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February 16, 2020 - May 25, 2021
He prophesied that a “time of St. Joseph” would soon arrive in the life of the Church. He wrote: I believe that the true time of Saint Joseph has not arrived yet: after two thousand years we started only now to glimpse something of the mystery in which he is immersed.2
First, we need the spiritual fatherhood of St. Joseph to help us protect marriage and the family. Marriage and the family have always been under attack, but in modern times, the threats have reached extraordinary heights. Many people no longer know what it means to be a man or a woman, let alone what constitutes a marriage and a family. Many countries even claim to have redefined marriage and the family. There is great confusion on these matters, greater confusion than in any previous era of human history.
This holy man [St. Joseph] had such towering dignity and glory that the Eternal Father most generously bestowed on him a likeness of his own primacy.3 — St. Bernardine of Siena
What is holiness, anyway? Is it some unattainable spiritual summit you can never hope to reach? No, it is not. Holiness is living in intimate, loving communion with God.
Picture to yourself the sanctity of all the patriarchs of old, that long line of successive generations which is the mysterious ladder of Jacob, culminating in the person of the Son of God. See how great was the faith of Abraham, the obedience of Isaac, the courage of David, the wisdom of Solomon. After you have formed the highest opinion of these saints, remember that Joseph is at the top of the ladder, at the head of the saints, the kings, the prophets, the patriarchs, that he is more faithful than Abraham, more obedient than Isaac, more generous than David, wiser than Solomon, in a word, as
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The “Lumen Patriarcharum” terrifies Satan. In the Latin version of the Litany of St. Joseph, the title “Light of Patriarchs” appears as “Lumen Patriarcharum.” The Devil hates St. Joseph and his light. Satan’s other name is Lucifer, which means “light bearer.” Lucifer lost the light because of his pride and disobedience to God. Now, Satan lives in perpetual darkness and abhors the light. Satan fears your spiritual father because St. Joseph is a humble creature of flesh and blood, the perfect reflection of the Father of Lights. Saint Joseph is a true and everlasting light bearer, an icon of God
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Every woman wants to find security in the arms of a man who is willing to lay down his life for her. The Church and the world need men like St. Joseph. He is the model husband.
And the model seminarian/priest/king
All men discover in St. Joseph a model of strength, fidelity, heroism, and virtue. If men — husbands, fathers, priests, and bishops — follow the example of St. Joseph, families will be loving and secure, husbands will be holy, priests will be dragon-slayers, and bishops will again be shepherds of souls and pillars of truth.
Chastity is a virtue. A very important virtue. To be chaste is to have self-mastery, to be in control of your passions and sexuality. Contrary to what many people think, a person who exercises chastity is not repressing or rejecting the beauty of human sexuality.
He [Joseph] thus becomes the icon of the bishop,
When you invoke St. Joseph, you don’t have to speak much. You know your Father in heaven knows what you need; well, so does his friend St. Joseph. Tell him, “If you were in my place, St. Joseph, what would you do?”2 — St. André Bessette
Again, the filial relationship you have with St. Joseph is not biological; it wasn’t biological for Jesus, either. Yet this does not mean that St. Joseph’s fatherhood is not real. Saint Joseph’s spiritual fatherhood is very real. Were spiritual fatherhood not real, calling Jesus’ Heavenly Father your Heavenly Father would be meaningless.
The divine nature of Jesus did not need anything from St. Joseph, but the human nature of Jesus did require the fatherhood of St. Joseph. When the Son of God humbled himself and took on human nature, he placed himself under the laws of human growth and development. In order to grow into the fullness of his manhood, Jesus required a mother, a father, and time. All children require this.
This is most likely the reason why Jesus did not initiate his public ministry until after the death of St. Joseph. Jesus wants his disciples to know about the virtues, wonders, and spiritual fatherhood of St. Joseph, but for the sake of his mission, he had to leave the revealing of this mystery to the Holy Spirit and the Church.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. He writes: Was he [St. Joseph] old or young?
