Giuseppe Moscati, the holy doctor of Naples, loved and venerated in his city (of which he is one of the patron saints) as well as throughout Italy and the world, is a saint who needs no introduction. His mortal remains are kept in the Church of Gesù Nuovo, where he loved to gather in prayer, in the first chapel on the left near the entrance.
Symbolically, we could say that from there Giuseppe Moscati continues to do what he always did in his life as a doctor: care for the people who turned to him, treating them in body and also in soul.
The Diagnosis of the Tenor Caruso
Precisely because of his profound conviction that human beings should be considered in the integrity of body and soul, for the era in which he lived, steeped in faith in science (somewhat like our own), he could appear to be a strange doctor. This is how Valerio Lessi portrays him in the biographical profile he wrote for the series The Saints of the Missal: «Giuseppe Moscati, it must be frankly acknowledged, was a strange doctor. He was certainly different from the dominant cultural mindset in universities and hospitals between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, namely the culture of positivism and scientific naturalism. […] On August 1, 1921, the strange doctor was called to the Tramontano Hotel in Sorrento, to the bedside of Enrico Caruso, the famous tenor who had enchanted audiences all over the world with his beautiful singing. The singer had recently returned from the United States in very poor health: he had been diagnosed with purulent pleurisy and had also undergone surgery, but his health had not improved. In Sorrento, his wife Dorothy, who was also a doctor, called in several specialists, including Moscati. The professor examined him carefully, asked questions, and also performed an exploratory injection, from which pus emerged. Moscati immediately stated what the problem was: “Subphrenic abscess.” None of the doctors had considered this possibility until then. However, the “strange” Professor Moscati did not limit himself to the medical report: “You have consulted all the doctors, but you have not consulted Jesus Christ”. Caruso immediately capitulated: “Professor, do whatever you want.” A priest was called, and Caruso received the sacraments. The singer died the next day in Naples, while traveling to Rome».
… It Seemed That Someone Was Guiding Him
At times, it seemed that, in his way of treating and diagnosing, Moscati had a “direct line” to heaven: «He truly gave the impression that Someone was guiding him. Sister Salzano, from Casoria, recounted that in 1921 she asked Moscati for a remedy for a minor ailment from which she was suffering. The doctor, as if lost in thought, replied: “I will come to Casoria myself.” “Why travel for such a minor ailment?” the nun wondered to herself. Moscati went and also saw another nun whom he had predicted, two years earlier, would develop a tumor. Seeing and examining her again, he diagnosed an abdominal tumor and the need for immediate surgery. He also went into the operating room, together with Dr. Leopoldo Risso, a renowned surgeon. The operation proved extremely difficult and, at a certain point, Risso said he would not continue because the tumor was deeply entangled and the success of the incision seemed uncertain. Moscati responded: “In the name of God, continue; she is a soul consecrated to Him, and He will certainly assist her”. The operation was a great success, and the nun recovered from the tumor».
The Miracles That Led Moscati to the Honors of the Altars
If all this already speaks of heaven, «two miracles were recognized for his beatification. The first occurred in 1941 and concerned the young Raffaele Perrotta, who suddenly fell ill with meningococcal cerebrospinal meningitis. He was considered doomed; his mother placed an image of Moscati under his pillow and began to pray. Within a few hours, the boy recovered. He later married and had six children; on November 16, 1975, he was in Saint Peter’s Square for the professor’s beatification.
The second miracle benefited a young marshal, Costantino Nazzaro, from Avellino, who contracted an extremely rare disease with a certainly fatal outcome: Addison’s disease. One day, the young man entered the Church of Gesù Nuovo in Naples and joined the small crowd of people praying at the doctor’s tomb. He and his family asked for the grace of healing. A few months later, he dreamed of Professor Moscati operating on him, replacing the diseased parts of his body with healthy tissue. The doctor also told him to stop taking medicine. When he awoke, he found himself completely healed, and the doctors were unable to provide any scientific explanation.
The third miracle, which occurred in 1978, also concerned a young man and came about through a dream. Giuseppe Montefusco, from Somma Vesuviana, fell ill with acute myeloblastic leukemia. The doctors declared that the illness would soon lead to his death. One night, his mother, desperate over her son’s fate, dreamed of the image of a doctor in a white coat to whom everyone brought offerings, and she too gave two thousand lire. The next day, the woman went to tell the parish priest about the dream, and he told her that it certainly concerned Dr. Moscati, venerated as a blessed in the Church of Gesù Nuovo. Giuseppe’s mother went there and was astonished when she discovered that the doctor in the dream was indeed him. She wanted to purchase a copy of the painting bearing his image. How much did it cost? Two thousand lire. She took it home, and everyone in the family, including the young man in the hospital, began invoking Giuseppe Moscati. Within a month he recovered completely; the doctors determined that it was inexplicable. This miracle, recognized by the Church, led to the professor’s canonization; he was proclaimed a saint on October 25, 1987, in Saint Peter’s Square, at the conclusion of the Synod dedicated to the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world».
Let us continue to turn with confidence to the holy doctor, draw closer to his person and his story, and pray.
You can also download an excerpt from the profile written by Valerio Lessi for The Saints of the Missal, which introduces us to Moscati as a doctor of the poor: in his office, in fact, there was a sign that read: «Those who can, give something; those in need, take».
Finally, you will find a prayer to ask for the intercession of the holy doctor.
To obtain healing from an illness
O holy and compassionate doctor,
Saint Giuseppe Moscati,
no one more than you
knows my anxiety
in these moments of suffering.
Through your intercession,
support me in bearing the pain,
enlighten the doctors who treat me,
make effective the medicines
they prescribe for me.
May I soon, healed in body
and serene in spirit,
be able to return to my work
and bring joy to those who live with me.
Your words
written to a sick friend comfort me:
«I want once again to inspire
your hope
and transform it into confidence; you will recover!
God will then ask you to account
for the life He will give you».
Healed, I always want to praise the Lord.
Amen.
