Perhaps because of his simplicity and innocence, Joseph of Cupertino had great friendship and familiarity with the simplest of God’s creatures and his holiness attracted cardinals, kings and princes.
Newsdesk (24/09/2022 08:00 AM, Gaudium Press) God raised up luminous intelligences, like St Thomas Aquinas or St Augustine, but, in order to demonstrate his omnipotence, he also raised to a high degree of holiness men who were the most lacking in natural capacities. One of the latter is Saint Joseph of Cupertino.
A vocation difficult to fulfil
Little Joseph came into the world on June 17th, 1603 in the village of Cupertino, not far from Otranto, Italy. His father, a poor carpenter, died before the baby was born, leaving his unfortunate widow with six children and laden with debt. Insensitive to her suffering, her creditors evicted her from the house as she could not afford the rent. The sad lady was reduced to giving birth in a stable. Thus, already at his birth, Joseph’s life resembled that of the Saviour, whose footsteps he would resolutely follow.
Despite her poverty, his mother managed to place him in a school, and it was there that, at the age of eight, he had the first of his many ecstasies. His classmates, not understanding why they saw him standing still and looking lost, gave him the jocular nickname of “Boccaperta” (open mouth).
When he was a little older, he began to work as an apprentice shoemaker. However, he already felt a religious vocation, and when he turned 17 he tried to be admitted to a Capuchin convent. Unfortunately, he was refused because of his ignorance.
He did not let himself be discouraged and, at the cost of great insistence, managed to be received as a lay brother in 1620 by the Capuchins of Martino, who tried him in various trades, but his continual ecstasies subjected the china and other objects of the convent to no small test! They say that they even glued the shards of broken crockery to his habit. He had to be sent away. In the terrible ordeal of having to take off his Franciscan habit, he commented that it was as if his own skin had been torn off.
Joseph sought shelter in the house of an uncle who was of certain means, but, after some time, the uncle declared him “completely useless” and threw him out. After so many misfortunes, he returned to his mother’s house. His mother turned to a relative who was a Franciscan, through whom the young man was accepted at the convent of La Grotella as a lay assistant in the stable.
Although always distracted and clumsy, his humility and spirit of prayer and penance made him esteemed by all, and in 1625, by a unanimous vote of the friars, he was finally admitted as a Franciscan religious. The conventual friars agreed to accept him to take care of the mule of the convent of Grottella. Then his piety, austerity, obedience and supernatural gifts led the friars to admit him to the friary.
Preaching by good example
In the meantime, his love for God led him to long for the priesthood. Although some doubted that he was capable of this, the superiors allowed him to begin his studies. He went through the years of philosophy with great difficulty. During exams, he was so uncertain that he was often unable to answer. But Providence did not abandon him. When his teacher began to become impatient, our saint told him: “Be patient, it will be more meritorious”.
During one of the most important tests, the examiner said to him: “I am going to open the Gospel at random, and the first sentence that falls before my eyes, that one you will have to explain to me. He then opened the holy book to the page about the visit to St. Elizabeth, and told Friar Joseph to write about the phrase: “Blessed is the fruit of your womb”. This was the only point he knew how to explain.
At last the day of the final examination came, on which it was to be decided who was to be ordained. Joseph recommended himself to his Holy Mother, Our Lady of Grottella. The group of seminarians presented themselves before the bishop, who immediately began the oral examination. The first ten to be examined did so well that the prelate, very satisfied with the level of preparation of the group, dismissed the others from the examination. Joseph was 11th on the list… Thus, with good reason, Joseph of Cupertino was to be declared the patron saint of students, especially those in the exam period.
He was ordained a priest in March 1628. He always found it very difficult to preach and teach. However, he overcame this deficiency and won souls through prayer, penance and the powerful means of good example.
“Friar Donkey” … and a skillful theologian
In truth, he was little versed in human knowledge, so much so that he called himself “Friar Donkey”. However, divine grace granted him much wisdom and supernatural light, and in this way he not only surpassed the average man in learning the doctrines, but was also skillful in solving the most intricate questions that were presented to him.
