St. Giuseppe Moscati: Doctor to the Poor

St. Giuseppe Moscati was an Italian doctor in Naples.  He came from an aristocratic family, but after finishing medical school was struck by the poor and suffering he saw in the hospital he worked in.  Despite hospital regulations, he spent more time with those patients who truly needed him than he was supposed to.  Not only did he annoy his superiors, he learned a unique lesson in charity.

After several heartbreaking incidents, he truly learns to see Christ in each of his patients and treats each patient accordingly, no regardless of poverty or social "distastefulness".  There is a bit of a love story intermingled throughout the movie, which serves to show how truly human St. Giuseppe was.
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The movie portrays St. Giuseppe treating those victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in the early 1900's.  He also is one of the first and most constant on the scene during a cholera outbreak.  Throughout his life, the movie shows him having the utmost respect for the dignity of the human life.
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After receiving word that he had taken in a woman who was afraid to go to the hospital, and treating her at his home, the poor of Naples began to show up at his front door for help.  The movie portrays that many of the people he helped were starving, and he prescribed them food and helped pay for it.  His sister eventually helped him at home as well, and before long they had sold many of their possessions to help care for the poor.
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The movie is a little long, but I loved every minute of it.  Not only was it inspiring, but there were truly funny and entertaining parts as well.  There is a wonderful quote from one of St. Giuseppe's letters at the end of the movie, which I have failed to find online.  Perhaps it was a liberty the movie took, but it was inspiring nonetheless.

You can purchase this DVD here.

I wrote this review of St. Giuseppe Moscati for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Oplatki and Advent Calendars. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.
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