Moscati’s family is from Santa Lucia di Serino, a small village not far from Avellino, the provincial capital.

Francesco Moscati, the future Saint’s father, was born in Santa Lucia di Serino, in 1836. He took a degree in Law and became a brilliant magistrate. He was a judge at Court of Cassino, a presiding judge in Benevento, judge of the Court of Appeal, first in Ancona and then in Naples, where he died on December 21^st I897.

In Cassino, Francesco Moscati, met and got married to Rosa de Luca, Marquise of Roseto. They had nine children: Joseph was the seventh of them.

Until the end of his life, the Saint’s father every year took his wife and children to the native village for a period of rest and to be in contact with nature. They used to go to the church of Clares, to attend the Holy Mass that often Francesco himself served at.

From the Journal of his journey to Edinburgh (July, 20^th 1923):

"At 2.20 p.m. we left for Modane (France).
We are going through valleys, lined with mountains and covered with chestnut trees (Burgundy). Here and there the silvery ribbon of the rivers.0h, how this landscape reminds me of the unforgettable Serino, the only place in the world –Irpinia- where I would like to spend the rest of my life, as it holds the dearest and sweetest memories of my childhood and my beloved’s remains!"

From a letter written by Moscati on January I9th 1924 after the death of one of his uncles:

"The death of uncle Carmelo is the collapse of so many dear memories connected with his person. Oh the lovely memories of my childhood on the Serino mountains! So many things and people of my daddy’s birthplace are deeply imprinted in my heart! The disappearing of every witness of my past thoughtlessness is a further disillusion: the romantic side of my personality falls down. The more I feel alone, alone, and the more I feel to be closer to God!"

Moscati dedicated also a short poem to Santa Lucia di Serino, that is a confirmation of his particular sensibility. He wrote it on April 10^th 1900, when he was twenty and he was studying Medicine.

St.Joseph Moscati was born in Benevento (South Italy) on July 25^th 1880. His family had moved there in 1887, the year Francesco Moscati had been promoted presiding judge. They lived in Via San Diodato not far from the Fatebenefratelli hospital. A few months later they moved to an apartment near the arch of Trajan built in 114 A.D. in memory of the Emperor.

Joseph was born in the last room on the left in the Andreotti Palace, later bought by the Leo family. The entrance to the apartment is through a portal opening onto a large courtyard and a great staircase made of stone. A memorial tablet near the entrance commemorates the event.

Benevento at the time of Moscati’s birth

On September 3^rd 1860, Benevento was annexed to the kingdom of Italy, after more than eight hundred years of papal administration.
The last Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Edward Agnelli was accorded full military honours by the authorities of the new regime on the day of his departure from the town. The town underwent many changes and it was integrated more and more in the new structures brought about by the new Italian nation.

"The new government expropriated all the convents, drove out religious, rifled the archives and disfigured or destroyed many architectural lines of ancient buildings. All this and more happened according to the new Piedmont’s policy. Some people were looking forward to hearing of new political changes, some were afraid of them.
The Masonic clan, which had crept in more and more in the neighbouring areas, took full advantage of the situation.
"Anyway the initial fury had cooled down when the Moscati family came to Benevento" (from the book "St.Joseph Moscati and Benevento" by Lauro Maio 1987, p.13)

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