St. Joseph of Cupertino, unknown date and painter

The Flying Friar

Today is the feast of one of my favorite saints, the humble little priest Giuseppe Desa, better known as St. Joseph of Cupertino. He was not the best or the brightest at first glance, and during his childhood, he was nicknamed bocca aperta or "the gaper," supposedly from his frequent mouth-breathing but actually from the remarkable visions he experienced that no one else could see. But exaltavit humiles and he was truly exalted, both figuratively and literally. He could fly.

He was refused by the Franciscan Conventuals as too simple, while, as a Capuchin lay-brother, his ecstatic levitations made him unsuitable for work. Though actually, he succeeded in airlifting a very heavy cross on one occasion, so I imagine they didn't dismiss him too quickly. He was such a sweet and gentle man (in addition to being slightly distracted) that, after walking through the countryside, he would return with his tunic in tatters, victim to pilgrims preemtively looking for relics.

Such were his virtues he was ordained a priest at age 25, despite the fact he was barely literate. For all his supposed stupidity, he was so filled with the Holy Spirit, he was able to discern the answers to deep and intricate theological problems. This, with his levitations, ecstasies and other phenomena, made him something of an unwitting tourist attraction, and he was fobbed off from one monastery to the next and kept virtually imprisoned in his own cell. Still, he never once complained, and his example of quiet holiness (with remarkable results) remains accessible today. He is patron of paratroopers, test-takers, students, pilots, airplane travellers, air crews and astronauts, and so it should be, for these are all things he no doubt would have gaped at as well.

Besides St. Joseph, we have a few interesting names today. There's the archbishop of Granada St. Thomas of Villanova, the generous "father of the poor." Then there's the Empress St. Richardis of Alsace, wife of Charles the Fat and sister of King Boso of Provence (who?), who once tamed a mother bear and her cub after resurrecting the little bear. Both became her lifelong companions.

There's the Translation of the Relics of St. Winnoc, a Cornish-Breton prince, son of St. Judicael (again, who?), who is depicted in art as in ecstasy while grinding corn. (Trust me, it would take too long to explain.)

Then there's St. Hybald, a friend of St. Bede, who had nothing to do with animals, as far as I can see. Lastly, for the sake of convenience, there are two saints named Ferreolus, one a martyred soldier and the other a bishop, who have nothing in common but the name.