SAINT JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, Priest
FEAST DAY – September 18th
CANONIZED A SAINT – 1767 by Pope
Clement XIII
PATRONAGE – Airline Pilots, Crews,
Travelers and Students taking tests
PRAYER
God, our Father,
your wisdom disposed that your only-begotten
Son,
when lifted above the earth,
should draw all things to himself.
May the merits and example of Saint Joseph help
us
to rise above our earthly desires
and become perfectly conformable to your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
SCRIPTURE READING
A reading from the letter of the apostle Paul to the Colossians
Brothers, since you have been raised up in company with Christ, set your heart on
what pertains to higher realms where Christ is seated at God’s right hand. Be
intent on things above rather than on things of earth. After all, you have died! Your
life is hidden now with Christ in God. When Christ our life appears, then you shall
appear with him in glory. Because you are God’s chose ones, holy and beloved,
clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience. Bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one
another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.
~Colossians 3: 1- 4 and 12-13
OUTLINE OF TEACHING
Born in a stable in 1603, after the death of his father, Joseph Desa certainly started
out life with just about everything against him. Due to the poverty of his mother,
Joseph did not receive much of an education. At a very early age, Joseph began to
experience many mystical experiences, including visions of Jesus, Mary and the
saints. After being rejected from one Franciscan community after another, Joseph
was finally accepted as a lay brother or oblate into the Conventual friars near
Cupertino, Italy. Through a chain of unexpected events, Joseph was ordained to the
priesthood. During the celebration of the Eucharist, Joseph would either fall into
deep ecstasies or would levitate and fly around above the altar. To counter these
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phenomenon, his superiors placed Joseph in a virtual prison for 35 years, until his
death in 1663. Here is the story of a humble servant of God who accepted all trials
as part of God’s Divine Providence.
SAINT JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO,
Priest
Introduction
Many of the saints received special gifts from God that are particular to their
lives. On the outset, one may wonder, why this saint received this extraordinary gift
and this one, another. The other question one might ask is in reference to how this
extraordinary gift benefits the saint or those around him or her. These are
important questions that in some instances can only be answered by God. Joseph
Desa, more popularly known as Saint Joseph of Cupertino is an example of a saint
who certainly did receive many special gifts, particular to his life. As with all those
whom we refer to as saints, he suffered much in this life and offered all his
sufferings to God. Many lives were deeply touched by this humble, joyful and most
obedient servant of God. Saint Joseph, as we shall see, certainly had his many
shortcomings, yet, through it all, God used him to bring others closer to Him.
Together, let us meet the patron saint of airline pilots, flight crews and air travelers
as well as students taking tests and may the life of Saint Joseph of Cupertino touch
our lives as deeply as he touched the people of his day and age.
Early life filled with tragedy and difficulty
Joseph Desa was born near Cupertino, Italy on June 17, 1603. His father, a poor,
often out of work carpenter died before Joseph was born. Joseph’s mother was
forced out of their home by creditors and gave birth to her son in the stable located
behind the house. Due to their extreme poverty, Joseph received little to no
education. The little time that he spent in school, was difficult and at times hurtful.
From the time Joseph was about 8 years old, he began to experience mystical
visions, usually of Jesus and Mary or the saints. These mystical visions could last
for lengthy periods of time and would leave young Joseph in a trance. His
classmates would often make fun of him thinking that he was mentally retarded and
even gave him an unflattering nickname due to theses trances that would cause him
to wander around aimlessly, open-mouthed. “Boccaperta,” the Italian word for “the
gaper,” was the nickname given Joseph in his village. Unfortunately, Joseph would
lash back in retaliation via his hot temper; a bit of a character flaw that would
plague him until his early adulthood. Realizing that school was never going to get
any easier or serve his eventual purpose of supporting his mother and himself,
Joseph abandoned his education barely able to read or write and became an
apprenticed shoemaker. By his late teens, Joseph continued to receive mystical
experiences and came to the realization of his desire to live for God alone as a
religious.
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A call to the Franciscans
There is an old joke that asks the question of the two things that God does not
know. Part of the answer to the joke is that God does not know how many
Franciscans there are, which would be doubly true in Italy, the home of Saint
Francis of Assisi. It seemed to be a natural fit for Joseph to enter one of the many
Franciscan friaries scattered throughout Italy. Unfortunately, his heart’s desire was
met with much frustration and suffering. Joseph would bounce from one
Franciscan house after another, mostly due to his lack of education. He started off
with a group of Conventual friars. The Conventuals are the more monastic wing of
the Franciscans, which posed a problem for the near illiterate novice. He later spent
8 months as a lay brother in a Capuchin friary and then was received as a servant of
a different Conventual house in Grotella. Joseph was eventually accepted as an
oblate (lay brother) at the Franciscan friary near Cupertino.
