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March 28 - October 5, 2021
If you wish to be close to Christ, we again today repeat, “Go to Joseph.”1 — Venerable Pope Pius XII
The former Joseph [of the Old Testament] was holy, righteous, pious, chaste; but this Joseph so far surpasses him in holiness and perfection as the sun outshines the moon.2 — St. Lawrence of Brindisi
Pharaoh, the mighty king of Egypt, exalted Joseph and made him the highest prince in his kingdom, because he stored up the grain and bread and saved the people of his entire kingdom. So Joseph saved and protected Christ, who is the living bread and gives eternal life to the world.3
[Saint] Joseph is still charged with guarding the Living Bread!6 — Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
Today, there is a worldwide spiritual and moral famine on the earth. Souls are dying because of a lack of spiritual nourishment. Hearts are broken; marriages are ruined; lives are destroyed; children are murdered in the womb; and truth and common sense are in short supply. The spiritual and moral famine in the world is devastating every nation, laying waste to humanity. There is not a single country left that has not been affected by it. What are we to do? To whom can we go to find nourishment for our souls? Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you! — Gen 41:55
Somehow, the assumption had crept in that senility was a better protector of virginity than adolescence. Art thus unconsciously made Joseph a spouse chaste and pure by age rather than by virtue. But this is like assuming that the best way to show that a man would never steal is to picture him without hands ...
But more than that, to make Joseph out as old portrays for us a man who had little vital energy left, rather than one who, having it, kept it in chains for God’s sake and for his holy purposes. To make Joseph appear pure only because his flesh had aged is like glorifying a mountain stream that has dried. The Church will not ordain a man to his priesthood who has not his vital powers. She wants men who have something to tame, rather than those who are tame because they have no energy to be wild. It should be no different with God.
If earthly princes consider it a matter of so much importance to select carefully a tutor fit for their children, think you that the Eternal God would not, in his almighty power and wisdom, choose from out of his creation the most perfect man living [St. Joseph] to be the guardian of his divine and most glorious Son, the Prince of heaven and earth?3 — St. Francis de Sales
Makes a lot of sense, right? Sure it does. Saint Joseph was the loving husband of Mary, not a “retired” husband incapable of manual labor and long journeys on foot. Saint Joseph was known by everyone in Nazareth as the father of Jesus, not the grandfather of Jesus.
As a young husband and father, St. Joseph modeled manhood for his Son, Jesus. Every boy should be able to look to his father to understand what it means to be a man. If St. Joseph had been an elderly man, would Jesus have observed in his father any physical strength or true love put into practice through heroic chastity, hard work, and bodily gestures of piety — kneeling, for example? If St. Joseph were two or three times the age of his wife, what would Jesus have observed in his father: afternoon naps and forgetfulness? Again, there’s nothing wrong with old age. Growing old is part of human
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Saint Josemaría Escrivá tells us: You don’t have to wait to be old or lifeless to practice the virtue of chastity. Purity comes from love; and the strength and gaiety of youth are no obstacle for noble love. Joseph had a young heart and a young body when he married Mary, when he learned of the mystery of her divine motherhood, when he lived in her company, respecting the integrity God wished to give the world as one more sign that he had come to share the life of his creatures. Anyone who cannot understand a love like that knows very little of true love and is a complete stranger to the
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In my opinion, St. Joseph was a young husband, tender and loving toward his wife, but always chaste, modest, and pure. Mary loved her Joseph. His manly love for her was strong and always controlled by reason and faith. His virile powers, always held in restraint and service to God’s will, made him the most virtuous husband and father ever to walk
this earth. No woman ever had a greater man than St. Joseph.
I thank you, O holy patriarch Joseph, because we who are incapable of even knowing how to love Jesus and our Immaculate Mother, know and rejoice that you at least loved her as she deserved to be loved, the worthy and true Mother of Jesus.9 — Blessed Gabriele Allegra
No husband and wife ever loved one another so much as Joseph and Mary.1 — Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
In the accounts we have of her visions, Blessed Anne Catherine claims to have been transported to the marriage of Mary and Joseph and witnessed the ceremony. Blessed Anne Catherine offers details about the wedding and explicitly mentions the date of the marriage. She writes: The espousals took place, I think, upon our 23rd of January. They were celebrated in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, in a house used for such feasts.2
Mary belonged to Joseph, and Joseph to Mary, so much so that their marriage was very real, since they gave themselves to each other. But how could they do this? Behold the triumph of purity. They reciprocally gave their virginity, and over this virginity they gave each other a mutual right. What right? To safeguard the other’s virtue.9 — St. Peter Julian Eymard
The Church’s constant tradition holds that St. Joseph lived a life of consecrated chastity. Some of the apocryphal gospels picture him as an old man, even a widower. This is not the Church’s teaching. We are rather to believe that he was a virgin, who entered into a virginal marriage with Mary.10 — Servant of God John A. Hardon
In St. Joseph, Mary experienced a perfect reflection and mirror of God’s love for her. When Mary met St. Joseph, she knew that God had chosen him to be her loving (and beloved) husband. 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.