Moreover, he never ceased to be a mystic and a great contemplative. Everything that in some way had to do with God or with holy things – the sound of the bell, the singing of the liturgy, the mention of the names of Jesus or Mary, some passage from the Gospels – easily brought him to ecstasy. And nothing could shake him out of it. In vain his brothers in the habit tried to push or drag him, then they began to strike him, drive nails into him and, finally, some of the more impatient ones even touched his skin with hot coals. Nothing produced any effect. By a miracle of holy obedience, only the voice of the superior brought him back to ordinary life.
Frequent ecstasies, source of troubles and trials
Ecstasies sometimes surprised him during Mass. When he came to his senses, Saint Joseph would resume the Holy Sacrifice at the precise point where he had left off, without making a mistake in the ceremonial. Such were his ecstasies that one day, during a levitation, his hands remained above the flames of two torches. Astonished, the spectators were speechless with fear, but after the ecstasy, there was no sign of burning. His Mass usually lasted two hours.
As these occurrences caused no small amount of astonishment and admiration, as well as great disturbance in the community, the superiors saw fit to decide that Friar Joseph should no longer celebrate Mass in public nor take part in the common acts, such as singing in choir, meals and processions. From then on he was to remain in his room, where a private chapel was prepared for his use. All this the good friar accepted, with humble and obedient resignation.
But the trials to which God was subjecting this servant of His were far from over. Such supernatural manifestations attracted the attention of the Inquisition, before which the good friar was accused of abusing popular credulity. During an interrogation in the Neapolitan monastery of St Gregory Armeno, he experienced an ecstasy before the judges.
The long and complex trial caused him the inconvenience of being transferred several times from one Capuchin house to another. But Friar Joseph of Cupertino always maintained his patience and cheerful spirit, submitting confidently to the designs of Providence. Far from being distressed, he progressed along the path of sanctification. He practiced mortification and fasting to such an extent that he made seven long periods of abstinence a year, and during a good part of that time he did not taste any food except on Tuesdays and Sundays.
Simplicity and Innocence
He often saw people in the form of an animal that represented the state of their soul. If he met someone whose soul was not clean, he would smell the bad odour of sin and warn him: “You stink, go and wash yourself”. And after a good confession, he would smell a pleasant perfume.
He lived so much in contemplation that, even during hard work, he could not be distracted from it. Not a few times, thinking of eternal realities, Joseph would rise from the ground.
Once he sent a little bird to teach the nuns of a monastery to sing the Office. And every day, at Matins and Nones, behold, the bird appeared at the choir window, enlivening the singing of the nuns.
On another occasion he found two hares near the woods of Grottella and warned them: “Do not go far from Grottella, because many hunters will pursue you. Having disobeyed this recommendation, one of them was surprised and chased by dogs. Finding the chapel door open, the little animal crossed the nave and threw itself into Joseph’s arms. “Had I not warned you?” the saint said to him. Then the hunters arrived, claiming their prey. “This hare is under the protection of Our Lady, therefore you shall not have it,” he replied. And after blessing it, he set it free.
Just by pronouncing the most holy names of Jesus and Mary, Joseph entered into levitation. Strolling one day with another friar in the gardens of the monastery, the latter said to him, “Friar Joseph, how beautiful is the sky God has created!” On hearing these words, Joseph gave a cry, flew away and knelt on an olive tree. The branches swayed as if under the weight of a bird.
Holiness Attracts
His reputation for holiness spread rapidly throughout Italy and even to other countries in Europe. Princes, kings, cardinals and even the Pope sought him out.
All this activity around the humble religious and the unusual supernatural phenomena worried the Inquisition. In 1653, by order of the Holy Office, he was transferred from Assisi to the Capuchin convent of Petra Reubia, and then, to isolate him further, to Fossombrone. He was to live isolated, even from the community.
The Conventual friars appealed to Pope Alexander VII. They wanted to bring St Joseph back to Assisi, but the Pope replied: “No, a St. Francis in Assisi is enough for them”. What greater compliment for a Franciscan?
He was sent to Osio, near Loreto in 1657. On his arrival he exclaimed: “This is the place of my rest”. And it was in Osio that he gave his virtuous soul to God on September 17th, 1663.
He was canonized by Clement XIII in 1767.
Text taken, with adaptations, from The Heralds of the Gospel, Jan. 2004 and Sept. 2006, Nos. 25 and 57.
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
