Examinations

Painting of Cupertino in his Cathedral at Osimo, Italy.

May and June have always been engrained in my mind as the months when the final examinations are held all over Malta and all over the world for that matter. It’s a time when you see children and students acting like zombies because of lack of sleep, too much stress on their minds and so much to memorize. Well, in this atmosphere Saint John Cupertino comes to the rescue, as he is looked upon as the patron saint of examinations. He was born in 1603 in Cupertino, in the region of Calabria, southern Italy, the youngest of 6 children born to a Christan family. He was a good student but when exams arrived he would pray hard to the Blessed Mother, and under stress, he would forget much of what he studied. One day, while preparing for the priesthood, he had an exam in front of the bishop, and so he prayed to Mary that he would remember all that he had patiently studied. One of his classmates was so intelligent, that the bishop thought all the students were the same, and he passed them all. On another occasion, he was in front of the Bishop again and after praying, as usual, he could only remember a Bible passage about the Blessed Mother. And the bishop asked him to specifically comment on that particular passage which he knew so well. He passed with flying colors. So Saint Joseph of Cupertino was made the patron of students going through exams. He was known to experience levitations and died in 1663. In his Cathedral at Osimo in Italy there is a painting of him in the apse, which from a distance, he looks like he is levitating, floating above the altar. And even up there, he is praying for all those studying for their exams. So, dear students, don’t panic – help is on its way.