MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 18TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Joseph of Cupertino, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Joseph of Cupertino on this feast day, we humbly pray for all students, especially those preparing for or taking exams, we pray for their success. We pray for astronauts, pilots and all air travellers, we also pray for all those who travel by other means, we pray for journey mercies and God’s guidance and protection. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy, for all widows and widowers, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
SAINT JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, PRIEST: St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was born at Cupertino, Italy, and died in Osimo. He was a mystic who was perhaps most famous for his ability to fly. He was noted for his great austerities, his angelic purity, his great devotion to Our Lady and especially for his ardent love of God. His father, a poor carpenter, died before his birth and his mother became destitute, was unable to pay the debts, lost her home and gave birth to St. Joseph in a stable at Cupertino, Italy on June 17, 1603. St. Joseph began having mystical visions when he was seven for which he was ridiculed, and was often so lost to the world around him that the other children made fun of him giving him the nickname, “open-mouthed” for his gaping manner. He had an irascible temper, he was awkward, absent-minded, unintelligent, difficult to be around and read very poorly, giving others the impression that he was dumb and good for nothing. Aside from that, he was so continually drawn into ecstasy that it was impossible for him to be attentive to the tasks at hand. Thus, when he secured a job, he lost it very quickly. At the age of seventeen, St. Joseph finally managed to obtain a post taking care of a stable in a Franciscan convent near Cupertino. Upon realizing his holiness and aptitude for penance, humility, and obedience beneath his irritating demeanor, it was decided that he could begin studying for the priesthood. St. Joseph was a very poor student, however during his final examination, the examiner happened to ask him a question on the one topic he knew well. He passed and was admitted into the priesthood. It was also soon recognized that though he knew little by way of worldly knowledge and had little capacity to learn, St. Joseph was infused with a divine knowledge that made him capable of solving some of the most intricate theological quandaries. The people flocked to St. Joseph in droves seeking help and advice in the confessional, and he converted many to a truly Christian life. He was most devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and promoted devotion to her among all classes of people.
St. Joseph of Cupertino’s life was marked by ecstasies and levitations. The ecstasies became more pronounced, and he would often levitate or float as they happened. These ecstasies could be triggered easily through the mention of anything heavenly, or by any mortification. These occurrences became a spectacle and disturbance to others and caused St. Joseph much suffering; they were a cross he would bear his whole life. For example, as a priest he could not celebrate Mass publicly due to his distracting ecstasies. For the last 35 years of his life as a priest he was unable to celebrate Mass in public because he would often, without being able to help it, be lifted up into the air when he went into an ecstatic state, which happened at nearly every Mass. No meals could be taken in the monastery without some extraordinary interruption because of St. Joseph’s miraculous behaviour. It took only the slightest reference of anything having to do with God in order for this state to be induced in him. Once as Christmas carols were being sung he soared to the high altar and knelt in the air, rapt in prayer. He was even reported to the Inquisition for fear he was involved in witchcraft. Despite being moved from one friary to another, because of the disruption he caused by his ecstasies and the persecutions he endured from some of his brothers who were envious of his gifts, yet St. Joseph remained profoundly inundated by the joy of abandoning himself to Divine Providence. He lived a life of deep prayer and severe penance through continual fasting, subjecting himself every year to seven Lents of forty days each. St. Joseph of Cupertino, humbly endured many severe trials and terrible temptations throughout his life. He died on September 18, 1663 and was canonized in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII. Sometimes called “The Flying Saint,” fittingly the twentieth century has made St. Joseph of Cupertino patron of pilots and airline passengers. He’s also the Patron Saint of air travellers; astronauts; air crews; aviators; paratroopers; pilots; test takers and students preparing for exams. His feast day is September 18th.
QUOTES OF SAINT JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO: “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 …The will is what man has, as his unique possession.”
PRAYER: God, You willed that Your only-begotten Son should draw all things to Himself when He was lifted up above the earth. May the merits and example of St. Joseph, Your Priest, help us to rise above all earthly desires so that we may come to Jesus. Amen 🙏