Most striking,
if not most substantial among the miracles attributed to St. John Joseph was
that of his walking stick. The witnesses of this phenomenon were many.
It seems that Friar John
Joseph paid a visit one year to the Cathedral of St. Januarius in Naples on
the September day when the flacons of blood of this 4th-century martyr-bishop
normally liquefy. In the jam-packed church, the friar happened to drop his
walking stick. Due to the congestion of the mob of Neapolitans, it would have
been quite impossible for him to relocate the cane at that time. Since he
could not walk without it, he simply prayed to St. Januarius for help.
Immediately, the friar was lifted up in the air by invisible hands and
transported marvelously, first to the pulpit, and then outside to the
cathedral porch.
The Duke of Lauriano just
happened to drive up to the church after the friar had come to rest. Seeing
the friar seated there as he dismounted from his carriage, he asked if
anything was wrong. "I have lost my steed," John Joseph replied cheerily. "You
will see the walking stick there." He pointed to the interior of the
cathedral. The Duke went in to look for the cane for the old Franciscan. He
had not yet reached the altar, however, when the congregation started to cry
out, "A miracle!" For, lo and behold, the walking stick had risen from the
floor without human touch and begun to float gently towards the front door,
traveling about a foot above the heads of the congregation. When it passed
through the great doorway, it tapped Fr. John Joseph gently on the chest, and
then stood there until the friar had grasped its handle. The old man forthwith
hobbled of to his convent, pursued by an amazed and reverent throng.
- Born
15 August
1654
at Ischia, Naples,
Italy
as Carolo Gaetano Calosirto
March
5