Joseph’s love of the stable
As an unskilled lay brother, it was important for Brother Joseph’s superiors to
find tasks that would be both beneficial to the friary and compatible to his abilities.
Early on, this proved to be a particular challenge for Joseph’s superiors. Luckily
for both the community and for Brother Joseph, his superiors found the perfect fit
for him, that of tending the stable, a job that he absolutely loved. His love for the
animals in the stable is somewhat poignant and ironic as Joseph, you may recall,
was born in a stable due to the extreme poverty of his mother. The sight of a lamb
in the stable would cause Joseph to fall into deep contemplation, as he would
meditate on the Lamb of God. At times, it was witnessed that Joseph would levitate
(in direct violation of the laws of gravity) off the ground while holding a small
animal in his arms. Brother Joseph would also spend countless hours contemplating
the birth of Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem. The Christmas devotion was of
particular importance to all Franciscans as it was Saint Francis of Assisi who
assembled the first live nativity scene on Christmas Eve at Grecchio, in 1223. The
custom of churches and homes displaying the Christmas crèche today comes from
Saint Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan Order. Because of his virtue, innocence
and spiritual insights, the local bishop, after meeting Joseph at the friary stable was
convinced that he should study for the priesthood and demanded that the friary
provide a tutor to this end. It is interesting to note that it was in his work at the
friary stable in the care of the animals that Joseph’s hot temper, mentioned above,
was cooled into nonexistence.
The unusual road to the priesthood
It was never anticipated that Joseph would ever be ordained to the priesthood as
his academic abilities were found wanting. It seems that God had other plans for
this most humble and obedient servant as well as the Conventual friary. In the
study for the diaconate, candidates had to memorize the entire New Testament, not
necessarily word for word, but to the point of being able to summarize and explain
passages upon demand. This was an area where Joseph struggled mightily. It
seemed that he really knew only one passage that he could recite by heart. At his
diaconal examination, the bishop opened the scriptures to that very passage, the
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only one Joseph was able to memorize; “While he (Jesus) was saying this, a woman
from the crowd called out, ‘Blest is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed
you!’ ‘Rather,’ he replied. ‘blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it.’”
(Luke 11: 27-28). Needless to say, Joseph passed with flying colors and was
ordained a deacon. At his examination to be ordained a priest, the bishop was so
pleased with the first group of students he examined that he simply decided to pass
all of the candidates. Joseph of course, was in the second group of students, who
were never tested. To everyone’s amazement, “the gaper” was ordained to the
priesthood. Joseph loved being a priest and was especially taken up to the heights of
heaven while celebrating Holy Mass.
Ecstasies continued
Throughout his entire priesthood, the ecstasies Joseph experience only
intensified. It was not uncommon for him to levitate while in choir with the other
friars during the recitation of the Divine Office (the Chanting of the Psalms) or to
even be seen flying around the altar when he was celebrating Mass, so caught up
was he in the love of Jesus as the Eucharist. Along with the supernatural graces of
levitation or flying around, Joseph also experienced hearing heavenly music,
especially anytime he contemplated Jesus, the Blessed Mother or the saints. Many
faithful laity who would attend the chanting of the Divine Office or assisting at the
Mass celebrated by Father Joseph witnessed these supernatural occurrences. Word
began to spread immediately of the “saintly” priest at the friary. People from all
over Italy would flock to the friary seeking healing or some other miraculous
intervention from Father Joseph. At times, Joseph would fall into such deep
contemplation, especially at the celebration of the Mass or even the thought of the
Blessed Virgin Mary that he could not easily be brought back to his senses. He
could be hit, pricked with needles or even have a hot stick or coal pressed against
his flesh and none of these interventions could bring him back to his senses; only the
voice of his superior could rouse Joseph out of his ecstasies. His superiors were not
sure what to do with this most unusual friar. They did know, however that they
could no longer allow the faithful to witness these events as the daily life of the friary
was being disrupted as well as the telling of elaborate and inaccurate stories about
Father Joseph. Needless to say, there was certainly a fair share of jealousies that
were taking place amongst the other friars as well.
