Book Study: The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph

[martin]

But shall I be able to relate all that God has done for St. Joseph? No; I plainly confess that there is neither mind, nor pen, nor tongue capable of imagining, writing, or expressing the grandeur and incomparable prerogatives of this spouse of the Virgin, this father of Jesus Christ, this governor of both! And yet, speak I must! Pardon, O great Saint, my unpardonable boldness! Yet, if your holy spouse, Our Lady, will deign to inspire me with a part of what she knows, if she will give fluency to my pen and warmth to my heart, I shall be able to say enough to content your pious clients, and edify your faithful servants.

O Glorious St Joseph, protector of the Holy Family,
Grant that I may be like thee,
Chaste in mind and body,
Pure in heart, indifferent to all else save the will of God,
That I may be wise, thinking only wise thoughts, speaking only wise words.
That I may be just, rendering unto God what is God's and willing the good of all.
That I may be humble, knowing that without Christ I can do nothing.
Father St Joseph, That I may know thee more that I may love thee more and imitate thee more.
Amen

[Shin]

That prayer is one to keep! Thanks be to God.. Thanks be to God..

[Shin]

CHAPTER IV.

THE EMINENT GRACES OF ST. JOSEPH'S SOUL


 All natural gifts are not to be compared in value to the value of one supernatural grace. What must then be the wealth of St. Joseph's soul! The graces without number which he received from divine generosity are so stupendous that our feeble minds are unable to comprehend them, and it seems to me not to be one of the least glories of Our Lady to have had as spouse a man whom the hand of the Almighty had endowed with every virtue. For my part, I desire to lose myself in the incomprehensible grandeur of this great Saint, and after I have said all that can be said, to confess humbly that I have said nothing. For if it be true, as I have already established, that God apportions His gifts in proportion to the offices He imposes on man, so that he may support them with dignity, St. Joseph must have received such a prodigious abundance of heavenly graces that we cannot contemplate them without holy fear. We shall now return to what we briefly alluded to in the first chapters, and shall derive therefrom conclusions very glorious for our Saint.

I. ---- St. Joseph, virgin.

 In the first place, he was a virgin, so much that his virginal purity yielded in brilliancy and merit to that of the Queen of Virgins alone. What supreme graces he must have received to preserve this angelical virtue in an age which despised virginity, and to guard this delicate lily without the slightest taint or stain on its brilliant whiteness! According to the holy Fathers, he that preserves intact the treasure of virginity ranks higher than the Angels. To what degree of holiness must not St. Joseph have attained, who was the first to preserve it in the state of marriage, and preserved it with such fidelity!


II. ---- St. Joseph, guardian angel of Mary.

 Secondly, Joseph was chosen from all eternity to be the visible guardian angel of the virginity of Our Lady. Must not, then, his soul have been armed with every virtue, and fortified by every assistance necessary for such a noble and admirable office? Consider what manner of man Joseph is! The angels and Saints are only the servants of the glorious Virgin, while he is her guardian angel and her spouse. This title, to which we now only allude in passing, is far beyond the comprehension of our feeble intelligence; for, husband and wife being of one heart and one soul, what must be the sovereign dignity of a man who, so to speak, is one with the most holy Mother of the living God!

 St. Bernardin of Siena has boldly grasped this thought. He says that as the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph consisted in the union of their wills, the friendship of their hearts, and the love of their souls increased to such a degree that there never were two hearts more completely identified, two souls more dissolved into one, and he adds that the Holy Spirit would never have formed this union without rendering the husband perfectly similar to the wife. (1) It was beseeming that the likeness of these two suns should be so striking, that it would be difficult to distinguish one from the other. On one hand, the holiness of Our Lady outshines the holiness of all creatures; on the other hand, the holiness of Joseph is entirely alike the holiness of Mary. Later on, we shall treat this subject more at length.


III. ---- St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus.

 Let us dwell a little on this title, 'guardian of Jesus,' so as to understand the eminence of St. Joseph's dignity. The learned and pious Rupert, of the Order of St. Benedict, says Jacob's ladder is a figure of the genealogy of Jesus Christ: the different steps being the patriarchs, the kings, the princes, his ancestors, and the upmost step being St. Joseph, who stands with open arms to receive and embrace the Infant Messias, the divine pupil, to Whom he must serve as guardian and father. (2) To understand the importance of this office we must remember the words of St. Paul: ' As long as the heir is a child he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father.' (3) Meanwhile his possessions and his person are disposed of without consulting him, and when the time of his majority arrives the master ratifies all, as if it had been done by himself.

