Saint Joseph of Cupertino was a simple yet holy man who lived for sixty years during the seventeenth century. His intellect did not compare to most other saints, but not because he was extremely smart.
In fact, he was practically incapable of learning and studying.
This saint was constantly teased for his extreme absentmindedness and called names when his mouth hung aimlessly open. And yet God was clearly at work in Joseph. He had many extraordinary gifts, including levitation, great humility and acceptance, kindness, ecstasy, trust, power with nature, intense love of all things related to God, and he did everything ad majorem dei gloriam without fail. Saint Joseph of Cupertino is a perfect example of the truth that God can and will use everyone uniquely as part of his plan, regardless of their situation or level of intelligence.
Saint Joseph’s life was a difficult one, and Psalm 27 is a quite accurate expression of this:
“For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in” (New American Study Bible Ps 27:10).
Throughout his lifetime, Joseph experienced the intense pain of being unwanted. Nevertheless, God never left his side - regardless of his worldly inferiority. He was a part of God’s plan. His mother saw him as a burden; just an extra mouth to feed and another person to take care of. His feeble-mindedness prevented him from learning anything; no matter how hard he tried, his studies were all in vain. Joseph accepted that he was simply useless - though he did not pity himself - and searched for some kind of occupation. When he met a Franciscan friar he thought he might have finally found his place. Alas, Joseph had an arduous time finding an order that would take him. He was allowed a trial period as a lay brother with the Capuchins, but he had not had any schooling and was too difficult to teach, quickly draining everyone’s patience. He could hardly ever finish a task assigned to him because of his random “fits of piety and abstraction” (EWTN), during which he would suddenly drop whatever he was doing and stand still, completely oblivious to anything happening around him.
Before long Joseph was told to leave, his heart broken.
On that day Joseph stated, “When they deprived [me] of [my] habit it was as if they had torn off [my] skin” (EWTN).
Psalm 27 did not seem to be true; everyone was rejecting Joseph, even the religious communities. He returned to his mother, but she was so ashamed she sent him away without any pity. He did not give up, and simply trusted in God. Eventually Joseph’s patient determination paid off, and he got a job working in the stables of the Franciscan convent, where he humbly enjoyed the company of the animals. The brothers soon noticed Joseph’s many virtues hidden under his dull and ignorant appearance, and accepted him into the order. Finally something had happened in Joseph’s favor, but he still remained humble and worked harder than ever.
Joseph was not intelligent, but his faith and prayer life was extraordinary. His mind was like that of a child, and there is even the possibility that he was mentally handicapped. As Joseph struggled to study for his diaconate examination, he could not retain any of what he read. He went to the exam, although no one expected him to pass. Joseph trusted in God and prayed for His assistance. God did not fail him. Joseph was asked a question he not only knew the answer to, but one that was on a topic he loved to speak about, though he had never studied it. He passed his exam, and by another mystery of grace passed his priestly exam as well.
For the duration of his time with the Franciscans, Joseph’s fervent faith only grew. His fits of ecstasy continued, and only an order from his superiors would bring him out of them. Joseph was sincere in his actions and passionate in his prayers up to his death in 1663, when he requested to be buried in an out-of-the-way spot.
He is a great consolation to all of us in that his life is a reminder that the saints are not only scholars, but even the simplest of men.
Saint Joseph of Cupertino was a remarkably unique man, even among the saints. He was easily the least-learned man in the convent, but he was blessed with the beautiful ability to see God in every single aspect of his life and in all that surrounded him. Joseph truly embodies the eighth beatitude in Matthew’s Gospel,“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (New American Study Bible Mt 5:8). Joseph’s intense love of all things relate to God caused him to levitate from even the smallest mention of the Divine Creator, or spend long stretches of times lost in admiration of Him. Seventy instances were recorded where Joseph levitated, but it is likely that this occurred many more times than that. While saying Mass, Joseph’s tendency to levitate was even higher. He never interrupted the order of the Mass though, starting back right where he had left off.
Joseph often felt great admiration of nature, but he also had power over it. An example of this is when Joseph told a group of sisters who he was working with that he would send them a sparrow in return for their kindness. Sure enough, a sparrow flew in the window of the convent soon after and would whistle along when they prayed the Office. After a while one of the sisters tied a bell to the sparrow’s foot, only to have it fly away on Holy Thursday. When told, Joseph responded by saying that the bird had left because bells were not supposed to be rung during Holy Week. Nevertheless, Joseph got the sparrow to return, and from then on it stayed peacefully with the sisters.
Saint Joseph was given a number of spiritual gifts; levitation and power over nature only two of many. God may not have granted Joseph the capability to learn and study books, but He certainly showered graces upon him.
Today there are so many people have the misconception that the saints were perfect, somehow supernatural, beings. In reality, saints are normal humans who strove to follow God and ultimately succeeded. Throughout every saint’s life there are numerous examples of the same hardships and struggles every person faces, but many of them are hidden within the person of the saint and revealed only in writing. St Joseph of Cupertino is a more obvious and outward illustration of this truth. Some of his fellow brothers would likely have agreed with the misunderstanding of the saints; they did not see how someone that was as simple, as supposedly undeserving as Joseph, could obtain so many incredible gifts from God, including the wonderful feat of sainthood. The rest of his community had so much doubt that they sent him to Rome for further examination, and when he returned gave him stern restrictions on where he could go and what he could do. Regardless of the oppositions he faced, Joseph always remained steadfast in his faith.
God never abandoned him, but used Saint Joseph in a very unique way, bestowing upon His beloved child many favors throughout his life.
St Joseph is a great saint for test-takers to call upon! Click here for the Saint Joseph of Cupertino Prayer.