Joseph, 1603-1667, led a hard-scrabble life as a youth. Born in the small village of Cupertino, with a failed father and a mother who considered Joseph a nuisance, deemed a slow learner with a bad temper by his contemporaries, nicknamed The Dunce for his poor performance in school and Bocca Perta, The Gaper, for his walking slack-jawed thru town, lost in his own world, Joseph was awkward and clumsy.
Once a teenager, Joseph’s mother and uncle tried to get him admitted to a monastery, but none would accept him. He was a failed carpenter, a failed shoemaker, a failed kitchen worker at the Franciscan monastery, who kept dropping and breaking plates. Finally the Franciscan Friars Minor Conventual took him, and put him to work in the stable with their mule. It was there he found his faith, calmed his temper and became super-religious. He was allowed to take Holy Orders only because the questions asked of him at his test were simple ones.
He quickly gained fame for his abstemious ways as a Franciscan priest and his ability to levitate at the altar, adding another nickname, The Flying Friar. He spent many years in Assisi, but was removed by the Pope who said one Saint Francis was enough in Assisi. His latter years were spent in Brindisi and Otranto in the southeastern heel of Italy. He died there. His preserved body is in the Basilica di san Giuseppe da Copertino in Osime. A famed altarpiece there depicts him levitating over the altar.
Joseph of Cupertino has become known as the patron saint of the mentally handicapped — making the Cupertino Home in Warrenville so apropos — and the patron of pilots, test-takers, poor students and air travelers. He was canonized in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII. We celebrate the 250th anniversary of his elevation to sainthood this year. His feast day is September 18.