Ad te beate Ioseph

As we close this month in honor of St. Joseph, let us approach him for assistance as we enter Holy Week.  Even though he did not have to witness the events of Holy Week, neither did we. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask for his help so that we might have the proper view of these tragic and glorious events. Let us walk with Joseph following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Also, it would make sense that a part of the strength that Christ had during His sufferings (even if it was only a small part) was from the witness and teachings of his foster-father. Joseph taught Jesus how to patiently endure in silence the sufferings and pangs of this world. It is fitting then to go to Joseph in the midst of our trials and to learn from him how to suffer.

TO thee, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. Through that charity which bound thee to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which thou embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee to graciously regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with thy power and strength to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be propitious to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness; and, as once thou rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by thy constant protection, so that, supported by thy example and thy aid, we may be able to live piously, to die holy, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen. (Pope Leo XIII)

Short History of the Feast of Saint Joseph

Commentary from the St. Andrew’s Daily Missal, 1962 ed.

  The Church never dissociates St Joseph from Jesus and Mary, and the Gospel of his feast mentions them together. The Mass presents our Lady’s husband, our Lord’s foster-father, as the just man. whose soul is ever turned towards God and is filled with His blessings (Ep.), so that it becomes strong and mighty as a cedar of Libanus (Int.). Humbly and faithfully fulfilling his noble and delicate task of caring for the Holy Family of Nazareth, St Joseph is our model for the virtues of family life and daily duty, and the protector of purity and the Christian home.
  St Joseph’s cult was slow in developing. His feast was introduced in different places at different times, and on different days; it was fixed during the 15th century on March 19, which was believed to be the anniversary of his death. In 1621 Gregory XV extended its observance to the whole Church.- In 1870 Pius IX solemnly proclaimed him Patron and Protector of the universal Church.

(Note: It belonged to the Father to give a name to his Son. The angel sent by God to give this mission to joseph thereby shows that Joseph had with regard to Jesus the same rights as if He were his son.)

The Obedience of Faith of Joseph

 "When, soon after the Annunciation, Mary went to the house of Zechariah to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, even as she offered her greeting she heard the words of Elizabeth, who was "filled with the Holy Spirit" (Lk 1:41). Besides offering a salutation which recalled that of the angel at the Annunciation, Elizabeth also said: "and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1:45). These words were the guiding thought of the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, in which I sought to deepen the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, which stated: "The Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully preserved her union with her Son even to the cross," "preceding" all those who follow Christ by faith.
Now at the beginning of this pilgrimage, the faith of Mary meets the faith of Joseph. If Elizabeth said of the Redeemer's Mother, "blessed is she who believed," in a certain sense this blessedness can be referred to Joseph as well, since he responded positively to the word of God when it was communicated to him at the decisive moment. While it is true that Joseph did not respond to the angel's "announcement" in the same way as Mary, he "did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife." What he did is the clearest "obedience of faith" (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26; 2 Cor 10:5-6).
One can say that what Joseph did united him in an altogether special way to the faith of Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing that she had already accepted at the Annunciation. The Council teaches: " "The obedience of faith' must be given to God as he reveals himself. By this obedience of faith man freely commits himself entirely to God, making 'the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals,' and willingly assenting to the revelation given by him." This statement, which touches the very essence of faith, is perfectly applicable to Joseph of Nazareth.
Therefore he became a unique guardian of the mystery "hidden for ages in God" (Eph 3:9), as did Mary, in that decisive moment which St. Paul calls "the fullness of time," when "God sent forth his Son, born of woman...to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Gal 4:4-5). In the words of the Council: "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9). His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and become sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph 2:18; 2 Pt 1 4)"
Together with Mary, Joseph is the first guardian of this divine mystery. Together with Mary, and in relation to Mary, he shares in this final phase of God 's self-revelation in Christ, and he does so from the very beginning. Looking at the gospel texts of both Matthew and Luke, one can also say that Joseph is the first to share in the faith of the Mother of God, and that in doing so he supports his spouse in the faith of the divine annunciation. He is also the first to be placed by God on the path of Mary's "pilgrimage of faith." It is a path along which--especially at the time of Calvary and Pentecost--Mary will precede in a perfect way." - Excerpt from Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer) Apostolic Exhortation of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II On August 15, 1989 [emphasis added]  

March-Month of Saint Joseph

The feast day of Saint Joseph falls on March 19th and so this month has always been venerated as a month dedicated to St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church. This month, I hope to provide various reflections on St. Joseph and how he can be both a teacher for us in the interior life and guide us in our work.

Saint Josemaria Escriva on Saint Joseph:

There are many good reasons to honour Saint Joseph, and to learn from his life. He was a man of strong faith. He earned a living for his family ‑‑ Jesus and Mary ‑‑ with his own hard work. He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin, who was his Spouse. And he respected ‑ he loved! ‑ God's freedom, when God made his choice: not only his choice of Our Lady the Virgin as his Mother, but also his choice of Saint Joseph as the Husband of Holy Mary. (The Forge, 552)

Saint Joseph, our Father and Lord: most chaste, most pure. You were found worthy to carry the Child Jesus in your arms, to wash him, to hug him. Teach us to get to know God, and to be pure, worthy of being other Christs. And help us to do and to teach, as Christ did. Help us to open up the divine paths of the earth, which are both hidden and bright; and help us to show them to mankind, telling our fellow men that their lives on earth can have an extraordinary and constant supernatural effectiveness. (The Forge, 553)

Love Saint 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. (The Forge, 554)