 Oh, reader, can you imagine such preeminence as that of St. Joseph? Our Lord said: 'Blessed is the faithful and wise servant, for the Lord will place him over all His goods.' What power! to have everything in his hands; to be accountable to no one! I wish I were equal to the task of treating this sublime subject and showing the significance of these words: 'He has placed him over all His goods?' He is general administrator of all the goods of the Incarnate Word, with full power to distribute them to whom and when he pleases! Is not this to be exalted above men and Angels, and even, to a certain extent, above God Himself?

 Consider now what follows from this with regard to the sanctity of Joseph. Since it was in his power to distribute the goods of Jesus to whom he would, can you doubt that he took for himself an abundance of all that was most precious?

 When the Saviour traversed the towns and villages of Judea, it sufficed to touch the hem of His garment in order to receive signal graces. My God, my Creator, with what innumerable graces must not Joseph have been enriched from the heart of the Divine Child, Whom he carried so often in his arms, lavishing on Him his kisses and caresses! When Jesus slept on the breast of the holy Patriarch, can you doubt that He communicated to him the sweetest and most ineffable graces? Perhaps He went to sleep in his arms, with the intention, while reposing on his breast, to communicate to him His favours, and to crown him with His mercies. If it be Paradise to contemplate the Eternal and Uncreated Word in the bosom of His father, is it not likewise Paradise to see the Word made flesh, now on the virginal bosom of Mary His mother, and now in the arms of His foster-father Joseph?


IV. ---- Joseph living in the company of Jesus and Mary.

 Lastly, I say, that St. Joseph, true mirror of virginal purity, guardian angel of Our Lady, and protector of Jesus Christ, had the incomparable happiness of living, according to the general belief, twenty-five years in their sweet and holy company, and of having constantly before his eyes these models of perfection.

 From all parts of the Christian world the pious faithful travel to St. Mary Major in Rome, to Loretto, to Montserrat, and other places of pilgrimage, where it pleases God to manifest the goodness and the power of His most holy Mother. These pious pilgrims feel the greatest confidence. They do not doubt that, praying humbly before the picture of Mary, painted by St. Luke, or before other images of Our Lady, honoured in these sanctuaries, they will obtain all they ask for. But the chapel of Loretto was the house and ordinary habitation of Joseph, who needed not to make pilgrimages, or to seek for pictures and copies, having the original continually before his eyes. There he conversed sweetly with Mary, and recommended himself to her holy prayers. There she, who never rejects the least of her servants, certainly denied nothing to him. Think of what blessings the presence of such a spouse must have imparted to the heart of Joseph: while she looked at him, inflaming him with the kindling rays of her burning charity; while her blessed lips addressed him with words that might have entranced the hearts of men and of Angels, nay, of God Himself. As the devout pilgrim never fails to find Jesus in the sanctuaries of Mary; so, in the house of Nazareth, Joseph had Jesus always present with Mary, and saw, with his eyes, the Divine Child grow in age, in wisdom, and in grace, before God and men.

 Who can describe what superabundance of divine blessings inundated the soul of this incomparable Saint! He, too, every day, and every moment, grew in grace and in virtue, enjoying without interruption what we may call the beatific vision, never ceasing to see God, and to be seen by Him. To see God, and to be regarded by Him cannot fail to produce a blessing, can never be without fruit. The burning rays of the sun gild all that is exposed to them; Jesus Christ, the sun of Paradise, Our Lady, the star of the Church, were as the planets which favoured Joseph with their beneficient aspect, the sacred channels through which God the Father exerted His influence; how, then, could the soul of the great Patriarch fail to be illuminated with the splendours of the Saints, to overflow with the treasures of Divinity?

 In ancient times, had one asked why a mine of gold or silver was to be found in one place, pearls and diamonds in others; here, flowers of exquisite beauty, and there fragrant balm; the answer would have been given, without more research, that a secret influence from heaven smiled upon that favored land. Now, the eyes of the Eternal Father were ever resting on St. Joseph; the Holy Spirit was continually abiding in his soul; Jesus Christ regarded him with the love of a son; Our Lady's affection for him was unbounded; the Angels were devoted to him. How is it possible to imagine or describe the graces of this heart, the heavenly blessings in the most pure soul of this peerless man?

