Joseph of Leonessa

Joseph of Leonessa, OFM Cap. (; born Eufranio Desiderio; 1556 – February 4, 1612) was an Italian Capuchin friar. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746. His feast day is kept on February 4 within the Franciscan family.

Biography He was born Eufranio Desiderio at Leonessa, a small town then in Umbria, now in the Lazio to Giovanni Desideri and Serafina Paolini. It is said that from a young age he showed a remarkably religious bent of mind.

He was orphaned at the age of twelve. His uncle saw to his education, first in Viterbo, then at Spoleto. His uncle had planned a suitable marriage for him, but Eufranio fell sick of a fever in his sixteenth year, and upon his recovery, without consulting his guardian, joined the Capuchin reform of the Franciscan Order. He made his novitiate at the friary of the Carcerelle near Assisi.

He made his religious profession in January 1573, taking the name "Joseph", and continued his studies in Lugnano in Teverina. He preached in small towns throughout Umbria, Lazio and the Abruzzi, and had some success with the bandits around Arquata del Tronto. As a friar he was remarkable for his great abstinence. Pope Pius XII proclaimed him patron of the Missions in Turkey. He is one of the patrons of the Capuchin province of Abruzzo.