Thought for the Day – 18 September – The Memorial of St Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663)
Joseph of Cupertino is most famous for levitating at prayer. Already as a child, Joseph showed a fondness for prayer. After a short career with the Capuchins, he joined the Conventual Franciscans. Following a brief assignment caring for the friary mule, Joseph began his studies for the priesthood. Though studies were very difficult for him, Joseph gained a great deal of knowledge from prayer. He was ordained in 1628.
Joseph’s tendency to levitate during prayer was sometimes a cross, some people came to see this much as they might have gone to a circus sideshow. Joseph’s gift led him to be humble, patient and obedient, even though at times he was greatly tempted and felt forsaken by God. He fasted and wore iron chains for much of his life.
The friars transferred Joseph several times for his own good and for the good of the rest of the community. He was reported to and investigated by, the Inquisition; the examiners exonerated him.
Joseph was Canonszed in 1767. In the investigation preceding the Canonisation, 70 incidents of levitation are recorded.
While levitation is an extraordinary sign of holiness, Joseph is also remembered for the ordinary signs he showed. He prayed even in times of inner darkness and he lived out the Sermon on the Mount. He used his “unique possession”–his free will–to praise God and to serve God’s creation. He said:
“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, that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession.”
AnaStpaul 