Feast Day: Sept. 18
Patron Saint of: aviation, astronauts, people with mental handicaps, test takers and students

St. Joseph is often called the flying saint because he went into ecstasies that raised him off his feet and left him suspended in midair. His first ecstatic vision occurred when he was only 8 – and caused him to be labeled intellectually slow. Because of this, the Franciscans rejected him when he was a young man.

Joseph was known for his humility, however, and offered to work in the stable as an oblate at the Franciscan convent. His obedience and love of penance caused the abbot to agree to admit him to the order, and he was ordained a priest.

A lifelong mystic, his tendency to levitate during prayer caused comment. He was even investigated by the Inquisition, but exonerated. He died in 1663 and was canonized in 1767.