Novena to St. Joseph of Cupertino (Patron of Students and Test-Takers)

St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) is the patron saint of students, test-takers, and those facing examinations or licensing requirements. Born Giuseppe Maria Desa in the small Italian town of Cupertino, he was a slow learner — to put it mildly. His childhood was marked by religious experiences but also by extraordinary academic struggle; he was repeatedly turned away from religious orders for being unable to study. He was eventually accepted by the Franciscan Conventuals as a third-order tertiary, then admitted to the friary at Grottella. He prepared for ordination knowing only one Gospel passage well — Luke 11:27 ('Blessed is the womb that bore thee') — and when the examining bishop opened the Bible at random to test him, by what Joseph credited as direct divine intervention, the bishop opened to exactly that passage. He passed. Throughout his life as a Franciscan friar, Joseph experienced extraordinary mystical phenomena — particularly bodily levitation during ecstasy. Seventy distinct levitations were documented during his lifetime, many witnessed by the highest officials of the Church and visiting royalty (Pope Urban VIII among them); some lasted over an hour. He was kept hidden in obscure friaries by his superiors because of the disruption his levitations caused at public liturgies. Despite — or because of — his academic difficulties, his canonization in 1767 made him the patron of students. Catholic students worldwide pray to him before exams; many Catholic schools display his image. The novena is appropriate for: any examination — academic, professional licensing, bar exam, medical boards, college entrance exams (SAT/ACT), graduate-school qualifying exams, citizenship tests; any moment of intellectual struggle or learning disability; any vocational test or interview; and as a patron for those whose academic path has been slow, difficult, or marked by failure.