If the two disciples going to Emmaus were inflamed with divine love by the few moments which they spent in company with our Savior, and by his words; so much so, that they said, “Was not our heart burning within us while he spoke to us on the way?” — what flames of holy love must we not suppose to have been enkindled in the heart of St. Joseph, who for thirty years conversed with Jesus Christ, and listened to his words of eternal life!6 — St. Alphonsus Liguori
Though St. Joseph knew nothing of fetal microchimerism, God continued to bless him with the presence of Jesus whenever he was in the presence of his wife. To be near Mary is to be near Jesus. Jesus lives in her! Mary has in her body some of her divine Son’s living cells. Our Lord didn’t need to be in the house for St. Joseph to remain in the presence of God. Wherever Mary was, Jesus was. Saint Joseph’s wife is a living tabernacle, a walking monstrance, a veiled temple. No wonder demons do not dare come near Mary — she is never without the divine presence. God lives in her body!
We must beg for good adorers; the Blessed Sacrament needs them to replace St. Joseph and to imitate his life of adoration.10 — St. Peter Julian Eymard
When you visit the Most Blessed Sacrament, approach Jesus with the love of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and St. John.12 — St. Joseph Sebastian Pelczar
Our Lady said to St. Bridget: Saint Joseph was so reserved and careful in his speech that not one word ever issued from his mouth that was not good and holy, nor did he ever indulge in unnecessary or less than charitable conversation. He was most patient and diligent in bearing fatigue; he practiced extreme poverty; he was most meek in bearing injuries; he was strong and constant against enemies; he was the faithful witness of the wonders of heaven.6
Let us allow ourselves to be filled with St Joseph’s silence! In a world that is often too noisy, that encourages neither recollection nor listening to God’s voice, we are in such deep need of it.9 — Pope Benedict XVI
On Wednesdays do something also for St. Joseph, such as saying the usual prayers, reading some book about him, making some special mortification, in short offering everything to him.1 — St. Pope John XXIII
A long-standing tradition in the Church has designated each day of the week with a particular theme to be recognized at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Sunday — Resurrection of Jesus Monday — Souls in Purgatory Tuesday — Holy Angels Wednesday — St. Joseph Thursday — Eucharist Friday — Passion of Jesus Saturday — Our Lady
My dear St. Joseph, be with me living, be with me dying, and obtain for me a favorable judgment from Jesus, my merciful Savior.2 — Pope Leo XIII
Saint Joseph, my dear father, gaze upon me from heaven. Detach me from the things of earth, obtain for me purity of heart, love of God, and final perseverance.3 — Blessed Bartolo Longo
In 1937, Pope Pius XI realized the serious threat that communism posed to the common good and called upon St. Joseph to protect the Church from the many errors of communism. He wrote: We place the vast campaign of the Church against world communism under the standard of St. Joseph, her mighty protector.2 As a result of Pope Pius XI’s words, Catholics fervently began to pray to St. Joseph, specifically under the title “Terror of Demons,” to combat the atheistic ideas of communism.
The Vicar of Christ, Venerable Pope Pius XII, turned to St. Joseph, as his predecessor had done, and denounced the falsehoods of communism by elevating the dignity of workers in a very specific way. On May 1, 1955, Pope Pius XII declared May 1 to be the liturgical feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Pronounce often and with great confidence the names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Their names bring peace, love, health, blessings, majesty, glory, admiration, joy, happiness, and veneration. Their holy names are a blessing to angels and men, and a terror to demons. Christians should always have the names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their hearts and on their lips.4 — Blessed Bartolo Longo
It is a tragedy that the majority of art depicting St. Joseph has presented him as an elderly man. Sadly, sometimes he is even presented as soft and effeminate. This is far from the truth of who St. Joseph is as a man. Saint Joseph is a dragon-slayer!
The purity of St. Joseph is a weapon against the filth and perversions of the devil. Satan is a filthy, perverse, and pornographic creature. Purity repulses him. It pierces him.
The number one sin among men today is impurity. It is a spiritual plague destroying the minds and hearts of men on a global scale. The spiritual plague of impurity involves pornography, immoral actions with oneself, homosexual acts and lifestyles, pedophilia, cohabitation, contraception, and abortion. These sins leave men powerless and spiritually impotent.
Men who are impure have no power. Impure men pose no threat to the devil because they are spiritually impotent. This explains why so many men today have no strength to fight evil. The devil doesn’t fear many men today. Satan has nothing to fear from a man who has freely chosen to let demons into his life through lust, pornography, immoral desires, and every other form of perversion. A filthy heart blinds a person to the countenance of God. If m...
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Without prayer, no one (male or female) can be pure.
Your name, Joseph, is the joy of heaven, the honor of earth, and the comfort of mortals. Your name invigorates the weak, comforts the afflicted, heals the sick, softens hardened hearts, helps us in temptation, frees us from the snares of the devil, obtains every gift, and shares in the power of the holy names of Jesus and Mary.19 — Blessed Bartolo Longo
Love St. Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul, because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has most loved our Blessed Lady and been closest to God. He is the person who has most loved God, after our Mother. He deserves your affection, and it will do you good to get to know him, because he is the Master of the interior life, and has great power before the Lord and before the Mother of God.1 — St. Josemaría Escrivá