 Our Lord has said that if anyone love Him, he will be loved by the Father, and that both will come and make their abode in the breast of that man. Never was this promise verified more completely than in the innocent heart of Joseph, who, besides the general love common to all the servants of Jesus Christ, enjoyed the special love due to a guardian, a governor, a master, and a father.

 Great were also the graces which Joseph derived from his constant communion with his most holy spouse. His eyes were always directed towards her and Jesus, studying their conduct, imitating, so to speak their every action. He treasured up in his heart all the eminent perfections which he observed in theirs. Open the heart of Joseph, and you will find therein the faithful copies, the perfect imitations of the sublime virtues of his adopted son Jesus, and of his blessed spouse Mary. The hands of those who always work with balm become as odoriferous as if they themselves were made of balm.

 I wish I could give as a fact what I have read in certain ancient authors, that nature has formed diamonds which, when exposed to the sun, emit rays so piercing, that they have the virtue of changing a piece of crystal into a diamond nearly as precious as themselves. Yet that which, in the order of nature, is but fiction, is found to be true in the order of grace. Joseph, pure as crystal, and constantly exposed to the rays emanating from Jesus and Mary, was as if transformed into a most excellent copy of the celestial beauties of both. O ineffable transformation! O new trinity of persons, and unity of hearts! Pardon me, great and amiable Saint, if I dare to speak of what is inexpressible; if I attempt to develop a part of your greatness. Enlighten my mind, fortify my heart, that I may proceed with a firm and unerring step on the path of thy praises.



<sub>1. 'Quomodo cogitare potest mens discreta, quod Spiritus Sanctus tanta unione uniret menti tantae Virginis aliquam animam, nisi ei virtutum operatione simillimam?' ( Serm. de S. Joseph, art. 2, c, i.)
2. ' Supremus scalae gradus, cui Dominus innixus est, iste est beatus Joseph, vir Mariae, de qua Jesus qui vocatur Christus naxtus est. Quomodo iste Deus et Dominus huie innixus est? Utique tanquam tutori pupillus, quippe qui in hoc mundo sine patre natus est, ita innixus est huie beato Joseph, ut esset infantulo iste pater optimus; ut hujus solatio paterno puer cum Virgine puerpera sustentaretur ' (in Matth., De gloria et honore Filii hominis, cap. i. ).
3. Gal. iv. 1, 2.</sub>

[Shin]

According to the holy Fathers, he that preserves intact the treasure of virginity ranks higher than the Angels.

When Jesus slept on the breast of the holy Patriarch, can you doubt that He communicated to him the sweetest and most ineffable graces?

How is it possible to imagine or describe the graces of this heart, the heavenly blessings in the most pure soul of this peerless man?

[Patricia]

When the Saviour traversed the towns and villages of Judea, it sufficed to touch the hem of His garment in order to receive signal graces. My God, my Creator, with what innumerable graces must not Joseph have been enriched from the heart of the Divine Child, Whom he carried so often in his arms, lavishing on Him his kisses and caresses!

What an honour for St. Joseph!

He enjoyed without interruption the beatific vision!

The hands of those who always work with balm become as odoriferous as if they themselves were made of balm.

Nice comparison.

[Shin]

When the Saviour traversed the towns and villages of Judea, it sufficed to touch the hem of His garment in order to receive signal graces. My God, my Creator, with what innumerable graces must not Joseph have been enriched from the heart of the Divine Child, Whom he carried so often in his arms, lavishing on Him his kisses and caresses!

What an honour for St. Joseph!

He enjoyed without interruption the beatific vision!

The hands of those who always work with balm become as odoriferous as if they themselves were made of balm.

Nice comparison.

Beautiful is it not? 

Who can describe what superabundance of divine blessings inundated the soul of this incomparable Saint! He, too, every day, and every moment, grew in grace and in virtue, enjoying without interruption what we may call the beatific vision, never ceasing to see God, and to be seen by Him. To see God, and to be regarded by Him cannot fail to produce a blessing, can never be without fruit.

Hmmm. Now this is finally registering with me. I had heard the beatific vision can only be enjoyed after death. Perhaps that's why he says 'that we may call'.. Or.. hmm..

I'm going to have to look some things up again I see.

[Shin]

CHAPTER V.