Joseph obediently embraces the cross
As a Franciscan, Joseph was always aware of his call to obedience as laid down
by his superiors. It was determined best for the welfare of the friary that Joseph be
kept out of site as his spiritual experiences were so unpredictable. His superiors
forbade Father Joseph to chant the Psalms in choir with his brother friars as well as
celebrate the Mass in public. Joseph was forced to pray and celebrate Mass in a
make shift chapel in his cell. He was even forbidden to take his meals with the rest
of the community and had to eat alone. In a word, Father Joseph became a prisoner
within his own friary. Joseph would live the remainder of his life in this condition; a
total of 35 years in almost total isolation. There were times that Joseph would even
be moved to other Conventual and Capuchin friaries in order to bring to end the
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clamor of the faithful wanting to see him. In 1653, Father Joseph was ordered to
appear before the Inquisition of Perugia, Italy as there were accusations from
jealous friars that he was under some sort of possession. Of course, none of the
charges proved to be true.
Through all of the accusations, hardships and
difficulties, Joseph kept his joyful spirit, always trusting in the Divine Providence of
God. Joseph knew that everything was from the hand of God for his own
purification and sanctification.
Final flight
After 35 years in near total seclusion, Father Joseph fell ill with a severe fever.
He celebrated his last Mass on August 15th the Assumption of the Blessed Mother
(this Solemnity was known in those days as the Dormition or the Falling asleep of the
Blessed Mother). Father Joseph died of the fever on September 18, 1663 at the age
60. He is buried in the chapel of the Conception at the Franciscan Friary at Ossimo,
Italy. The cult of this humble, obedient priest spread immediately throughout Italy
and thus his Cause for Canonization was soon opened. Father Joseph was beatified
on February 24, 1753 by Pope Benedict XIV (nearly 90 years after the death of
Father Joseph, which, by the standards of canonization of that day and age, would
be considered rather quick) and was finally canonized by Pope Clement XIII on
July 16, 1767 (nearly 104 years after his death).
READING
A reading from the thoughts and saying of Saint Joseph of Cupertino (G. Pariscianti:
S. Giuseppe da Cupertino alla luce dei nuovi documenti, Osimo 1963)
The three most important things for a religious are: to love God with all his
heart, to praise him continually, to be a light to others by his good example. No one
intent on living a spiritual or religious life can ever reach perfection without the love
of God. He who has love is rich even though he may be unaware of his riches, and
he who does not have love is indeed very unfortunate. As the sun by its rays adorns
the leaves and branches of plants with colors and keeps each vigorous in its proper
species, so the grace of God by its illumination adorns man with virtues, enkindles
in him the fire of love, makes him beautiful in God’s sight and brings his nature to
perfection without inflicting any injury.
Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift
from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to
acts of virtue it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come
that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession. God is
therefore most pleased if man renounces his own will and places himself completely
in God’s hand.
As a fruit tree bears most fruit when it is carefully tended, so man proceeding
along the way of God must always grow and advance in virtue so that he can bear
the choicest fruits of sanctity, give an example of virtue to draw others and lead
them safely to the way of the Lord. To bear sufferings and misfortunes patiently for
the love of God must be considered a special grace which God grants to those who
love him.
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As our Lord Jesus Christ endured so many bitter sufferings for our sake so God
wants us also to share in his sufferings. Surely, if you are gold, tribulation will
purify you of dross; if you are iron, your rust will be scoured off.
Consider the birds of the air; they come down to the ground to get food but
swiftly fly back into the air. Similarly the servants of God must stay on the earth
only as long as is necessary and soar up quickly again to heaven in spirit to praise
and glorify God. Note too how careful birds are not to land in muddy places and
how they avoid tumbling into the dirt. In like manner men must not involve
themselves in things that defile the soul but soar aloft again in spirit to glorify the
Most High God by their holy deeds.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS
1.) What are some examples of the many difficulties faced by Saint Joseph and
how he was either able to overcome them or how God intervened in his life?
2.) Do you have any difficulties or deficiencies that you think could never be
used by God for the good of others?
3.) How did Saint Joseph respond to the many difficulties he faced as a
Franciscan priest?
4.) Is there anything from the Reading of the thoughts and sayings of Saint
Joseph that spoke to you in particular?
SOURCES USED
1.) Butler’s Lives of the Saints (Vol. III) Butler, Alban (Edited by Herbert
Thurston, S.J. and Donald Attwater) (Christian Classics, Inc. – Westminster,
Maryland - ©1756-9, 1926-38, 1956 and 1981)
2.) Dictionary of Saints – Delaney, John J. (Image Books – Doubleday – New
York, New York ©1980 and 1983)
3.) Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours
– Cassese, OFM, Father John – Marie (Catholic Book Publishing Co., New
York, New York ©1977)
4.) Unpublished Source Material
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