Bob Schwartz

Thus it began: Someone running late to the airport asked me to find a patron saint to help their making a flight.

My view of saints is nuanced. I believe that the long roster of Christian saints offers valuable spiritual touchstones for people of all traditions. Belief in the underlying miracles or in the power of a particular saint to intervene in particular situations is another matter. For me, saints are much more than a curiosity, but less than a holy emissary. Still, important and worthwhile.

I found Saint Joseph of Cupertino. Even for saints and their various patronages, he is extraordinary. Based on his life, he is the patron saint of air travelers, aviators, astronauts, people with mental handicaps, test takers, and poor students. That covers a lot of ground:

Saint Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was an Italian Franciscan friar known for mystical levitation experiences during prayer and Mass. Born Giuseppe Desa in Cupertino, Italy, he had a difficult childhood marked by poverty and learning difficulties.

Despite initial rejections due to his lack of education, he eventually became a priest. He became famous for reportedly levitating into ecstatic trances during religious services—sometimes floating to the altar or rising into the air—which drew crowds and scrutiny from Church authorities. These episodes occurred so frequently that he was eventually forbidden from participating in public religious ceremonies.

This led me to a little-known and less-seen movie based on his life, The Reluctant Saint (1962). Made by veteran Hollywood director Edward Dymtyrk, it is modest and well-made.

As his life story and the film (and the poster above referring to “The Flying Friar”) detail, the most remarkable feature was his ability to levitate. This is how the airplane aspects of his patronage came to pass.

If you watch the movie, or at least the last fifteen minutes, you will see a hearing about Joseph’s levitating above the altar when he celebrated his first mass. The brothers testify to what they witnessed, but one priest, Father Raspi, is adamant that it is the work of the devil possessing Father Joseph.

Father Raspi performs an exorcism (21 years before The Exorcist movie), including wrapping Joseph in chains so that he cannot levitate. When it is over, he leaves Joseph in chains. As Father Raspi and the brothers leave, they hear the chains falling away. When they go back, they are struck by a blinding bright light.

This story of Saint Joseph of Cupertino will inspire different thoughts in different people.

Did a humble, simple-minded, possibly mentally-challenged man pass his priest examination with flying colors? Did that same man, lifted by spirit, levitate?

Did this saint help someone make a flight on time?