John Joseph of the Cross

Saint John-Joseph of the Cross ≠

Depiction of St. John-Joseph
Confessor
Born August 15, 1654
Ischia
Died March 5, 1739
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Canonized May 26, 1839, Rome by Pope Gregory XVI
Feast March 5
Patronage Ischia

Saint John-Joseph of the Cross (August 15, 1654 – March 5, 1739), known most commonly in the Italian language as San Giovan Giuseppe della Croce, was an Italian saint. He is the patron of Ischia, the place where he was born.

Biography

He was born as Carlo Gaetano Calosirto on the island of Ischia, on August 15, 1654, and he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strict Observance at Naples before the age of sixteen,[1] taking the name John Joseph of the Cross. He was the first Italian to follow the reform movement of Peter of Alcantara.[2] He had a reputation for austerity and for the gift of miracles and was appointed Master of Novices.[3]

In 1674 he was sent to found a friary at Afila, Piedmont, and assisted in the actual construction. He was ordained as a priest (much against his will) and as superior, performed the lowliest tasks in the monastic community.[1]

In 1702, when the convents in Italy were no longer dependent on the Spanish houses, but were formed into a separate province, he was appointed Vicar Provincial of the Alcantarine Reform in Italy.[1] When he was superior, he ordered that no beggar should be dismissed from the convent gate without relief: in time of scarcity he devoted to their necessities his own portion, and even that of the community. When he journeyed through Italy as provincial, he would not make himself known at the inns, where he lodged, lest any distinction should be paid him.[3]

Not unfrequently he desired those whom he restored to health, to take some certain medicine, that the cure might be attributed to a mere natural remedy and with regard to his prophecies, which were numerous, he affected to judge from analogy and experience.[3]

Veneration

He was beatified in 1789, and canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI. At the Aragonese Castle (Il Castello Aragonese) on Ischia, there is a small chapel consecrated to Saint John Joseph of the Cross.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hess, Lawrence. "St. John Joseph of the Cross." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 6 Aug. 2013
  2. ↑ Foley O.F.M., Leonard. Saint of the day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast, (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media, ISBN 978-0-86716-887-7
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Butler, Alban. The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, Vol. I, D. & J. Sadlier, & Company, 1864

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