[Rank]
S. Joseph Cupertino;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Rule]
vide C5;
9 lectiones

[Ant 1]
I am dead * and my life is hid with Christ in God.

[Oratio]
O God, Who art pleased that thine Only-begotten Son being lifted up from the~
earth should draw all things unto Him, be entreated for the sake of thy servant~
Joseph, whom Thou didst make like unto one of the Seraphim, and so effectually~
work in us, that even as he, we also may be drawn up above all earthly lusts,~
and worthily attain unto Him
$Qui tecum

[Lectio4]
This Joseph was born, of godly parents, at Cupertino, a small village of the~
diocecese of Nardo, between Brindisi and Otranto, (six miles from the coast of~
the Gulf of Tarento, upon the 17th day of June,) in the year of Redemption 1603.~
The love of God came to him early, and he passed his childhood and youth in~
great guilelessness and harmlessness. After recovering by the help of the Virgin~
Mother of God from a long and painful sickness which he bore very quietly, he~
gave himself altogether to godliness and self-improvement. God called him~
inwardly to higher things, and to give himself more utterly to His service, he~
determined in himself to join the "Seraphic" Order. After divers failures~
and changes, he obtained his wish among the Friars of the convent of "La~
Grotella." He went first as a lay-brother, on account of his ignorance of~
letters, but God was pleased to allow him afterwards to be taken among the choir~
brethren. After taking his solemn vows he was ordained Priest, and then set~
before him to aim at a more perfect life. To this end (as far as in him lay) he~
thrust from him all earthly affections and all carnal things, even to such as~
seem almost needful for life. He tormented his body with haircloth, scourging,~
spiked chains, and every kind of hardship and affliction. He fed his spirit~
sweetly upon the constant exercise of holy prayer, and gazing upon the highest~
matters. And so it came to pass that the love of God, which had been enkindled~
in his heart from his earliest years, burnt forth day by day more strangely and~
openly.

[Lectio5]
The chief outcome of this love of God was the strong and marvellous trances~
whereinto he oftentimes fell. It was, nevertheless, strange to observe that~
after he had entirely lost his senses he could be called out of the trance by~
the mere order of his superiors. To be utterly obedient was one of his chief~
aims, and he was used to say that those who ruled him could lead him about like a~
blind man, and that it was better to die than not to obey. He so imitated the~
poverty of the Seraphic Patriarch, that when he was at the point of death,~
when the Friars use to dispose of anything they have, he was able to tell his~
Superior that he had absolutely nothing. Thus bearing about in his body the~
dying of the Lord Jesus, the life also of Jesus was made manifest in his body.~
When he saw that certain persons had committed a foul sin of uncleanness, there~
came from him a strong savour, a proof of that snowy and glorious purity which,~
in spite of the most hideous temptations whereby the unclean spirit wrestled~
long to darken it, he kept undefiled, partly by an iron bridling of his senses,~
partly by the stern punishments he inflicted upon his own body, and partly by~
the extraordinary protection of the pure Virgin Mary, whom he was used to call~
his own Mother, whom he honoured and worshipped as his most tender Mother in his~
very heart of hearts, and whom he was eager that all men should honour, because,~
as he said, if we have her protection, every good thing comes with it.

[Lectio6]
This eagerness on the part of the blessed Joseph was but one outcome from his~
love for his neighbours. So great was his zeal for souls, that he vehemently~
sought in all ways for the salvation of all. When he saw his neighbour in any~
trouble, whether it were poverty or sickness or any other affliction, his~
tenderness went out toward him, and he helped him as well as he could. They who~
reviled, and slandered, and insulted himself were not cut off from his love. He~
was used to welcome such with great long-suffering, meekness, and cheerfulness~
of countenance and he preserved the same constantly amid many hardships and~
changes when he was sent hither and thither by command of the Superiors of his~
Order, and of the Holy Inquisition. People and princes alike marvelled at the~
exceeding holiness of his life, and the spiritual gifts poured upon him from~
above, but he was so lowly, that he sincerely held himself to be chief among~
sinners, and earnestly besought God to take away from him the more showy of His~
gifts. Of men he entreated that after his death they would cast his body~
somewhere where his memory might soonest perish. But God, Who exalteth them of~
low degree, glorified His servant during life with the gifts of heavenly wisdom,~
of prophecy, of discerning the hidden thoughts of the heart, of healing, and of~
other spiritual gifts in marvellous abundance, gave him a precious death, and~
made the place of his rest glorious. He fell asleep in Jesus upon the very day~
and at the very place foretold by himself, that is, at Osimo, (between Ancona~
and Loretto, upon the 18 th day of September,) in the 61st year of his own age,~
(and in that of salvation 1663.) He was famous for miracles even after his death,~
and Benedict XIV. enrolled his name among those of the Blessed, and Clement~
XIII. among those of the Saints. Clement XIV., being himself a member of the~
same Order, extended the use of the Office and Mass in memory of him to the~
whole Church.

[Ant 2]
The Lord showed me * a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding~
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

[Ant 3]
I count all things * to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord.

[Lectio94]
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 scourgings 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 in unharmed, conquering great temptations. He honoured 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 Piceno, in the sixty-first year of his age, he made the last journey, to heaven.
&teDeum

