph of Cupertino, OFM Conv. (Italian: Giuseppe da Copertino; 17 June 1603 – 18 September 1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. According to traditional Franciscan accounts, he was "remarkably unclever", but experienced miraculous levitation and ecstatic visions throughout his life which made him the object of scorn. He applied to the Conventual Franciscan friars, but was rejected due to his lack of education. He then pleaded with them to serve in their stables. After several years of working there, he had impressed the friars so much with the devotion and simplicity of his life that in 1625 he was admitted to their Order, destined to become a priest. His struggles in being ordained to the priesthood required two providential coincidences involving his exams. These incidents have earned him the title of the patron of students, exam takers and those with learning difficulties or disabilities, while his levitation has earned him the patronage of pilots and those traveling by air.

The Lives Of The Saints: Volume 10, September · S. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, C.

(a.d. 1663.)

[Roman and Franciscan Martyrologies. Beatified by Benedict XIV. in 1753, and canonized by Clement XIII. in 1767. His office inserted in the Breviary by Clement XIV. Authorities : — A Life by Angelo Pastrovicchio from the process of Beatification. Also an Italian Life by Bernini.]

Joseph Desa was the son of Felix Desa, a carpenter, and his wife Francesca, poor people living at Cupertino, in the kingdom of Naples. He was born on June 17th, 1603, in a stable, whither his mother had retired when officers came to arrest her husband for debt.

He was troubled as a child with abscesses ; and when they were healed, he was left with feet turned inward, so as to walk ungracefully. His appearance was altogether uncouth • and the boys of the village called him “ Gaping Mouth.” His ways also were not those of healthy ordinary children. He would go for a day or two without his meals, and when his attention was called to it, he would say, “ I forgot them J”

Sept. 18.]

■S’. Joseph of Cupertino.

293

*

■*

His mother treated him with some severity, punishing him for the least fault, and often for his stupidity.

At seventeen, the boy went to a neighbouring Franciscan convent, in which was his uncle, Fra Franceschi Desa, and begged to be admitted as novice \ but he was refused admission. In no way deterred, he went to the provincial of the Capuchins, Fra Antonio Francavilla, and obtained his consent that he should enter a convent of the Order. He was accordingly drafted into one at Martino, near Tarento, a.d. 1620. But the friars soon had enough of him ; if he was given pots or plates to carry, he let them fall ; if he had to put sticks on the fire, he upset the caul- dron simmering over it,1 and was altogether so clumsy, that at the end of eight months he was dismissed ; the monastic habit was taken off him, and his old tattered clothes were restored to him. Ashamed to return to his native place, he wandered on, with puzzled head- and sad heart, to Vetrara, attacked by shepherd dogs on the road, and only liberated by their masters after he had been nearly frightened out of his few wits. At Vetrara he found his uncle, who was delivering a course of Lent sermons. He flung himself at his feet, sobbing, “ The Capuchins have turned me out, as I am good for nothing/7 His uncle pitied his forlorn con- dition, kept him with him till Easter, and then brought him back to his mother at Cupertino, whom he found in dire straits to meet the demands of her husband’s creditors, he being now dead ; and her temper not being sweetened by distress, she beat Joseph soundly for being such a stupid fool as to come back on her hands.

The unfortunate lad’s scrofulous ulcers had opened on his knees, and he had cut them with a knife, in hopes of removing the swellings, and had thereby incapacitated him-

1 “ Evenit ut vasaque et testas, e manibus lapsas frequenter rumperet, diunquo ligna super focum reponebat, lebetes everteret/' &c.