"Remarkably Unclever" - St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Padre Pio, St. Therese, little Marcel and . . . us!

Today is the feast of St. Joseph of Cupertino, a saint who is described (in traditional accounts) as "remarkably unclever." And yet, mysteries ever ancient, ever new, he's the very one whom generations of students have called upon to help them in exam time. Why?

Let's allow St. Therese to tell the story, for she too knew of our hero. Her sister Celine (Sister Genevieve in the Carmel) remarked to Therese on July 12, 1897 (just 2 and a half months before Therese flew the coop for Heaven):

"God will not be able to take me immediately after your death because I won't be good enough."

Therese replied:

"It makes no difference; you remember St. Joseph Cupertino, his intelligence was mediocre, and he was uninstructed, knowing perfectly only this verse of the Gospel: Beatus venter qui te. Blessed is the womb that bore thee from St. Luke. Questioned precisely on this subject, he answered so well that all were in admiration, and he was received with great honors for the priesthood, along with his three companions, without any further examination. For they judged after hearing his sublime answers that his companions knew as perfectly as he did."

Therese concludes:

"Thus I will answer for you, and God will give you gratis all He will have already given to me!"

This is glorious news for the rest of us! I take from this that all we need to do is hang onto the skirts or coattails of some kindly saint (and they are ALL kindly!), and we're in!

Who will it be for you?
I've got the bottom of Marcel's soutane in one hand, and Therese's habit in the other.
But if you are looking for someone bigger (they are awfully little), you could grab that rope tied around Padre Pio's waist!

He had a lot to say too on the subject of getting his friends and spiritual children into Heaven. Let's see what we can find for our happy contemplation. He and St. Joseph Cupertino were both Franciscans, and it's just the Franciscan way to generously help others (the poorer the better) into the embrace of Christ. . . 

Oh, here's a good Padre Pio quote! Forget holding onto coattails - why not climb on his shoulders? For it was our dear father Pio who said: 

"When the Lord entrusts a soul to me, I place it on my shoulder and never let it go."

And what else does he say? I've found something even better, just in case you were worried you'd be lonely up there on his shoulder with all your loved ones grabbing at the skirts and cassocks of other saints, or worse yet, not having seen this post, perhaps your loved ones aren't grabbing at all! But no worries, it's against our religion! Instead, listen to Padre Pio's reassurance:

"I love my Spiritual Children as much as my own soul and even more."
and
"Once I take a soul on, I also take on their entire family as my spiritual children."

Okay, then! What shall we do to become spiritual children of Padre Pio? Well first off, let's stop being afraid of him. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm going to give you a good thousand on not fearing such a loving father:

And he's not only smiling, he's holding a book in his arms. What do you think? Therese's Story of a Soul? Marcel's Conversations? Perhaps it's a P.G. Wodehouse! It's sure making him chuckle!

The point is, no more worries any more ever, as Jesus told Marcel. And we here at Miss Marcel's Musings add: Not even a worry about whether Padre Pio will take you on as his spiritual child (and whether he'll be gentle and mild with you if he does). We have it on good authority: the Church has proclaimed Padre Pio a saint, and we know saints are like Jesus. What is Jesus like? He tells us, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart." No more worries then, just confidence that you'll be treated like the remarkably unclever child that you are. Which means Padre Pio will get Joseph of Cupertino or St. Therese or even St. Thomas Aquinas to answer the tough questions for you. Your job is simply to sit on his shoulder and enjoy the view!

Here, then, in the midst of our triple novena, is a prayer to become a spiritual child of Padre Pio's. Don't be scared - there's no scary thing, only Love here! 

Ready, set, go!

Dear Padre Pio, I recall your promise to the Lord, “I will stand at the gates of heaven until I see all my spiritual children have entered.” Encouraged by your gracious promise, I ask you to accept me as your spiritual child.

And just to keep up with our triple novena prayer to Our Lady:

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. Amen.

St. Padre Pio, pray for us!
St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for us!
Remarkably unclever but delightful little brother Marcel, pray for us!
​St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, pray for us and don't forget to shower down roses on all those who have asked for our prayers, all those for whom we've promised to pray, all those needing our prayers, and . . . us!

Draw me; we will run!