THE TRUE MEASURE OF ST. JOSEPH'S GRACES.


 The prophet Isaias says that the time shall come when, delivering a book to a man that is learned, one shall say to him, Read this; and he shall answer, I cannot, for it is sealed. (1) Whatever may be the signification of this mysterious book, does it not present to us a glorious image of St. Joseph? God the Father wrote in his heart, as in a book, all the secrets of the Incarnation and of the hidden life of the Word made flesh; but this volume has remained so well sealed that, during many centuries, the most learned men in the Church knew almost nothing of the immense world of graces and wonders contained in it. St. Teresa of Jesus was one of the first to read in this book some of the priviliges of the holy spouse of Our Lady; and this kindled in her heart a lively desire to spread devotion to this great Patriarch among all the faithful. Were it not for the seraphic reformer of Carmel, St. Joseph might still perhaps be little known, and be honoured by only a few priviliged souls.

 Joseph himself it was who kept the book of his own virtues sealed. He was so modest and humble that he hid from the sight of men the perfection of his actions, and the treasures of his soul. His was to all appearance but a common life. He spoke so little that in the whole of the Gospels you will not find one single word addressed by him, either to Jesus, or to his spouse, or to the Archangel Gabriel, or to any other person in the world. He was like that place in the Temple of Jerusalem, called the Holy of Holies, of which nothing was visible but the curtain concealing its glories. We are thus reduced to divine all that is written in this book, or to do like St. John, when, as he tells us in the fifth chapter of the Apocalypse, a similar book was presented to him. Being unable to read it, he began to weep so much that he excited the pity of the Angels and of the Lamb, who opened for him the mysterious book, and communicated to him all its secrets. Alas! shall our devotion to this holy Patriarch ever become so great that it shall move him to compassion, and make him discover to us all the secrets hidden in his heart? Meanwhile, reader, if you desire to understand something of the glories of St. Joseph, you will, I think, in the following considerations, find the just measure by which to weigh them.


I. ---- First measure of the graces of St. Joseph: the title of 'Father of Jesus.'

 The first measure by which to understand the graces and sanctity of Joseph, is his title of 'Father of Jesus. ' Theologians teach that the more nearly a man is destined by his office to serve the Divine Person of the Incarnate Word, the more eminent must be the graces given to him for the worthy performance of that office. In the first chapter of the prophecy of Daniel, we read that the young Israelites chosen for the immediate service of King Nabuchodonosor, must be of the 'king's seed, and of the princes, in whom there was no blemish, and well-favoured...... And the king appointed them daily provision of his own meat, and of the wine which he drank himself, that, being nourished three years, afterwards they might stand before the king.' (2) Now, after Our Lady, no human being has been called to serve the Lord Jesus so nearly as St. Joseph, consequently none has a larger share than he in the graces of the Eternal Father. The sacred humanity of the Saviour, being united hypostatically to the Divinity, has received a whole world of almost infinite graces; after Jesus comes His most holy Mother, who carried Him nine months in her virginal womb, and a thousand times in her arms; after Mary comes Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, and the guardian of His adorable person. No other Saint was called to the immediate service of the Word made flesh; consequently no other has received from God gifts proportionate to the dignity of this office. I know well that, as St. Anselm says, the ministry of the Apostles is the highest in the Church, and that the title of Apostle is even greater than that of precursor of Jesus Christ; but I say with Suarez, that the ministry of St. Joseph is of an order still higher and more perfect, and that Our Lady and St. Joseph form a hierarchy apart, superior to all the orders of the other Saints in the Church of God. (3)

 Who can understand how many graces were requisite to make St. Joseph worthy of the title of Father of Jesus, and to enable him to fulfil all its duties? So far as a man is capable of participating in the paternity of God the Father, so far was Joseph adorned and enriched with heavenly graces; and this implies such an amount of greatness, that God alone can know its weight and measure. If, in Solomon's Temple, which contained the Ark of the Covenant, everything was to be covered with gold, what graces must have gilded the soul, the heart, the breast of this holy man, the living throne of the living God, in whose arms reposed the Lord of all the Angels! That a man should go to 'sleep in the Lord' is indeed precious, but that God should go to sleep on the bosom of a man, surpasses all human comprehension.

