Feast of St Joseph of Cupertino
St. Joseph of Cupertino-September 18
Born of devout parents, as a young man Joseph of Cupertino was outstanding for his purity. In the convent of the Friars Minor at Grotella, he was first enrolled among the lay-brothers because of his lack of learning, and then, by a disposition of divine Providence, he joined the clerics and was ordained. He chastised his body with a hair-shirt, with scourging and all kinds of austerities, and nourished his spirit continually with the food of holy prayer, so that he was called by God to the highest degree of contemplation. Outstanding for obedience and poverty, he cultivated chastity above all, and preserved it unharmed, conquering great temptations. He honored the Virgin Mary with a wonderful love and shone for his great charity toward the poor. His humility was so deep that he thought himself a great sinner and earnestly prayed God to take away the remarkable gifts he had been given. He journeyed through many places at the command of the superior of the Order and of the holy Inquisition; finally, at Osimo in Picenum, in the sixty-first year of his age, he made the last journey, to heaven.
(From Matins of the feast of St. Joseph of Cupertino)