St. Joseph of Copertino

Some persons derive most benefit from reading the Lives of the Saints in which the supernatural and the extraordinary abound. They delight to see the wonderful display of the power of Divine grace in so frail a creature as man. These biographies, that are written more for our admiration than for our imitation, strengthen our faith in the supernatural, and inspire us with a great confidence in the goodness and power of God. And certainly in these days we need to stimulate and strengthen the life of faith and trust in Providence. The rapturous flights of St Joseph of Copertino have hardly a parallel as to frequency and duration in the lives of the saints. What is related of Christina Mirabilis, who lived 1150-1224, has been suspected of exaggeration, but our saint, having lived in more recent times, this his miraculous characteristic could easily be established in an authentic manner. Father Pastrovicchi wrote his life of St. Joseph on the occasion of the beatification of the saint, 1753. Pope Benedict XIV, to whom the work is dedicated, wished that for each fact related the episcopal and apostolic processes should be cited. This was done. Father Suyskens remarks that the caution of citing the official documents was well employed. "Since the words of the Psahnist, ' God is wonderful in His saints' (Ps. 67, 36), were verified in a singular manner in the life of St. Joseph, it was fitting that the extraordinary facts of his life should be attested in such a manner that credence could not be denied them." Father Gattari regards these miracles as wrought in support of the doctrine of the Real Presence, the authority of the Pope, sacramental Confession and the veneration due to saints, truths which in the time of the saint were impugned by the followers of Luther and other heretics. The fame of the fltights of St. Joseph spread throughout Europe and led to conversions as in the case of the Duke of Brunswick.' Another explanation offered is, that these miracles counteracted the diabolical arts (witchcraft and necromancy, especially in the kingdom of Naples) and superstition then prevalent To a degree our biography is a .. panegyric," with its drawbacks of "generalization" and "superlatives," but it is by no means "a dreary inventory of virtues and miracles." Some of the narratives, as in Chapter VI and IX, are very charming, "invested with all that tender simplicity and charm which voiced itself in the poetic narratives of the Fioretti." This first extensive biography of St. Joseph of Copertino in English was made from Sintzel's German translation of Fr. Pastrovicchi's Life of the saint. Only after years was it possible to procure the Italian original and verify the rendering. In the editions of Pastrovicchi of 1753 and 1767 the text is not divided into chapters; these (thirty in all) are indicated by Roman numerals at the beginning of paragraphs; the chapter titles and the references to the Acts are printed in the margin. The division of the text and the chapter titles in the present work are new. The original marginal titles are preserved in part as sub-titles in the Table of Contents. The numerous references to the Acts in the original have been omitted; likewise, in the interest of delicacy or conciseness. several passages in the body of the work. Details of the canonization, sanctuary, etc., have been added. Other small additions have been made throughout the work, dates and names have been inserted, and obscure passages made clear. The editions used for these changes are marked in the bibliographical list. Saint Joseph is also known as Saint Joseph of Cupertino.