 Origen is of opinion that when Jesus said to Mary, 'Woman, behold thy son,' His word produced the effect that St. John became for His Mother, another Himself, as if He had said: 'My Mother, behold your Jesus, to Whom you gave birth.' (4) In the same manner, when God the Father said to Jesus: 'My son, behold Joseph; he will be your father,' it is as if He said: 'Joseph is for you, another Myself.' And so it was; for, says Abbot Rupert, at the same time that God formed the body of His Son from the most pure blood of the Virgin, He infused into the heart of Joseph His own paternal love, in order that the latter might be for the Incarnate Word upon earth, what He Himself is to the Uncreated Word in eternity. (5) Now it is much more glorious to be the adopted father of Jesus Christ, than to be adopted son of Our Lady, whence it follows that we are obliged to recognise in Joseph a dignity, not merely superior to that of the beloved disciple, but an almost infinite dignity, since he is like another Eternal Father in this world. The Angel of the Schools does not hesitate to call divine maternity an infinite dignity. (6) Why, then, should we not say that the paternity of Joseph approaches the infinite, since, after her who really is the Mother of God, there is none greater than he to whom God communicated His paternity, and whom Jesus Christ many thousand times called by the name of father? Thus, when the Infant God said, 'My father,' one could not tell if He spoke to God His Father, or to Joseph His father. Oh, what happy equivocation! what glorious parallel, by which Joseph is, in a manner, compared to the Eternal Father, in spite of the infinite distance there is between them! Must not the heart of this godlike man have been ready to burst in his breast, to melt with tenderness, when, holding the hand of the Infant Jesus, he said to Him, 'My Son;' or when the Divine Child, with innocent flattery, named him His father?

 What is the meaning of those words in Ecclesiasticus: 'God created man after His own image, and clothed him with strength according to Himself; adorning him with virtues and divine splendours'? (7) Taking them literally, they are only an explanation of God's words in the first chapter of Genesis: ' Let us make man to our image and likeness.' Thus they apply to man in general, and consequently to each man, and we must allow that they incomparably exalt his dignity. Nevertheless, I believe that I enter into your thoughts, reader, when I apply them, in a special manner, to our glorious Patriarch. What man indeed was ever so well formed to the image and likeness of God the Father, as the adopted father of Jesus? Do not you see in Joseph an image of God, a resemblance with God, which belongs alone to this friend of God, and is shared by no one else? Nothing bears such a resemblance to the Father, with the Uncreated Word in His bosom, as Joseph, carrying the Uncreated Word in his arms and on his heart! Jesus Christ, speaking of His Heavenly Father says: 'I and the Father are one.' These words we may apply to St. Joseph: he and Jesus are truly one. Since it is certain that Joseph participated in divine paternity, what an honour it is for him to have a union so intimate with God the Son, and with God the Father a communion of property in what is incommunicable! Suppose for a moment that the Father and the Son had entered into a holy rivalry to adorn and enrich the heart and soul of St. Joseph. The Father wills that nothing shall be wanting to him who is to be the father of His Son. The Son would wish to give even more to him who is to be His father. Who will be the conqueror in this divine contest? The Eternal Father or the Eternal Word?

 There is still another thought that strikes me. God the Father having chosen St. Joseph to govern His only Son in His place and in His name, well knew that without special assistance no mere mortal could acquit himself worthily of such a noble and difficult task. Therefore he took up his abode in the heart of Joseph in order personally to direct His Son Jesus through the ministry of this man after His own heart. The Lord also commanded Moses to go before Pharao, saying: 'I will be in thy mouth, and I will teach thee what thou shalt speak.' (8) If God willed to be in the mouth of His servant Moses to speak with an earthly king, can you wonder that He should put Himself into the heart of Joseph in order to govern, along with him, His own Son? What a source of the most precious gifts must not this intimate presence of God the Father have been for the adopted father of Jesus! What an ocean of graces must He not have poured into that holy soul! What torrents of lights shed upon Joseph's mind! What fire kindled in his heart! and all this was done on account of the Infant Messias, Whom Joseph was called upon to direct, to defend, to nourish, and to instruct in all things.


II. ---- Second measure of the graces of St. Joseph: the title of 'Spouse of Mary.'

 The second measure of the graces and sanctity of St. Joseph is his dignity of Spouse of Our Lady. According to St. John Damascene the dignity of Spouse of Mary is one so elevated that no human eloquence can express it. Neither is it possible worthily to celebrate the greatness of St. Joseph without understanding that of his holy Spouse, who is Queen of the Saints and the Angels, and the Mother of God. Who, then, is to form a true idea of the dignity of St. Joseph, (9) as also of the graces he holds in consequence of that dignity?