Since there is nothing on record that he [St. Joseph] ever had any other spouse than the Virgin Mary, it is also certain that he remained a virgin all his life. — St. Jerome
No husband and wife ever loved one another so much as Joseph and Mary.1 — Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
The Most High also gave to St. Joseph new purity and complete command over his natural inclinations so that he might serve his spouse Mary.3
Well, in the fourth century, a bishop named Bonoso from Illyricum (that is, modern day areas of Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia) was rebuked by his brother bishops and stripped of his episcopacy for teaching that Mary and Joseph had more children after Jesus was born. The pope at the time, St. Pope Siricius, wrote a letter to the faithful bishops in Illyricum thanking them for disciplining the errant bishop. He wrote: We surely cannot deny that you were right in correcting the doctrine about children of Mary, and you are right in rejecting the idea that any other offspring should come from
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Every biblical scholar knows that, in the ancient Greek versions of the Old and New Testaments, the word used for brothers and sisters is the same word used for cousins.
Third, some protest against the notion of Mary and St. Joseph having a virginal marriage because of the passage in the Gospel of Matthew that states that Joseph did not know his wife “until” Jesus was born. The passage reads: And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. And he knew her not until she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. — Mt 1:24-25 At first glance, the passage from Matthew does give the impression that Joseph engaged in marital relations with his wife after she gave birth to Jesus: “[H]e
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In fact, the tradition that holds that St. Joseph was a perpetual virgin also affirms that St. Joseph, in a similar fashion to Mary, had made a vow of virginity to God in his youth. Both Mary and Joseph had made a vow to remain virgins all the days of their lives; and God wished them to be united in the bonds of marriage, not because they repented of the vow already made, but to be confirmed in it and to encourage each other to continue in this holy relation.8 — St. Francis de Sales
Numbers 33?
A virginal St. Joseph conveys an image of a youthful man who had to exhibit heroic, supernatural virtue in order to remain a virgin — he espoused the most beautiful woman ever to live! An elderly man espousing a young virgin requires no sacrifice; the elderly man’s virility and passion are waning. A strong, loving, youthful, and virginal man, on the other hand, would be required to make a tremendous sacrifice of his mind, body, senses, and heart in order to espouse a woman so pure and lovely.
Having placed her trust in God, she delegated to a man the safeguarding of the greatest treasure. She — who had dedicated the flower of virginity to God earlier in a solemn ceremony — had no doubt that she would have a virginal spouse.13 — St. Stanislaus Papczyński
Trusting in God’s plan, she fell in love with St. Joseph and gave him her Heart. Mary’s body was reserved for God, but she had the freedom to give her Heart to St. Joseph, the only man worthy of her, the only man perfectly reflecting the pure love of God.
Mary reprehend us, for she was unwilling to place her name before that of her husband but said, “Thy father and I have been seeking thee sorrowing.” Therefore, let no perverse murmurers do what the virginal wife did not do.
I believe that this man, St. Joseph, was adorned with the most pure virginity, the most profound humility, the most ardent love and charity towards God.16 — St. Bernardine of Siena
He never suspected Mary of any wrongdoing whatsoever. On the contrary, St. Joseph knew he was in the presence of a great mystery. Humble and just, he planned to separate himself from Mary quietly in order not to get in the way of divine mysteries. Before he could take action, however, God sent his angel to remind Joseph of his royal lineage, a lineage needed for the Savior to be considered a descendant of David.
There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand. This general rule is especially verified in the case of St. Joseph.1 — St. Bernardine of Siena
Guided by its light, we put first things first, and prize the friendship of God beyond all else.
and to endure without complaint the slow martyrdom of even lifelong tribulation.
The Gift of Wisdom embodies all the other gifts, as charity embraces all the other virtues. Wisdom is the most perfect of the gifts.
As a newly married man, St. Joseph never wanted to be far away from his wife. Mary must have come to him and expressed a desire to visit her relative Elizabeth for three months, and this must have been quite a surprise to St. Joseph. When we read this episode in the New Testament, we tend to presume that Mary did not ask St. Joseph to accompany her to Elizabeth’s. The sacred text, however, does not inform us of what exactly happened on this occasion, other than telling us that Mary went in haste to the hill country. We are not told if St. Joseph went or not. Many saints and mystics — St.
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Seven privileges of st joe
