Because March 19 coincided this year with the Fourth Sunday of Lent, the Feast of Saint Joseph was moved to today.
The Holy Church, by promoting
the worship of the Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, presents him to all his
children as a model and protector.
We know that all the Saints
are proposed as imitation models; but each one in particular for a certain
condition.
Saint Joseph, however, is
proposed as a universal model; that is to say, as a model of all virtues and
for all Christians, of any state, age and condition.
In San José the parents have
the most sublime model of paternal vigilance and providence; the spouses, a
perfect example of love, concord and conjugal faith, and the virgins, a model
and at the same time defender of virginal integrity.
The nobles, having before
their eyes the image of Saint Joseph, learn to preserve their dignity even in
reversals of fortune; and the rich understand what are the goods that it is
necessary to covet with ardent longing, and to hoard with all effort.
For their part, the workers
and the poor must resort to San José by title and own right; and learn from Him
what they have to imitate; for He, although of royal lineage, united in
marriage with the holiest and most excellent among women, and legal father of
the Son of God; however, he used his life at work, and, with the exercise of
his trade, he earned what was necessary for the maintenance of his family.
But, if the Holy Church
presents him to us as a universal model, she proposes him to us as a universal
protector; that is, helper for all needs, and this in attention to the life
that he led on earth and, especially, for the power that he now has in
Paradise.
All Saints are our protectors; but each one is usually invoked for a certain need. Saint Joseph, on the other hand, protects us, not in one, but in all needs, be they spiritual or temporal, because any favor that He asks God for us, he obtains.
Even more, while the other
Saints ask and intercede for us, He does not pray —says Gersón—, but commands;
because at an indication, at his desire, God immediately grants grace, not
being able to deny anything to the one who was the most faithful Custodian of
the Incarnate Word and of his Most Holy Mother.
For this reason, the Church on the feast of his Patronage calls him our universal Protector. Saint Joseph, after Holy Mary, is the most powerful intercessor before God in favor of men; for, among the Saints, he obtains more quickly and with greater abundance the one who is the most powerful intercessor; that is, the one who is closest to God for dignity, for holiness and for the services that he has rendered him, since God is a fair distributor and remunerator.
The same thing happens before
the monarchs of the earth: they grant these greater favors, according to the
degree of dignity and virtue with which the person requesting is adorned, and
according to the greater services that he has rendered to the country with his
arm or with his hand. talent.
Well then; after Mary Most
Holy, no one is greater than Saint Joseph in dignity, having had all the rights
of a Father over Jesus, and exercised for Him all the offices inherent to his
charge. Jesus was submitted to Him, and wanted to be called his son.
In addition, no one, after
Mary Most Holy, is greater than Saint Joseph in holiness, having been so close
to the purest source of holiness, Jesus Christ, with whom he had familiar
relations, something never granted to any other man; and having been chosen as
Husband of the Queen of all Saints, Mary Immaculate, which is the same as
saying that he was very similar to Her.
Finally, after Mary Most
Holy, no one rendered more intimate and distinguished services to the Son of
God than Saint Joseph, since he gave him food, drink and clothing; he preserved
him from the cold, sheltered him, and furthermore saved his life, freeing him
from Herod's wrath, leading him safely to Egypt, and sustaining him with the
hard work of his craftsman.
Therefore, Saint Joseph, after Holy Mary, is the most powerful intercessor before God in favor of his devotees. As Jesus in Heaven is extremely grateful to his Mother Mary Most Holy, so he is also to Saint Joseph, who did the job of Father with Him. And for this reason, while the other Saints, to obtain some grace from Jesus, beg and plead as humble servants, Saint Joseph does not beg, does not plead, but commands, as we have said before.
To deepen and illustrate what
we have said, it is convenient to summarize the Encyclical Letter Quamquam
pluries, of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII, on devotion to Saint Joseph, of
August 15, 1889.
The Pope begins by saying
that, although many times he arranged for special prayers to be offered
throughout the world, so that the intentions of Catholicism could be
insistently entrusted to God, no one would consider it surprising that he
estimated that moment (1889) as opportune to inculcate again the same duty.
He gave the reason for such
custom:
During periods of stress and
trial —especially when it seems in fact that any absence of law is allowed to
the powers of darkness— it has been the custom in the Church to plead with
special fervor and perseverance to God, its author and protector, resorting to
to the intercession of the Saints —and above all of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God— whose guardianship has always been very effective.
The times in which we live
are little less deplorable for the Christian religion than the worst days,
which in the past were full of misery for the Church.
He illustrates it with some
examples:
We see faith, the root of all
Christian virtues, diminish in many souls; we see charity grow cold; the
younger generation daily with more depraved customs and views; the Church of
Jesus Christ openly or cunningly attacked from all sides; an implacable war
against the Sovereign Pontiff; and the very foundations of religion undermined
with a boldness that grows daily in intensity.
And he abbreviated by
expressing that these things are so notorious that we do not need to dwell on
the depths into which contemporary society has sunk, or on the projects that
today agitate the minds of men.
Hence the need to resort to
God:
Faced with such unfortunate
and problematic circumstances, human remedies are insufficient, and it becomes
necessary, as the only recourse, to plead for the assistance of divine power.
