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A case of levitation by Saint Joseph of Copertino was reported by the Church. Witnesses
to Copertino's levitations testified for the Promotor Fidei in 1666. The Church
had created the post of promotor fidei, more commonly know as the devil's advocate, to
investigate such cases of miracles or psychic phenomena. Before Saint Copertino could
be canonized as a saint, his case had to be argued much as a court case would, with the
promotor fidei doing all he could to discredit the testimony and evidence of the
would-be saint's advocates.
As a Franciscan monk in the mid sixteen hundreds, Joseph began levitating during services and was often observed by whole congregations. His superiors did not approve of such strange phenomena, and on occasion he was disciplined and made to do penance for his displays of mind over matter. Among the many people who witnessed Joseph's arial flights was Pope Urban VIII, as well as many laypersons, including non-Catholics. The Spanish ambassador to the to the papal court watched Joseph fly over a crowd of astonished onlookers to a statue of Mary and back again (the ambassador's wife fainted). Johann Friedrich, duke of Brunswick, hid himself in a stairwell to observe one of Joseph's levitations. By the time he saw a second flight, the duke renounced his Lutheran faith and became a Catholic. |
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