Giuseppe (Joseph) Maria Desa was born on June 17, 1603 in the small town of Copertino, in the province of Lecce. His family was not going through an easy time: his father, Felice, was involved in the financial failure of an acquaintance to whom he had lent money, and ended up in poverty. So Giuseppe was born in a stable like Jesus and from a young age he had to roll up his sleeves to contribute to the household economy, working as a shop boy.

Giuseppe also tries to attend school, but is struck by a gangrenous ulcer that keeps him away from his studies for five years. His mother, Franceschina Panaca, a strong and vigorous woman, tries to give him a basic education through the narration of the lives of the Saints such as Saint Francis. In Giuseppe, the desire to walk in the footsteps of the "Poverello of Assisi" matures, so much so that, at the age of 16, he asks to enter the order of the Conventual Franciscan Friars, at the convent of "Grottella".

But his poor education does not help him and he is forced to retrace his steps. He then turns to the Reformed Franciscans and then to the Capuchins of Martina Franca, but the response is the same: his poor education, accompanied by the first manifestations of ecstasy during which he lets everything fall from his hands, make him unfit for community life.

In the meantime, the Supreme Court of Naples establishes that, upon reaching the age of majority, Giuseppe is forced to work without pay, until he pays off his father's debt, now deceased. Faced with such a sentence - in fact, a real slavery - the young man returns to ask for admission to the Convent of the "Grottella". The Friars take his situation to heart and help him to undertake a real course of studies.

Despite a thousand difficulties, but thanks to great willpower, the young man reaches the examination for the diaconate. Here a miracle occurs: Joseph knows in depth only one passage of the Gospel and it is precisely that which, by chance, the examining bishop asks him to comment on. A similar extraordinary event is repeated three years later, during the examination to become a priest: the bishop questions some examinees and, finding them particularly prepared, extends admission to the priesthood to all the other candidates. Finally, in 1628, Joseph is ordained a priest.

Giuseppe's humility, however, will remain proverbial: aware of his own cultural limitations, he does not disdain the simplest manual labor, he dedicates himself to the service of the poorest. He even nicknames himself "Brother Donkey".

Joseph lives his love for the Church in an unconditional way, placing Christ at the centre of his existence and experiencing a profound devotion for Mary, Mother of God. However, those who hear him speak recognise in him the light of a mature theology, which he discusses in depth: it is the gift of infused knowledge that makes him so wise.

Meanwhile, the phenomena of ecstasy and levitation become more pronounced in Joseph, especially when he pronounces the names of Jesus and Mary. “When the gunpowder ignites in the gun and sends out that roar and crash,” he explains to a brother, “so the ecstatic heart is inflamed with the love of God.”

Such episodes do not escape the attention of the Inquisition of Naples, which summons him to try to understand whether the young man from Copertino is abusing popular credulity or not. Right in front of the judges lined up in the Monastery of San Gregorio Armeno, Giuseppe has a levitation. He is then acquitted of all charges, but the Holy Office confines him in isolation, away from the crowds.

The future Saint then passes from one convent to another – Rome, Assisi, Pietrarubbia, Fossombrone – until he arrives in Osimo, near Ancona. Here, finally, he arrives in 1656, at the behest of Pope Alexander VII, and here he finds peace. In fact, he remains there uninterruptedly until his death, always leading a humble life in the service of others, and in conversation with God at the height of the Eucharistic celebration: “This is what we must do – he explains to a brother – leave the world, continue prayer and settle the 'little cave' of our heart to offer Jesus Christ our intellect, memory and will”.

Death took him on September 18, 1663, at the age of 60. Benedict XIV beatified him in 1753, while Clement XIII proclaimed him a Saint on July 16, 1767. Today, his sacred remains rest inside a gilded bronze urn, in the crypt of the Church of Osimo, dedicated to him. A sanctuary was also erected in his honor in Copertino, above the stable where he was born.

https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/giuseppe-da-copertino.html