Feast day: September 18
St. Joseph of Cupertino
A slow, clumsy Italian friar dismissed as hopeless who became renowned for raptures so intense he was reported to rise into the air, and for his childlike simplicity and joy.
Joseph of Cupertino was born in 1603 in a poor village of southern Italy, in such poverty that he came into the world in a stable. A slow, awkward, and absent-minded boy — nicknamed 'the gaper' for his habit of standing open-mouthed and lost in thought — he seemed fit for nothing, and was at first rejected by the religious orders he tried to enter.
Taken in at last as a humble servant at a Franciscan friary, he so impressed the friars by his goodness that he was admitted, and — though he could barely read and struggled terribly with his studies — was, almost miraculously, ordained a priest. His learning never amounted to much, but his holiness and simplicity were extraordinary.
He is one of the most famous of all mystics for a startling reason: he is repeatedly and credibly reported to have levitated — to have been lifted off the ground in ecstasy, sometimes flying through the air toward an altar or a statue, at the mere mention of God or holy things. These 'flights,' witnessed by many, became so disruptive and drew such crowds that his superiors kept him hidden away for much of his life.
He bore this strange and isolating fame with deep humility and obedience, calling himself worthless. He died in 1663 and was canonized in 1767. Because of his flights, this least scholarly of saints became, charmingly, the patron of pilots, air travellers, and — perhaps in sympathy — of students facing examinations.
His many reported levitations during prayer made the 'flying friar' the patron of pilots and air travelers — and, because he struggled so at his own studies, of students facing exams.
Image: Placido Costanzi (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: newadvent.org/cathen/08520b.htm
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