More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
February 24 - March 20, 2024
Solatium Miserorum is generally translated as “Comfort of the Afflicted,” but it can also be rendered “Solace of the Miserab...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
This world is a valley of tears, and everyone is going to suffer.
Knowing you can always go to your father in difficult times reassures you that everything will be okay, even when your world seems to be falling apart.
Happy are you if your death has the assistance of St. Joseph. Then, no matter if flames devour you, or waters overwhelm you, or disease slays you, the prayers of St. Joseph will throw around you an all protecting mantle of defense.5 —
The lily St. Joseph holds in his hand is a mighty spiritual weapon, a sword of purity. It has the power to pierce fire-breathing dragons (demons) and
O God, who, in your loving providence, chose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most Holy Mother, grant us the favor of having him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our protector. You, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
Never forget what you have learned in these days of preparation. Renew your consecration frequently. Strive to please the loving heart of your spiritual father. Avoid sin and live as a faithful member of the Church. Should scandals persist, keep your eyes fixed
on Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph. They will never disappoint you. They will never abandon you. They will always love you and be with you.
have prayed to our Lord that he might give me St. Joseph for a father, as he had given me Mary for a mother; that he might put in my heart that devotion, that confidence, that filial love of a client, of a devotee of St. Joseph. I trust the good Master has heard my prayers, for I now feel greater devotion to ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Her person and privileges are so great that she was given the title “All-Holy Mother of God.”
If you wish to be close to Christ, we again today repeat, “Go to Joseph.”1 — Venerable Pope Pius XII
Saint Joseph safeguarded a food capable of saving the entire world! Saint Joseph, our spiritual father, is much greater than the Joseph of the Old Testament. Our Joseph was the keeper of the Bread from Heaven! His desire in heaven is that all of his children consume the Bread of Everlasting Life!
[Saint] Joseph is still charged with guarding the Living Bread!6 — Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
I see him as a strong, young man, perhaps a few years older than Our Lady, but in the prime of his life and work.1
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 ...
woman’s love always determines the way a man loves: she is the silent educator of his virile powers.
How much more beautiful Mary and Joseph become when we see in their lives what might be called the first Divine Romance!
both Mary and Joseph, there were youth, beauty, and promise. God loves cascading cataracts and bellowing waterfalls, but he loves them better, not when they overflow and drown his flowers, but when they are harnessed and bridled to light a city and to slake the thirst of a child. In
Thank God for the wisdom and insights of people such as St. Josemaría Escrivá, Mother Angelica, and Venerable Fulton Sheen. The Church needs to re-present to her children an image of St. Joseph that depicts him as strong, masculine, and young.
As the father of Jesus, St. Joseph was a zealous defender and strong protector of his beloved Son. Saint Joseph sacrificed everything — including the pleasures of conjugal love — to fulfill his mission as “Guardian of the Virgin” and “Guardian of the Redeemer.” Incidentally, when popes and saints use the word “guardian” in reference to St. Joseph, they are using it in more than just a legal sense. They use it in the protective, fatherly, and manly sense. A
Saint Joseph’s manhood was a protective shield, a protective cloak, for the Blessed Virgin. No man or beast could do any harm to the Virgin because St. Joseph stood attentive and ready to defend her, even to the point of death.
young men can be chaste, heroic, and holy. Indeed, the Church has countless examples of young men who kept themselves chaste and pure for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
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.
For centuries, Christians have referred to the Virgin Mary as “Our Lady.” It’s a term that acknowledges the great love, respect, honor, and reverence that is owed to Mary. It is a term that bespeaks chivalry.
When the Holy Virgin and St. Joseph intercede together it is very powerful!5 —
No husband and wife ever loved one another so much as Joseph and Mary.1
The doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity is such an important teaching of Christianity that St. Pope Martin I made it a dogma of the faith at the Lateran Council in 649.
However, as numerous Scripture scholars, saints, popes, and theologians have stated over the centuries, the use of the word “until” in Scripture does not necessarily mean that a subsequent action will occur in the future.
“Until” does not necessarily have a determined temporal sense. When the psalmist says: “Our eyes are turned to the Lord until he have mercy on us” (Ps 122:2), this does not mean that, once we have obtained mercy from God, we shall take our eyes off him.7
O Joseph, virgin father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray for us daily to the same Jesus, the Son of God that, armed with the weapons of his grace, we may fight as we ought during life, and be crowned by him at the moment of our death. Amen.
privy
Santo Anello is a thing: the “holy ring” that St. Joseph gave Mary on their wedding day!
The wedding ring that St. Joseph gave to Mary is still in existence today. It is reserved in a special gold and silver reliquary in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Perugia, Italy. Many people who go on pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy, are
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.
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home” (Mt 1:20).
To be just is to be perfectly united to the Divine Will, and to be always conformed to it in all sorts of events, whether prosperous or adverse. That St. Joseph was this, no one can doubt.1 — St. Francis de Sales
Just = perfectly United to God’s will
apoluo.
For example, according to the context, apoluo can mean “separate,” “conceal,” “hide,” “distance oneself from,” or “divorce.”
Again, those over the centuries who translated apoluo as divorce did not have bad intent. They simply lacked a true understanding of the supernatural greatness of St. Joseph because a theology of St. Joseph had not yet been developed. We
(Now, for anyone reading this who has had a divorce, don’t panic. God hates divorce, not you. It is true that the Catholic Church, following the teaching of Jesus Christ himself, says that divorce is impossible in the case of valid sacramental marriages
To repeat: God doesn’t hate you if you have had a civil divorce; he hates the divorce. It also needs to be noted that not everyone who desires or gets a civil divorce is committing a sin or a moral offense against God. The reason is because there can be unique circumstances in each particular case. Now, back to St. Joseph’s marriage.)
have been torturous for him to contemplate distancing himself from her, but he loved God first. His immediate resolve was to give God what Joseph believed was God’s due, that is, to distance himself from Mary since she belonged to God.
Joseph wanted to give the Virgin her liberty, not because he suspected her of adultery, but [because] out of respect for her sanctity he feared to live together with her.11 — St. Thomas Aquinas
The greatness of St. Joseph is that he was willing to become a homeless wanderer out of love for God and Mary. He did not want to defame Mary by a divorce, even a quiet one. After Jesus Christ, St. Joseph is the humblest of all men, and he was willing to step out of the picture and disappear.
God comes first. If giving to God what belongs to God required St. Joseph to sacrifice a future with Mary, then so be it. God comes first.
He is the greatest of all the saints, the “Pillar of Families” and the “Glory of Domestic Life.” After Jesus Christ, St. Joseph is the “Most Just,” loving, and reverent of all men!
After his Son, St. Joseph is the model of supernatural love, faith, justice, reverence, and humility. He is a virtuous gentleman whose faith is constant and pure.
He teaches us to give God his due even if it requires us to be willing to sacrifice everything we love.
Our spiritual father teaches us that we should not act hastily or harshly when we encounter perplexing situations.
His mission required all seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, fear
