St. Joseph of Cupertino , the flying patron of students and air-travelers

     St Jospeh of Cupertino (originally, in Italian; Giuseppe da Copertino) was born in 1603. ( June 17^th ) in what was  back then, a kingdom of Naples. 

     

     It is said that he started experiencing ecstatic religious vision as early as in his childhood, which,

St. Joseph portrayed flying and
carrying a cross 

alongside his tendency to be airheaded, and act impulsive with outbursts of anger, made him very unpopular. He was scolded not only by people around him, because of this, but also by his mother. [1]

     

     After school he tried becoming a shoemaker, apprenticing with his uncle, but was not very talented for such. What he really wanted is a religious life, being very spiritual and religious ever since childhood, but inadequate education, and his likeliness to get things wrong, and forget about the chores assigned to him, caused his application to join Conventual Franciscan friars to be rejected ( 1620. ) as well as him to be dismissed after 6 months of service by Capuchin Monks near Taranto ( also 1620. ), and he was therefore, forced to go back to the scold of his mother. [2]

    Soon after returning home, he finally got accepted into Franciscan monastery, although to work as a stable boy, and care for the horses. He was said to have begun to change at that point, becoming better composed, and more serene, and his simplicity of life, piousness, and devotion have additionally impressed the monks so he was finally given chance to study for his priesthood. While he had more success with studies than ever before, they were still quite bothersome and a burden for him, but seems that Divine Providence wanted so that he become a priest. It is said that the examiner, conveniently, and accidentally picked the question, about which St. Joseph knew best, and in regards of which he was well versed, hence he finally became ordinated.     [3]

The Flying Monk

     Even after becoming a priest, St. Joseph of Cupertino was somewhat of an unorthodox, he was extremely pious, much like zealots, and is said to have eaten solid food once a day at best, fasted, and added bitter herbs to his soups such as Wormwood.

     He was more famed, or also notorious, at least among fellow monks, because of his miraculous levitation episodes. It would happen that during the mass he would get so deeply into prayer, that he would ecstatically levitate, often kneeling in the air, unresponsive to   pretty much anything, but his superior’s direct orders. The other monks would find his  sudden levitation disruptive, and some were even scared of them, because back then, such  supernatural abilities were deemed signs of demonic presence or involvement with dark magick and occult, and could have very well bring one before the Inquisition.

     According to the records, and lore and legends, the mere mention of G’d or spiritual matter, was often enough to set this saint off flying.  For example, on one occasion he levitated in the air during the singing of Christmas carols, soaring high in the air, before the altar, “knelling” in prayer, and on another occasion he  “ferried a cross thirty-six feet high through the air to the top of a Calvary group as easily as one might carry a straw” [4]  which is a scene often depicted in iconography related to him. He was popular and respect among the people, after many witnessed his miracles, and was often flocked and consulted for advices and help by them. He was said to have been   very devoted to Virgin Mary, and to have advised people to pray to her a lot, always having praiseful and inspiring words for her life and   work.

     He was beatified in 1753. and then sanctified 1763., ten years later.

Patronage, and Hoodoo spiritual work

    

     St. Joseph of Cupertino, was declared a patron saint of air travelers, pilots, exam takers and students, particularly poor students.

     However, he is seldom petitioned in Hoodoo, because the modern, marketers Hoodoo, wants us to believe that there is a list of Christian Saints which you can work with in Hoodoo, and which are Saints as recognized by Protestant Christian denomination. I for one, find this notion ludicrous, and misleading, being that Hoodoo was influenced by Catholic Christianity, at least originally, not Protestantism. 

     Nevertheless, many practitioners, including myself, preform spiritual work with Saints which are not on these Hoodoo lists, such as St. Cosmas and Damian   , or this Saint for example.

     Consequently the lack of information on how to “work” with these Saints appears, which is thankfully overcame by   testimonies and sharing of generous people who worked with these Saints, and their experiences become an invaluable sources.  That being said, before writing this article I looked this saint up in Anna Riva’s “Devotion to the Saints” and  Ray T. Malbrough’s “The Magical power of Saints”, and there was no entry on him.

     His feast day is 18^th of September, and his herbs are Wormwood and bitter herbs, so You could mix Wormwood and Frankincense in an oil devoted to him, along with a piece of dry bread.

      An internet search yielded more results, which indicate how to work with this Saint in Hoodoo:

·         Purple or brown candles dressed with All Saints Oil are good  for working with him

·        *  His devotion places can be near the window, as he liked the outdoors

·        *  Offering of bread and fruits are fine, but as an  extremely humble Saint, he will truly cherish a  company, smile, belief in G’d, or some charity to those in need  

·         * A fine prayer to work with him can be this one:

“O humble St-Joseph of Cupertino, singularly favoured by God, implore the Holy Spirit to enlighten my mind and strengthen my memory in the search of His Truth and Wisdom. May I succeed in offering God my finest work and may I grow in Knowledge, Understanding, Humility and Charity. May everything I learn in life be offered in faithful service to God, from whom flows that Wisdom which leads to eternal life. Amen.” [5]

     I’d presume that the best day to work with this Saint is Wednesday, and of course his Feast day, although, obviously, one can petition the Saint whenever the need arises.

Don’t forget it’s the Mercury retrograde time  be careful, vigilant and wise J If You need make a charm to protect You for its evil influences.

Many Blessings, Shadow

NOTES:  This article was written and composed by myself. If You wish to use any parts of it elswhere online, feel free but add credits  Shadow of Shadows magick place,  Shadow-333@hotmail.com  , or a direct link to this post

CREDITS AND REFERENCES: 

[1] According to the Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_of_Cupertino

[2] as under [1]

[3] According to the:

[4]  Cited from the source, which is listed under     [3]

[5] Courtesy of Miss Aura, a rootworker, who shared her experiences on working with St. Joseph of Cupertino on the following forum/message board http://forum.luckymojo.com/working-with-st-joseph-of-cupertino-questions-and-thanks-t19951s30.html

IMAGE CREDITS:  The image is from http://www.catholic.org/files/images/saints/72.jpg used here for illustrative purposes without any ill will