March 5, 2022
John Joseph was born to a noble family on the Island of Ischia in Southern Italy in 1654. Even in childhood he was a model of virtue. Though he could afford nice clothes, out of respect for the poor, John Joseph preferred to wear simple clothing. As a teenager of sixteen, he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strictest Observance (the Reform of St. Peter of Alcantara). John Joseph was the first Italian to join this reform, instituted in Spain. He…