THE MORE OBSCURE CATHOLIC SAINTS - PART FIVE

I know that some readers think that I make these saints up but, believe me, sometimes fact is much stranger than fiction.

Take St. Joseph of Cupertino for example. He's (hardly) known as the levitating saint.

St.Joseph used to levitate in rapturous ecstasy any time someone mentioned Jesus. I guess that he wouldn't have wanted to hang around builders and carpenters who were at risk of hitting their thumbs with a hammer or to be near people in barefoot stubbing their toes.

St. Joseph of Cupertino lived in the 17th century and was - no surprises here - a priest and monk with mental disabilities. That's par for the course really when it comes to Robert's saints. Old St. Joe had such a simple yet deep love for Jesus (and other saints apparently) that he would go into ecstasy and levitate upon hearing their names - especially as you'd expect, in church. It's just as well the churches of his day had very high vaulted ceilings. I wonder if any enterprising church cleaners contracted him to do a bit of dusting up there and remove spiderwebs, birds nest and rodent droppings?

This ability turned out to be both a blessing and a curse for St. Joseph of Cupertino.  He levitated in front of huge crowds during public processions and became a massive sensation amongst those that followed him - probably placing bets on when he'd fall on his ahead (again). The crowds became a problem for the Church who moved him from monastery to monastery (an exercise that they had and still do have experience in while moving paedophiles), keeping his location a secret, but his location was usually discovered fairly quickly, and the crowds would return. Joseph once had an audience with the pope and took off probably after being introduced to the guy. I hope he let go of his hand during the handshake before he flew off to the ceiling.

In 1962 a film was made about him titled The Reluctant Saint.

That's St. Joseph disappearing off in the upper left corner.

Here's a guy in a dress who will tell you about the film 'based on a true story'.

Riveting. This guy should drop the priesthood and make a career in film reviewing.

St. Joseph of Cupertino is the patron saint of air travellers, aviators, astronauts, and people with a mental handicap. I guess that they all go flying in their own ways.