The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Photograph courtesy St. Joseph of Cupertino Church

The first St. Joseph of Cupertino Church, a mission run by the Jesuits of Santa Clara, was built in 1907 on what was then known as Saratoga-Mountain View Road. The new church near De Anza and Stevens Creek boulevards was completed in 1953.

'Flying Friar'

Legacy inspires early history, naming of Cupertino

By Erin Hussey

There is a name for two cities--one in Italy and the other in California--that has the power to confound spellcheckers and spark heated debates over its pronunciation.

There is Copertino in Europe and Cupertino here in the Silicon Valley. The history behind the name is a long and fascinating one.

The Year 900

The name Cupertino originated with a man named Cuperio, who in 900 A.D. united several small southern Italian villages into a principality that he named Cupertini. Because of the language shifts from Latin to Italian, the name later evolved into Cupertino. Today, in Italy, it is spelled Copertino.

In the spring of 1776 the name was brought to California via the expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza.

"The chaplain for the expedition was a Spanish priest named Father Pedro Font, and his patron saint was Joseph of Cupertino," says the Rev. Gregory Ng Kimm, pastor of St. Joseph of Cupertino Parish. "When they came through the area ,he named what is now Stevens Creek after his patron saint."

Next to Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino, members of the party left a heavy plate, 6-by-12 inches, with the name and date on it in ancient Spanish.

The plate, which was found in the 1900s, inspired John T. Doyle, a San Francisco lawyer and historian, to name his local winery Cupertino. His enthusiasm for the name seemed to stick and soon after other "west side" locations, including the post office, added Cupertino to their name.

But it wasn't until Oct. 10, 1955, that Cupertino was officially incorporated and became the 13th city in Santa Clara County.

While Kimm and historians can only speculate why Font chose St. Joseph as his spiritual guardian, one thing is for certain: If he had not, the center of Silicon Valley wouldn't be named Cupertino.

"People normally pick their own patron saints because they feel some personal connection with them," says Kimm. "St. Joseph of Cupertino is not a well known saint. He is one of the patron saints of students, and he's also the patron saint of aviators."

A saint's struggle

Giuseppe (Joseph) Desa was born on June 17, 1603, in a small, dirty stable in Cupertino, Italy. Because of his deceased father's debt, his mother was forced to flee their home in order to avoid arrest.

Desa had an unfortunate childhood. He suffered from abscesses, which caused him to walk with his feet pointed inward, and was nicknamed "Boccaperat" (gaper) by the boys in the village because of the way he would wander around town with his mouth open.

According to the Lives of Saints by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Desa's mother "treated him with some severity, punishing him for the least fault, and often for his stupidity."

Desa did not do well in school. "He was a terrible student, which is why it's ironic that he is the patron saint of students," says Kimm. "His teachers were constantly angry with him because he just could not get anything through his thick skull."

When students offer a prayer to St. Joseph, the idea isn't that they are praying to be like him, but rather because he can sympathize with their struggles.

"If you are having problems or you don't seem to understand what the teacher is saying, we say pray to St. Joseph of Cupertino and he will help you," says Kimm.

After attempting to make his trade as a shoemaker, Desa, at the age of 17, went to a neighboring Franciscan convent where his uncle Franceshi Desa was a friar. He begged to be admitted as a novice, but he was refused. But Desa was persistent about his dreams of becoming a priest. He then went to the Capuchins, who took him, but after only eight months he was dismissed.

According to Butler's Lives of the Saints, Desa's "clumsiness and preoccupation made him an apparently impossible subject, for he dropped piles of plates and dishes on the refectory floor, forgot to do things he was told, and could not be trusted even to make up the kitchen fire."

When Desa returned to Cupertino, his mother was extremely unhappy to see him. She went straight to her brother Francheshi, who had previously turned Desa away, and forced him to take her son. Shortly after that, Desa entered the Franciscan order at Grottella as a servant.

