Saint Joseph the Younger (1568-1656) was a prominent figure of the Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Timisoara. Born in Ragusa, Dalmatia, he dedicated his life to monasticism and spiritual cultivation. He practised for 62 years on Mount Athos, where he was distinguished for his virtue and the gift of miracle-working. In 1650 he was elected Metropolitan of Timisoara, where he devotedly served his flock. After his resignation in 1653, he retired to the Monastery of Partos. His memory is commemorated on 15 September. He was officially declared a saint in 1956 by the Romanian Orthodox Church, recognizing his holiness and spiritual legacy.
Life and Politics of Saint Joseph the Younger
The life and times of Saint Joseph the Younger show a flamboyant shine of the religious devotion that turns into a cultural-spiritual phenomenon. The route taken by the bishop from his childhood to the throne of the Metropolitan Church of Timisoara was marked by an obsessive adherence to the Christian values that often seem to be devalued in too many corners of society these days.
Born in 1568 in Ragusa, Dalmatia (now Dubrovnik, Croatia), Saint Joseph the Younger had the secular name of James. His father, Giovanni Fusco, was a sailor from Venice, and his mother, Catherine, hailed from Lemnos. The early part of James’ life was marked by the unhappy fate of having his father drown at sea when James was only 12 years old.
The move to Macedonia brought young Iakovos to a place where his mother’s relatives lived. It was also an event that led Iakovos, the future saint, to his first serious education, where he really began to study the kind of letters you study when you’re being educated for a sacred profession. His acquaintance with sacred letters during this time in Macedonia was an important part of the formation of his character and a crucial influence on his spiritual path.
In 1588, at the age of 20, James made the choice to devote his life to living in a monastery. He went to the Monastery of Pantokrator on Mount Athos and became a monk, taking the name Joseph. His going to Mount Athos marked the start of a long stretch in a monastery, living the life of a monk and practicing asceticism.
For 62 years, Joseph the Younger lived on Mount Athos, where he exhibited a remarkable level of virtue and spiritual development. He occupied himself with the art of calligraphy, engaged in the copying of holy texts, and developed an incredible artistry in this skill. At the very same time, he cultivated a reputation as a miracle worker, with many people coming to him for assistance in curing a multiplicity of afflictions.
The abbot of several monasteries, including Vatopedi and Koutloumousiou on Mount Athos and the monastery of Saint Stephen in Adrianople, Joseph served and led with profound spiritual wisdom and a deep understanding of monastic life. He is remembered by many as a quiet but efficacious leader who inspired and guided his fellow monks “with infallible and deep knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the lives of the Holy Fathers.”
At the age of 82, in 1650, Joseph was elevated to the office of Bishop of Timisoara and the whole region of Vanatus. His elevation to this exalted ecclesiastical office recognized his mature spirituality and profound knowledge of things ecclesiastical.
Even though he was very advanced in years, Joseph faced the tests of his new job with enthusiasm. Right after taking up his post, he had to deal with the complete lack of knowledge of the Romanian language, which was necessary for conversing with his people. But through insane amounts of effort and with the kind assistance of the Romanian scholar Damascene Udrea, St. Joseph the Younger learned this new language in three short months, which many take as a sign of divine intervention.
For three years, Joseph served as Metropolitan, demonstrating truly exceptional pastoral skills. He established a divinity school for the training of the clergy, and he worked himself to the bone to provide the church’s many communities with spiritual direction and the sort of leadership that would allow them to become whole and healthy. He served, in effect, as the church’s chief and most effective pastor. He was well known as a miracle worker. In a number of communities, he was so recognized that they honored him as the church’s chief pastor and miracle worker, their arch-pastor.
Especially remarkable was Joseph’s capacity to keep peaceful interactions with the diverse ethnic and religious groups in the area, not to mention the Ottoman authorities. His command of languages and his diplomatic skills were worth their weight in gold as far as keeping the peace and stability of the area.
In 1653, Joseph, then feeling the weight of his years, made the decision to resign from his position as Metropolitan. He retreated to the Monastery of the Archangels in Partos, but he continued to live in the kind of simplicity and humility that he and his father had always prized. He was dedicated to a life of prayer and to the kind of spiritual guidance that would make his visitors feel better about themselves when they left his presence and more hopeful about their lives in general.
Devotion to faith and service to mankind is what characterizes the life of St. Joseph the Younger, who is definitely a model for us to follow today. His humble beginnings—being born into a family of poor but good Christians—did not at all augur the wonderful life he was destined to live. From his childhood in Pitigliano to his rapid advancements in the Church in Italy and then in America (Boston and New York), St. Joseph the Younger never changed, maintaining an extremely humble lifestyle. His was a real-life example of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Prefer nothing to the love of Christ.”
