Joseph of Copertino

In the twentieth century, defying gravity or weightlessness is the province of astronauts who, far above the gravitational pull of our planet are able to move effortlessly and unsupported in outer space. However, there are many recorded cases of those who have had the extraordinary ability to levitate and overcome the strange force that holds us captive. One such man was Guiseppe Desa (1603-1663), later canonized by the Church in 1767. The Church of San Guiseppi da Copertino at Via Vittoria in Italy was built to honour him during the years 1754-58. From the comprehensive records of the time we are able to piece together his remarkable story.

Raised in an environment of rigid religious discipline, he grew up an ascetic and subject to ecstacies. A poor diet, fasting, self-inflicted miseries (he wore a rough hair shirt and an iron chain tightly fastened around his loins), and a generally unhealthy lifestyle, had a deleterious effect on his health causing him to suffer from internal abscesses.

At seventeen, determined to devote his life to religion, he applied to join the Friars Minor of the Conventionals but was rejected as it was thought that his lack of education would not fit him for a priestly vocation. Undeterred, he applied and was accepted as a lay brother into the Capuchin Order in 1620, taking the name of Stephen. His stay was short lived however, his absence of mind, ecstatic states and general mental condition making his presence intolerable.

Through the good offices of Fr. Giovani Donato (his mother’s brother), Guiseppi was received as a tertiary into the Order of Conventionals at Grottella, near Copertino, then became a cleric in the Order of St. Francis in 1625, taking the name of Fr. Joseph Maria. Without examination Joseph went on to become a deacon and finally in 1628 a priest. He continued his life as an extreme ascetic, fasting and consuming unpalatable herbs, scourging himself daily with a whip fitted with pins and sharp pieces of metal that caused the blood to spurt. His Superior, concerned about the extent of his flagellation and the way in which Joseph’s ecstacies disturbed the others, isolated him from the choir and refectory.

The stories of miracles and legends surrounding Joseph's name attracted the authorities and he was ordered to leave Copertino. He was thrice examined by the Inquisition but the charges against him were dismissed. It was while saying Mass at the church of St. Gregory of Armenia that a remarkable incident was said to have occurred. Witnessed by the nuns of St. Ligorio, Joseph suddenly rose up into the air and flew in an upright position to the altar with his hands outstretched as on a cross. He alighted on the altar midst the flowers and candles then flew back into the church in a kneeling position and, alighting upon his knees, began to whirl round upon them, dancing, singing, and exclaiming: "Oh! most Blessed Virgin, most Blessed Virgin!"

Later, when in Rome, the Father-General of his Order arranged for Joseph to kiss the feet of the Supreme Pontiff, Urban VIII. In the presence of the Pope, Joseph was seized by ecstatic rapture and rose into the air remaining suspended until the Father-General recalled him. The Pope was so impressed that he declared that he himself would testify to what he had seen. Again when Joseph was in Assisi and before a gathering of notables in the basilica of the monastery, he saw a picture of the Virgin Mary painted on the ceiling and uttering a cry, rose into the air and flew about 15 yards in order to embrace it, crying out: "Oh! My Mother! Thou hast followed me!" In the following years there were numerous other levitations and flights all attested to by impeccable witnesses.

On September 17, 1663, Joseph was dying of a fever. After receiving the Viaticum he said that he heard the sound of a bell summoning him to God. Passing into the ecstatic state he flew for the last time as far as the steps of his little chapel crying out: "The Ass is beginning to ascend the mountain, Oh! what chants, what sounds of Paradise."

In 1735, Pope Clement XII made public the decree asserting the virtues of Joseph, and after his death, Pope Benedict XIV published a decree in 1752 approving two of the miracles. Joseph’s cannonization was formally announced by Pope Clement XIII on July 16, 1767.

Comment:

Notwithstanding the documentation available on Copertino, to objectively evaluate something which allegedly took place over 300 years ago presents some difficulty. Myth, legend, exaggeration, illusion, mass hypnosis and biased anecdotal evidence — all may have played a part in what has been handed down as fact.

It has been speculated that Copertino's peculiar diet which included ergot (a fungus the basis of the modern drug LSD) was probably responsible for the motor crises and neuroses of St Vitus’s Dance of which he appears to have been a victim. While the flying monk could have jumped and leaped relatively high and far one can be sure he never levitated or flew. Claims of levitation in modern times have not been substantiated when subject to scrutiny.

Further reading.

Cornwell, John. 1991. Powers of Darkness Powers of Light, Viking. Published by the Penguin Group.

Brandon, Ruth. 1984. The Spiritualists. Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York.

Gardner, Martin. 1986, "Home's Levitations." Skeptical Inquirer. 10 (4): 37 1-373.