St. Giuseppe Moscati

A few years ago I used to work at Catholic Prayer Cards with my dear friend Kinsi, who blogs over at Anima Kinsi! Please Check out her blog and show her some Spicy Love! Today, Kinsi is sharing about 

St. Giuseppe Moscati

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Giuseppe Moscati: “The Holy Physician of Naples”

Patronage:Doctors, bachelors, and persons rejected by religious orders.

Quote: “Remember, that you must treat not only bodies, but also souls, with counsel that appeals to their minds and hearts rather than with cold prescriptions to be sent in to the pharmacist.”

Introduction:

I first heard of St. Giuseppe Moscati when I was working for a prayer card company.  As employees, we always got a sneak peek at upcoming cards and products.  When I first saw the holy card for Joseph Moscati (Joseph of course, being the English translation of his given name, Giuseppe) I found his photo intriguing.  Of course, he had quite the mustache, but beyond that, it is always striking to gaze upon a real photograph of a living Saint, rather than an artistic rendition.  This was the first photo that I’d ever seen of Giuseppe:

At the time, my husband was living in a separate city and going through military training.  I would send him letters, and in between the folded pages I’d always slip in a few of the newest prayer cards.  Though my husband had no connection to the medical field, he immediately felt a connection to Giuseppe, and tried to find more resources on the man. 

Biography:

Giuseppe Moscati was born on July 25, 1880 in Benevento, Italy to a noble family.  He had eight siblings in all, and soon after his birth the entire Moscati family relocated to Naples, where Giuseppe remained ultimately, until his death.  Though Giuseppe greatly admired his pious father, he did not choose to follow in his footsteps and study law.  Rather, Giuseppe was inspired by one of his siblings to study medicine.  When Giuseppe was 13, his older brother, Alberto fell from a horse during military service and sustained injury.  Giuseppe was inspired by the care given to his brother.  Giuseppe’s father died during the boy’s youth, and Giuseppe lived to see the passing of his mother and Alberto later in life.

At the age of 17, Giuseppe enrolled in the University of Naples, a secular and unabashedly anti-religion school.  While it was an unorthodox choice for the young Saint, Giuseppe successfully avoided pitfalls by disciplined study, earning his doctoral degree, summa cum laude, in 1903.  Giuseppe then began work at the Ospedale degli Incurabili (Hospital of Incurables) and quickly moved up in the ranks as an administrator.  He continued further study and research however, eager to make discoveries that could help his fellow man.  In coming years, Giuseppe was lauded for evacuating elderly and paralytic patients from a highly vulnerable location during the 1906 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.  It is said that patients were evacuated mere moments before the roof collapsed under the weight of Vesuvius’ spewing ash.  In 1911, Giuseppe again acted valiantly when Naples was overcome with an outbreak of Cholera.  He was known for working night and day, often without pay, and for providing an atmosphere of awe and reverence for the victims of that outbreak.  Many were impressed not only by his selflessness in service (it is said that he often paid for medications for his patients out of his own pocket), but also by his uncanny ability to swiftly and accurately treat nearly any disease simply by listening intently to his patients’ symptoms.

In the same year as the cholera outbreak, Giuseppe became a member of the Royal Academy of Surgical Medicine.  He received his second doctorate in physiological chemistry.  In 1914, both Giuseppe’s chronically ill brother, Alberto, and his mother died.  Just months after, Italy became involved in World War I.  The government denied Moscati enlistment, believing that he would be most useful as a caregiver to wounded soldiers.  He was later honored as the head of a local school, and in 1922, granted the privilege to teach in institutions of higher learning.

Giuseppe Moscati died at the age of 46.  On the morning of April 12, 1927, Moscati attended daily Mass, as was his custom.  He received Holy Communion and returned to the hospital for the remainder of the day.  In the late afternoon, he felt exhausted and decided to rest in his armchair.  His sister discovered in there later, dead.  It is often speculated that Giuseppe died of sheer exhaustion, as he was well-known for working ceaseless hours without a thought of himself.  Though his work was primarily scientific in nature, Giuseppe railed against the nepotism of Naples’ medical system.  He made his secular work into a daily act of grace, saying that charity could have a greater impact on the world than science ever could.      

Some fun facts:

-One of Giuseppe Moscati’s favorite Bible verses is Hosea 13:14, which reads: “O death, I will be thy death.”

- Between the years 1903-1916, Giuseppe wrote 27 scientific publications.

- Giuseppe’s mother died from complications of diabetes.  He therefore became interested in modern treatments of the disease, and was one of the first doctors to administer insulin for this purpose.    

- He was rejected by the Jesuits, who insisted that his true calling was medicine.  As such, Moscati chose never to marry; instead taking a private vow of celibacy in 1913 so that he could focus entirely on the charitable works of his daily life.

- Not only would Moscati often provide medicine free-of-charge to his patients, but he even convinced his sister Nina (who acted as his secretary and assistant) to sell nearly all of their personal and familial possessions in order to pay for his charitable acts.

Beatification and Canonization:

Giuseppe Moscati was beatified in 1975 and canonized on October 25, 1987.  The miracle used for his cause was the cure of a dying man.  Giuseppe Fusco was an ironworker, and he was dying of leukemia.  His mother was distraught.  She had a vision of a doctor in her dreams, but thought little of it until her pastor showed her a photograph of Moscati.  She recognized him as the doctor from her dream! She decided to pray for his intercession, and Fusco became inexplicably well again.  He even soon returned to his physically demanding work.  Many other little miracles in recent years are attributed to the prayers of Giuseppe Moscati.

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Thanks Kinsi! St. Giuseppe Moscati, Pray for us.