Most literature then notes that Desa significantly changed for the better. His success as a hardworking stable hand, humility and love of mortification gained him so much regard that in 1625 he was elevated to the upper order so that he might one day qualify himself for holy orders. Three years later, after still struggling with his studies, Desa entered the priesthood and immediately started experiencing godly ecstasies and supernatural happenings.

"St. Joseph's biggest claim to fame was that he would get so wrapped up in his prayer that he would actually levitate and fly around the room," says Kimm.

While there are more than 200 Catholic saints who have been known to levitate, Desa's are known as the most extraordinary, which is perhaps why he received the title patron saint of aviators.

According to Butler's Lives of the Saints, during the 17 years Desa remained at Grottella, he had more than 70 recorded levitations. Unfortunately, because of these uncontrollable levitations and public ecstatic trances, Desa was not allowed to celebrate Mass in public, sing in the choir or attend processions.

This seclusion, however, did not impact his popularity. Desa had a number of followers and visitors, including Spanish ambassadors, English dukes, various kings, princes and popes--many of whom were so moved by his spiritual levitations that they converted to Catholicism. Desa was also known for his simple lifestyle (he mailed his mother his undergarments, saying all he needed was his friar robes) and his ability to perform miracles such as curing the sick.

During the last six years of his life, which he spent at a friary in Osimo, Desa continued to levitate.

On Aug. 10, 1663, Desa contracted a fever and foretold that his last hour was near. On Sept. 18, Desa died at the age of 60.

After much speculation over the factuality of his levitations, Pope Benedict XIV, who was studying his case, professed there was unchallengeable integrity in the eyewitness accounts. Desa was canonized in 1767 and officially became St. Joseph of Cupertino.

The 'Flying Friar'

In addition to the city being named after the Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino, the first Catholic church in the West Side, built in 1907, took the name of the flying saint.

"The way I understand it is churches were named sort of at random," explains Kimm. "It really depended on the bishop, or in some cases, the name might be taken from something like a litany of saints. But, with this parish, one of that applies because our name comes from the creek Father Font named after St. Joseph."

In 1953 a second St. Joseph of Cupertino Church was constructed to accommodate the growing congregation, and the first was recycled into the Bell Hardware store on Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road. The second church has gone through a number of renovations, and close to 1,600 local families are members of the parish.

In fact, every September, around the feast day of St. Joseph of Cupertino on the 18th, parishioners gather to honor their church's namesake. This year they dedicated a new meditation garden that surrounds a bronze statue of St. Joseph in mid-flight.

"I think it's very appropriate that we, as the only Catholic church in Cupertino, provide a place of quiet refuge for people to get away from all the pressure that they experience here in this area," says Kimm. "Of course, we want this to be a nice place for our parishioners, but it's here for anybody in the city to enjoy and get away."

The parish also holds two authenticated relics of St. Joseph: a small piece from one of his robes and another of a piece of his bone.

According to Kimm, there is only one other church named after St. Joseph of Cupertino in the United States. But St. Joseph's story is slowly becoming more popular.

While searching the Internet for comic book ideas, writer Rich Johnston of London came across the story of St. Joseph.

"I saw certain similarities with the Superman legend, especially if I twisted a few things," says Johnston.

The comic book, The Flying Friar, which was illustrated by German artist Thomas Nachlik, will be re-released in color in the U.S. next month. It is based on Desa's life.

"It's the best thing I've ever written," says Johnston. "The population of Copertino in Italy were so taken by the book that I was flown out with my wife to be feted by the town."

There is also a children's book called The Little Friar Who Flew by Patricia Lee Gauch and a film available about St. Joseph called The Reluctant Saint.

"It's important to learn what came before us, what they did and why they did it," says Donna Austin, vice president of the Cupertino Historical Society and Museum.

"Anything that has to do with the history of Cupertino we are interested in, especially the namesake. He was quite a guy."