Turning to the concrete, he
first refers to the intercession of Mary Most Holy, and says: We know that we have sure help in the
maternal goodness of the Virgin, and we are sure that we will never place our
trust in Her in vain. If, on innumerable occasions, she has shown her power to
the aid of the Christian world, why should we doubt that she now renews the
assistance of her power and her favor, if everywhere they are offered to her? ¿humble
and constant prayers? We, on the contrary, believe that her intervention will
be most extraordinary, having allowed us to raise our prayers to her, for such
a long time, with such special pleas.
And here comes the appeal to
the Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph:
But we have another object in
mind, in which they will advance earnestly. So that God may be more favorable
to our prayers, and so that He comes with mercy and promptness to the aid of
His Church, we deem it profoundly useful for the Christian people, to
continually invoke with great mercy and confidence, together with the Virgin
Mother of God, his chaste Wife, to Saint Joseph; and we are fully sure that
this will be to the greatest liking of the Virgin herself.
With respect to this
devotion, we know without a doubt that not only are the people inclined towards
it, but that in fact it is already established, and that it is advancing
towards its full development.
And since it is of great
importance that the devotion to Saint Joseph be introduced into the daily piety
practices of Catholics, we wish to exhort the Christian people to do so through
our words and our authority.
And he goes on to justify
what he proposes:
The reasons why Blessed
Joseph should be considered a special Patron of the Church, and why, in turn,
the Church expects a great deal from his tutelage and patronage, arise mainly
from the fact that he is the Spouse of Mary and Father Putative of Jesus.
From these sources has flowed
his dignity, his holiness, his glory.
It is true that the dignity
of Mother of God reaches so high that nothing can exist more sublime; more,
because between the Blessed Virgin and Joseph a conjugal bond was strengthened,
there is no doubt that, to that highest dignity, for which the Mother of God
far surpasses all creatures, He came closer than any other.
Since marriage is the
greatest consortium and friendship —to which the communion of goods is inherently
linked— it follows that, if God has given Joseph as Husband to the Virgin, he
has given him not only as a life partner, witness of virginity and guardian of
honesty, but also to participate, through the conjugal pact, in her sublime
greatness.
He prevails among all because
of his august dignity, since by divine disposition he was the custodian and, in
the belief of men, the Father of the Son of God. From which it followed that
the Word of God submitted to Joseph, obeyed him and gave him that honor and
that reverence that children owe to their own parents.
From this double dignity
followed the obligation that nature places on the heads of families, so that
Joseph, at the time, was the legitimate and natural custodian, head and
defender of the Holy Family.
And during the entire course
of his life He fully fulfilled those charges and those responsibilities. He
dedicated himself with great love and daily care to protect his Wife and the
Divine Child; Regularly through his work he obtained what was necessary for
food and clothing for both of them; he nursed the Child from death when he was
threatened by the jealousy of a monarch, and found him a refuge; in the
miseries of the trip and in the bitterness of exile he was always the company,
the help and the support of the Virgin and of Jesus.
And the application comes to
the Holy Church:
Now, the divine home that
Joseph directed with the authority of a father, contained within itself the
newly nascent Church. By the very fact that the Most Holy Virgin is the Mother
of Jesus Christ, She is the Mother of all the Christians to whom she gave birth
on Mount Calvary in the midst of the supreme pains of Redemption; Jesus Christ
is, in a way, the firstborn of Christians, who by adoption and Redemption are
his brothers.
And for these reasons the
Holy Patriarch contemplates the multitude of Christians who make up the Church
as entrusted especially to his care, to this unlimited family, extended
throughout the earth, on which, since he is the Spouse of Mary and the Father of
Jesus Christ, retains a certain paternal authority.
It is, therefore, convenient
and highly worthy of Blessed Joseph that, just as then he used to protect the
family of Nazareth in a holy way at all times, so he now protects and defends
the Church of Christ with his heavenly patronage.
Finally, he presents the
comparison with the Patriarch Joseph of the Old Testament:
You well understand that
these considerations are confirmed by the opinion held by a large number of the
Fathers, and that the Sacred Liturgy reaffirms, that the Joseph of ancient
times, son of the patriarch Jacob, was a type of Saint Joseph, and by his glory
foreshadowed the greatness of the future custodian of the Holy Family.
The similarities that exist
between them are well known:
– mainly, that the first
Joseph earned the favor and special benevolence of his teacher, and that thanks
to the administration of Joseph his family achieved prosperity and wealth,
– that – even more important
– he presided over the kingdom with great power, – and that, at a time when the
crops failed, he provided for all the needs of the Egyptians with such wisdom
that the King decreed for him the title of “Savior of the world".
This is why we can prefigure
the new in the old Patriarch. And just as the former was the cause of the
prosperity of his master's domestic interests and at the same time rendered
great services to the entire kingdom, so also the latter, destined to be the
custodian of the Christian religion, must be regarded as the protector and the defender
of the Church, which is truly the house of the Lord and the kingdom of God on
earth.
And concludes:
These are the reasons why men
of all types and nations have to approach the trust and protection of Blessed
Joseph.
This is why we provide that,
throughout the month of October, during the recitation of the Rosary, a prayer
to Saint Joseph be added.
To those who recite this
prayer, we grant each time an indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines;
and 300 days of indulgence once a day, at any other time of the year.
In those lands where March 19
—the feast of Saint Joseph— is not an obligatory festivity, We exhort the
faithful to sanctify it as much as possible through private practices of piety,
in honor of their heavenly patron, as if it were a duty day.
R. P. CERIANI.
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