Rev. Fr. Angelo Pastrovicchi - St. Joseph of Copertino

St. Joseph of
Copertino

The Rev. Angelo
Pastrovicchi, O.M.C.

NIHIL OBSTAT

Fr. Aloysius, O. M. Cap .

Fr. Felix M., O. M. Cap .

Censores Deputati .

IMPRIMATUR

Fr. Ignatius, O. M. Cap .

Minister Provincialis .

NIHIL OBSTAT

Sti. Ludovici, die 27 Aprilis, 1918

F. G. Holweck ,

Censor Librorum .

IMPRIMATUR

Sti. Ludovici, die 29 Aprilis, 1918

Joannes J. Glennon ,

Archiepiscopus ,

Sti. Ludovici .

Originally published by

B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Missouri

Copyright 1918 by Joseph Gummersbach

Copyright 1980 by TAN Books

Library of Congress Catalog No.: 79-91298

ISBN: 0-89555-135-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com

1980

CONTENTS

Childhood and Youth; Capuchin Lay-Brother; Conventual Tertiary; Novice; Ordination.Life at Grottella; Aridity; Mortification; Fame of Sanctity; Called to Naples by the Inquisition.Journey to Rome; to Assisi; Sufferings; Second Journey to Rome; Citizen of Assisi.Love of God; Ecstasies and Flights at Copertino, Nardo, Monopoli, Naples, Assisi.Prayer and Union with God; Efficacy of Prayer; Love of Neighbor; Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.Chastity; Poverty; Obedience.Wisdom; Searching of Hearts; Prophecies; Heavenly Apparitions; Combats with the Devil; Miracles.Veneration of People and Nobility.Humility; with the Capuchins at Pietrarubbia, at Fossombrone.Return to Conventuals at Osimo; Life at Osimo.Predictions of Death; Last Illness and Death; Burial.Beatification; Canonization; Basilica and Sanctuary.

MARIAE IMMACULATAE,

" REGINAE ORDINIS MINORUM "

(Pius X, Sept. 8, 1910)

" MATRI BONORUM STUDIORUM "

(Pius X, May 16, 1906)

ECSTATIC FLIGHT OF ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO

In presence of the Princess of Savoy. The Princess wears the habit of a Tertiary

From an old print

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

"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,

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 Psalmist, '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

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.

Many friends have aided in preparing this little book. The Conventual Fathers at Osimo kindly donated a copy of the first edition of Pastrovicchi. During a visit to Rome Rev. A. T. Ennis (Concordia, Kansas) procured for me several rare works. Some of the bibliographical details I owe to Rev. Edward Jannitto, O. M. C. (Osimo), Rev. Michael Bihl, O. F. M. (Quaracchi), Rev Fr. Maurice, O. M. Cap. (Quebec), and Rev Engelbert Rosenmaier, O. M. Cap. (Milwaukee). All these I sincerely thank, as, too, the Franciscan Fathers (Washington) and the Benedictine Fathers (Atchison) for the use of books, Rev. Felix M. Kirsch, O. M. Cap. (Herman, Pa.) and other fellow-religious for suggestions toward improving the manuscript.

F. S. L.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(Pages not numbered are given in (). The editions marked by * were used in preparing the present translation.)

"The only copy in Italy of the Acta Beatificationis et Canonizationis of St. Joseph of Copertino is that of the Congregation of Rites. The copy belonging to our Order [Conventuals] is now in the National Library at Paris, whither it was taken by Napoleon I. We [Conventuals at Osimo] have a copy of the Summario, published at Rome, Typis Reverendae Camerae Apostolicae, 1688." (Rev. Edward G. M. Iannitto, Librarian and Archivist of the Sanctuary of St. Joseph of Copertino at Osimo.)

Beatificationis et canonizationis Josephi a Cupertino Ord. Min. nova positio super dubio an, et de quibus miraculis constet in casu et ad effectum de quo agitur, Romae, 1751, 125 pp. fol .

Summarium additionale novae respons. super eodem dubio, Romae, 1751, 74 pp. fol . * Positio super dubio an et de quibus miraculis constet in casu.... Romae, Typ. Cam. Apost., 1764. 37, 160, 17, 63, 48 pp. fol .

Positio noviss. super dubio an et de quibus miraculis constet in casu, et ad effectum de quo agitur, Romae, 1766, fol .

Relazione della solenne Canonizzazione dei Beati Giovanni Canzio, G. Calasanzio, GIUSEPPE da COPERTINO, G. Emiliani, Serafino da Monte Granaro detto d'Ascoli, Giovanna Francesca Fremiot de Chantal, celebrata... dalla Santita di N. S. Clemente XIII... il di 16 Luglio, 1767... Romae, 1767, 4 .

Mariotti, Josephus Andreas, Acta Canonizationis sanctorum Johannis Cantii, Josephi Calasanctii.... JOSEPHI a CUPERTINO, Hieronymi Aemiliani, Seraphini ab Asculo et Johannae Franciscae Fremiot una cum apostolicis litteris.... Clementis XIII. Collecta ac Notationibus illustrata a J. A. Mariotti, fidei subpromotore, Romae, 1769, fol .

Nuti, Roberto, O. M. C., Vita del servo di Dio P. Giuseppe da Copertino, Palermo, 1678; Vienna, Viviani, 1682 . "This book was translated into Latin and Bohemian, Vita servi Dei Josephi de Copertino ... in latinum translata per P. Marianum Unczovsky, Pragae . From this is taken (with omissions) Lebensbeschreibung des grossen Dieners Gottes Joseph von Copertino... Brnn, 1695 ." (Daumer, p. 37, note.)

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