Spiritual Heritage and Canonization
Joseph’s transition from the metropolitan throne to the quiet of the Partos Monastery marked the beginning of a new phase in his life, characterized by deep contemplation and spiritual maturity. This period, though brief, left an indelible imprint on Orthodox tradition and the collective memory of the faithful.
Miracles and cures of Saint Joseph
During his time at the Partos Monastery, Joseph’s already established reputation as a miracle worker—one he had earned, in part, while living on Mount Athos—spread even more widely. People came from far and near to see him. They came to the Monastery seeking his miraculous help, looking for healing and blessings.
One of the most remarkable wonders ascribed to St. Joseph has to do with the preservation of the town of Timisoara from what could have been a catastrophic fire. As the story goes, the Saint’s potent prayers brought on a sudden rain, which put out the fire and preserved the town from incredible damage. This occurrence, whether it actually happened or not, certainly made people consider St. Joseph a miracle worker and may have led to the establishment of a more public devotion to him in the area.
Multiple accounts also attest to the curing of patients—especially those who were paralyzed—by praying to Joseph and by using what was said to be his miraculous, sanctified hand. The healings did not stop with the end of his earthly mission and have persisted even to this day, with a number of faithful saying that they have experienced wondrous cures through the praying of novenas and the asking of petitions in Joseph’s name, particularly when petitioning before the altarpiece of the artistically rendered tomb of St. Joseph in the St. Joseph Chapel at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.
Almost immediately after Joseph’s burial on August 15, 1656, the movement toward his official canonization began. The process of moving toward his official recognition as a saint had essentially begun at his death. Whether it was in the local or the global Church, people almost immediately began venerating uncle as a saint.
In 1956, commemorating the 300th anniversary of his death, the Romanian Orthodox Church officially declared him a saint. They held a very grand ceremony on 6-7 October of that year in Timisoara, where they had a bunch of church officials and lots of ordinary believers on hand to help them make the proclamation of Joseph’s sanctity a really big deal.
Retrieving his remains—relics, they were called—was an important occasion, part of the path to his canonisation. When they opened the tomb, people noted a remarkable and sweet smell, coming from the sainted man’s body, that was thought to be a sign of his divine status. His relics were placed in a special container and taken to Timisoara, where they are now kept in the Metropolitan Church of the Three Hierarchs. People are really into this, what with their orthodoxy and all, and think of the relics as an object of great devotion.
Saint Joseph the Young is remembered on 15 September, a date picked by the Romanian Patriarchate. What is particularly striking about this observance not only in Romania but also in Serbia, where 27 May has been selected, is the fact that Saint Joseph is an iconic figure of both countries’ recent histories.
Saint Joseph’s influence in the Orthodox world extends well beyond the places where he lived and worked. His life and labor inspire those who believe in the Orthodox faith, and he has long held a prominent place in the iconography of the Orthodox Church.
Especially in Romania, St. Joseph the Younger has been named the patron saint of firefighters, an honour that is directly linked to the miracle of the extinguishing of the Timisoara fire. This connection serves to underscore the memory of the saint and the way in which his life has been incorporated into the daily life and traditions of the faithful.
Saint Joseph’s spiritual legacy has also found expression in many liturgical and hymn texts. In 1956, a special sequence in Romanian was compiled in his honor. In 2001, the monk Porphyrios Simonopetritis composed a new sequence and invocation canon in Greek. This is a further enrichment of the liturgical traditions associated with Saint Joseph.
The existence of Saint Joseph the Younger, spanning from his early years living in Ragusa to the time of his death in the Monastery of Partos, is a captivating journey replete with episodes of faith, devotion, and surprising turns of spiritual upliftment. His life is marked by dramas and a few romances, with its share of trials and tribulations, along with the serene and sometimes turbulent pathways of monastic existence, the quiet, but often loud, way of being a Metropolitan, and the constantly busy and sometimes dangerously quiet way of serving one’s fellow citizens.
The remembrance and veneration of Saint Joseph the Young remain vibrant and strong among the faithful; he is a figure of almost unknown but potent inspiration. His life embodies an individuality that, while reflecting our era’s well-trod values of humility and love, nonetheless carves out a fresh-staked camp in the often-spectacular world of virtue signaling. The faith we bear in our hearts, reminiscent of his, must take unexpected turns in our modern society if it is to remain potent and even intriguing.
St. Joseph the Younger lived a life that was an outstanding example of spiritual uplift and devotion to the Orthodox faith. He began his life in Ragusa, where he was born in or around 1920. He was raised in a pious family that lived the Orthodox faith. He entered a monastic community on the youthful Mount Athos, where he became a novice and then a monk. He had Mount Athos back in his life, praying with great intensity. He had the Virgin Mary in fontanelle prayers around Atos Monastery and St. Joseph the Hesychast and God’s Man in Timișoara, and he lived a saintly life.
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