The Back to School Saint
by Jake Frost in Faith on Thursday, August 26, 2010 6:00 AM
It’s back to school time, and for me that means one thing: Saint Joseph of Cupertino.
It’s not a name you usually hear when it comes to books and saints, there aren’t many schools named after Saint Joseph of Cupertino. But that’s only because it’s the people who give the tests that name schools. If the test-takers were in charge, Cupertino Academies would be everywhere. He’s the patron saint of those taking tests, even though he wasn’t much of a scholar himself.
Most of Saint Joseph’s academic experience was in the school of hard knocks. As the saying goes, he wasn’t “the sharpest tool in the shed.” A phrase particularly apt for Saint Joseph, since he was born in a shed and lived (for a time) in an animal barn. Poor and hungry as a child, he was sickly and awkward.
His school record was dismal, and he lacked any compensating gifts to off-set his academic shortcomings. He wasn’t funny or athletic, attractive or affable. Just nervous and prone to stare off into space. After leaving school, he was apprenticed to a shoe-maker, but couldn’t learn a trade either. And his peculiar habit of abstraction continued. At odd moments he would simply stop whatever he was doing, and stare, transfixed by something only he could see, deaf and dumb to the rest of the world. Not a good habit if you’re trying to get ahead in the hustle of commerce.
He also tried numerous times to join a religious order. Saint Joseph felt called to consecrated life, but with his ignorance, slow wits, and lack of any discernible talents, no order would take him. Until a community of Franciscans near Cupertino finally had pity on him. They wouldn’t let him become a friar, but he could sleep on a plank in the barn if he would tend the animals. Joseph accepted, and he was happy.
In fact, he was so full of joy, humble, and eager for any task the Franciscans set him to, no matter how onerous or disagreeable, the friars began to see piety where before they had seen only pity. They asked Joseph to become a Franciscan friar and priest. It was Joseph’s dream, and he did his best.
But no matter how the Franciscans tried to teach him, and no matter how Joseph tried to learn, he just couldn’t get anything into his head. Except for one thing. Joseph had an uncanny and deep insight into just a particular few of Jesus’ words recorded in the Gospel:
“Blessed are they who are poor in spirit.”
When it came to that one Beatitude, Joseph spoke with power. Otherwise, well, there didn’t seem any way Joseph could possibly pass the oral examination before the Bishop that was necessary for ordination. But there was no avoiding it, so the Franciscans sent him up to the Bishop with their prayers and their breath held.
When Joseph appeared for his test, he stood before the Bishop, waiting. The Bishop opened his Bible at random, and let his finger fall on the first line where chance might lead. The Bishop read the passage, then looked up at Joseph and said:
“Tell me about ‘Blessed are they who are poor in Spirit.’”
Joseph began, and continued until the Bishop held up his hand. No further examination was necessary. Given the depth of Joseph’s spiritual insight on this great Beatitude, it was obvious Joseph was well qualified for Holy Orders.
Against all odds, Joseph passed the test!
It wasn’t quite the end of the road for him, some twists and turns still awaited Joseph, but he was ultimately ordained. And he proved a remarkable priest. A great confessor, he was gifted by God to know the thoughts and hearts of others. He might not be good with books, but he could read souls. Kids love him because he could levitate and talk to animals.
But perhaps most amazing of all was that strange habit of abstraction. It turns out St. Joseph had a special grace of being able to see the hand of God at work in the world, sustaining creation moment to moment. It was the beauty and awe of God’s involvement in the tiny details of daily life that would overcome St. Joseph, filling him so completely that he was lost to all else.
Now he’s the patron saint of test-takers. I love him all the more for his lack of brilliance. Don’t get me wrong, I love St. Thomas Aquinas (my wife and I were brought together on his feast day) and all the other Holy Scholars. I marvel at them. But part of why I love Saint Joseph is that he wasn’t one to marvel at, at least not for academic prowess. I can relate to that. Even we, the less than brilliant, have tests we need to pass.
When we do, St. Joseph of Cupertino is a go-to saint. In those pressure packed moments, when time is short and stakes are high, St. Joseph is a great intercessor to seek God’s assistance. And then after the storm has passed, Saint Joseph is a great saint to remind us that God is still at work in our lives in the small moments, in all the everyday, ordinary-yet-extraordinary things of the world He created.
—Jake Frost is a lawyer, writer and stay-at-home Dade who lives near the Mississippi River with his wife and children. He comes from a large family in a small Midwest town and writes for Catholic pulbications around the country.
Resources:
- EWTN biogrpahy
- SQPN biography
- Prayer to St. Joseph of Cupertino for Success in Examinations
- St. Joseph of Cupertino at AmericanCatholic.org
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