He was born Eufranio Desiderio at Leonessa, a small town then in Umbria, now in the Lazio to Giovanni Desideri and Serafina Paolini.

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 religious profession in January 1573, taking the name "Joseph", and continued his studies in Lugnano in Teverina.

Arrived there he and his companions lodged in the Galata district in a derelict house of Benedictine monks, actually the St. Benedict high school.

[3] Urged on by zeal he at last sought to enter the palace to speak with Sultan Murad III, but he was seized and condemned to death.

[4] Returning to Italy in 1589, Joseph now took up the work of home missions in his native province, sometimes preaching six or seven times a day.

[2] He organised a Monti di Pietà (a co-op for loans) and built a small hospice for travelers and pilgrims.

Devotion to him is largely in central Italy; churches in Otricoli, San Lorenzo Nuovo, and the Madonna Della Valle in Rivodutri contain paintings of him.