Feast Day: February 4th
The year was 1572, the place, Viterbo, Italy.
Eufranio Desiderio was 16 years old, and sick with a fever.
In our day fevers are more often a nuisance than a critical illness, and usually pass after a few days of rest or after a standard round of antibiotics, but in Eufranio’s day they were ominous. 50% of all deaths, of all humans, until about 150 years ago were because of infections before the age of 15.
Eufranio was, by all accounts, a prayerful, cheerful boy (his name, originally stemming from the Greek word “eúphrōn”, literally meant “good heart/mind”, fitting for such a kindly young man). He would play Mass with his siblings (he was one of 8), and would fast and practice penances every Friday as part of the Confraternity of the Holy Savior. However, at the age of 12 he lost both of his parents and moved from his hometown of Lionessa to live with his uncle in Viterbo. His uncle, a teacher, reared the boy as best he could and managed to arrange a marriage between him and the daughter of a local noble family.
Eufranio, however, was torn. He wanted to be grateful for all his uncle had done for him, but he was attracted to the ardent and wholehearted life of a religious vocation. Somewhere in the midst of his discernment he fell sick. It is uncertain whether his consternation over his future and the Lord’s call was so profound that it caused his illness, or perhaps his recovery was the sign he needed from the Lord to indicate which way to go, but in any case when the fever abated he had come to his decision: he would return to Leonessa and join the Capuchins.
I want to stay with him, at the age of 16 or 17, as he was wrestling about this decision. He, like so many young people, had different options before him, and chose the admittedly daunting task of actually engaging them, discerning them, trying to find God’s will in them. It is so much easier to just keep ourselves distracted and not take an open-eyed look at what is happening inside of our hearts, at what options are truly open to us, and to dig deep into prayer and see what the Lord keeps bringing up before us. And, on top of all of that it is often not easy to choose the path God has prepared for us. Fear and uncertainty buffet us from side to side. Our own weaknesses and sins cause us to doubt whether we’re capable of it. And, wherever the Lord calls us it will always cost us everything – of course it’s worth everything too; it’s a path of joy and love and peace and leads us to heaven – but it will also entail the cross!
As Christians, we believe that God’s love extends to the big and little things of our life, that He has a plan for our holiness and happiness, and if we stay in relationship with the Lord, and ask for Him to guide us, He will. But, that knowledge does not take away the angst that comes as we glance into an uncertain future, or the tension between various good paths, or the reality of the impact our decision has on others around us. Eufranio found sanctity, inner peace, a zeal and liveliness in the capuchins that cast every doubt out of his mind … but what about his uncle? What about the young lady who was preparing to marry him? What about his siblings back in Lionessa? We don’t know their stories, but his decision would have impacted them too. Somehow the Lord’s will was there for them of course, but it is undeniable that Eufranio’s conviction that he must become a friar could have caused them suffering or uncertainty themselves.
One thing learned from the rest of St. Joseph’s life (his religious name): As a friar, he was known for his remarkable self-denial: of small pleasures, choosing little penances, fasting and offering other sacrifices to God. This was amplified when he was sent to Turkey (Constantinople) to minister to Christians held captive there as slaves for the Turks. He, and his fellow friars, lived in absolutely impoverished conditions themselves, and he would go day after day to minister to the captives and preach against their captivity, getting himself thrown into prison again and again, even marvelously surviving a death sentence. Notice a theme: he was constantly finding his sanctity in embracing poverty. Embracing the loss of his parents, the rigors of illness, the poverty of the capuchins, the situation of Christians slaves… He found an anchor for his discernment in the discovery that leaning into poverty was, for him, a path to sanctity.
If you discover a similar place where God is making your holier, or more loving, or more like Him, stay with that! Stay with God in that place where He is so obviously leading you home to Him and everything else will work out.
Fr. Dominic was studying in Rome when the 2016 earthquakes struck the town of Amatricia, where Fr. Joseph ended his days. Pray for that city and all those who lost their lives. Certainly Fr. Joseph would have ran into their poverty if he wasn’t already doing more for them in heaven!