Saint of the Day: St. Joseph Cupertino, "The Flying Saint"
If you have watched the videotape or DVD "The Reluctant Saint", you know just how endearing this sweet Franciscan saint can be and what strong humility he had. First of all, he wasn't really wanted by his parents, then he was later rejected as a lay brother and sent home by the community.At age 17, Joseph applied for admittance to the Friars Minor Conventuals, but was refused due to his lack of education and limited learning ability. He later applied to the Capuchins, and was accepted as a lay-brother, but his ecstasies made him unsuitable for work, and he was returned home. He continued to pray and was finally accepted as an oblate in the Franciscan convent near Cupertino. He was rejected for the priesthood due to his poor learning skills. He had to be tutored and drilled over and over by one of his peers (who found him unteachable) in his priestly studies in an attempt to prepare for the exam to enter the priesthood. Although he could recall little of what he learned, ...