His story
His father was a poor carpenter who died in debt before he was born, and he was born in a stable in 1603 because creditors had driven his mother from her home. As a boy he fell into such raptures at school that the other children called him “open mouth”. The Franciscans turned him away for his ignorance and the Capuchins took him in and then sent him off, until the friars of La Grottella let him look after their stable and came to love his humility. His biographers tell that he often rose into the air as he prayed, so his superiors kept him away from public services for 35 years, and he died at Osimo in 1663.
“St. Joseph of Cupertino”, Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910; Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, volume 10, 1897
His feast day
18 September: His feast in the Catholic Church.
Why people ask St Joseph of Cupertino
Students and exams
He could barely read, yet he became a priest. The bishop had already heard him preach on “Blessed is the womb that bore you”, so in 1628 he was ordained “without examination”. Students from all over Italy have long left thanks offerings at his shrine when they finish their studies.
Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, volume 10, 1897; Parish of San Giuseppe da Copertino, Rome, bulletin of April 2014
Where it comes from
Who wrote it
No one knows who wrote this modern prayer.
“Feast day of Saint Joseph of Cupertino”, Franciscan Friars Conventual, 2017
