9781644135945

The Light of the World
commands of His father; “and [He] was subject to them.” Jesus does not ignore or refuse
the requests of St. Joseph. How fortunate the Church is to have this powerful saint as her
patron, her mediator, and her protector! How fortunate the soul who adopts him for the
same purpose! “Go to Joseph.”
Jesus has been entrusted to St. Joseph. God engendered in the soul of St. Joseph a true
paternal love and devotion, that he might take a real fatherly interest in Jesus and live but
to serve Him. Joseph is true to that love. He exercises this paternal solicitude, not only for
the person of Jesus, but also for the Church which He instituted, and for all its members.
The Church is nothing else but the visible form of Christ on earth, the body of Christ with
all His members. For this reason the heart of St. Joseph burns with love for the Church
just as it did for Jesus. Joseph is also the true father, the mighty protector and patron of the
Church. “Go to Joseph.”
Today we offer up the Holy Sacrifice to the eternal Father for having given us St. Joseph as the
protector and intercessor of the Church. We place the merits and the prayers on the paten at
Mass and lift them up to God saying: “Accept, O holy Father, almighty and everlasting God,
this spotless host which I offer to Thee.” Relying on the patronage of St. Joseph, we pray in the
Secreta for grace to “make our hearts despise all earthly things, and love Thee, the true God,
with perfect charity.” On the feast of St. Joseph we petition that we too may be Josephs, “growing
sons,” increasing in our love for God.
The Church has great faith and trust in St. Joseph because Jesus has given him the heart
of a father. From the day of Christ’s birth we find St. Joseph tireless and consistently true in his
paternal love. God seems to have wished to put this fatherly love to a test, for Joseph is obliged
to exchange his home in Nazareth for the stable in Bethlehem, to forsake his fatherland for the
exile in Egypt, and to sacrifice the security of his life as a tradesman for the uncertain life of a
wanderer. But Joseph never falters. He is always prompt in the observance of God’s will. We
can place ourselves in his care with full confidence.
Prayer
O God, who in Thy ineffable providence hast willed to select the blessed Joseph as the spouse
of Thy holy mother, we beseech Thee that we who honor him as our protector on earth, may
deserve to have him for our intercessor in heaven. Who livest and reignest for all eternity. Amen.
Saturday
St. Joseph
In one of the lessons used at Matins during the octave of St. Joseph, our Holy Mother the
Church makes use of one of the sermons of St. Bernardino of Siena. We follow the thought of
this great client of St. Joseph.
Joseph and Mary. By divine inspiration Joseph and Mary entered into a true and legitimate marital
union. This union binds them together in heart and soul so intimately that they are perfectly
one in spirit. How could the Holy Ghost bind St. Joseph so intimately to Mary in spirit, if he
were not like to her also in virtue? For this reason it was necessary that St. Joseph, too, possess
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