 St. Bernardin of Siena says that the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph was only contracted on earth after having been decided in heaven, and that these two spouses were perfectly worthy one of the other. Mary surpassed all men and Angels in the sovereign plenitude of her graces; therefore it was necessary that, after her, Joseph should be the most holy human being that existed, that had ever existed, or that should ever exist upon earth. Or is it possible to believe that heaven contains any servant of Mary more eminent in holiness than he who has the honor of being her spouse, her lord, and her master? And let us even suppose that Joseph had not been enriched with the most precious gifts of heaven before he espoused the most Holy Virgin: what must she not afterwards have asked God for her spouse; what innumerable graces must not she have obtained for him! For if St. Bernard be right in asserting that no grace comes down from heaven to earth but through the munificent hands of the Mother of God; if there be no kind of celestial blessing which she has not obtained for one or the other of her servants; must we not believe that she will have done more for her spouse and the guardian angel of her virginity than for all other human beings?

 Here is a beautiful thought which I borrow from St. Gregory of Nazianzen, and which applies perfectly to our subject. This great Bishop tells us that his sister, St. Gorgonia, had a husband whom she loved like her own self; and knowing from the Holy Scriptures that husband and wife are not two, but one, she desired ardently that her husband should serve the Lord as she herself did, lest she should find herself constrained to belong to God only by halves. Now, there never were two hearts, two souls more united than those of Mary and Joseph; nor could this faithful Virgin ever remain satisfied with rendering half service to God. Therefore she used every endeavour that her other half, St. Joseph, should be supremely exalted in all sorts of perfections. To use St. Gregory's own words, she intensely desired that her spouse should be perfect, in order that no part of herself should remain imperfect. (10) Certainly Mary did everything to secure this object: she sighed, she prayed. And can you believe that Jesus could refuse anything which His tender Mother asked for His beloved father? Each day, then, the treasure of graces in Joseph's soul visibly grew; each day his sanctity increased, and the charity of his heart grew more ardent. What, indeed, could he not hope for, having His spouse as advocate, His son as arbitrator, and God the Father as protector!

 Such then are the two principal titles by which we must measure the graces and sanctity of Joseph. Such are the two plenteous sources, or rather the two majestic rivers which watered and enriched His soul. Never shall we fully understand the perfections of the adopted father of Jesus, the holy Spouse of Mary.



<sub>1. Is. xxix. 11.
2. Dan. i. 3-5.
3. Suarez, De Incarnat., p. 2, disp. 8, sect. 1.
4. 'Perinde est ac si dixisset; Ecce hic est Jesus quem genuisti' (Commentar, in Joan., n. 6)
5. 'De carne virginis hominem formans, paterno viro huic, ejus qui nascebatur infantis amorem penitus infudit' (in Matth., De gloria et honore Filii hominis, lib. 1).
6. S. Thom., p.1, q. 25, a. 6, ad 4.
7. Eccli. xvii. 2.
8. 'Perge igitur; et ego ero in ore tuo doceboque te quid loquaris' (Ex. iv. 12)
9. According to the ancient law, whoever espouses a queen becomes king by the fact of his marriage: ' Nubentem reginae consequens est regem fieri.' From this, St. Leonard of Port Maurice draws the following conclusion: 'Mary is the Queen of Angels and of Saints; Joseph is the Spouse of Mary, therefore he is also King of Angels and Saints; and consequently it is allowable to invoke him by this title, notwithstanding that the Church has consecrated the custom of addressing this invocation principally to Jesus Christ.' ----- St. Joseph d'apres les Saints, par le R. P. Marcel Bouix, c. xviii. (Note by the Editor.)
10. 'Cupiebat ut maritus quoque perficeretur, ne ipsius aliquid imperfectum relinqueretur' (Orat. in laudem sororis suce Gorgoniae).</sub>

[Shin]

The prophet Isaias says that the time shall come when, delivering a book to a man that is learned, one shall say to him, Read this; and he shall answer, I cannot, for it is sealed.

Sigh. Sometimes I feel as if the Catholic Faith itself is sealed in this dark times. So much of tradition and proper understanding has been obscured, what was once taught regularly is now something one has to be an archaeologist to find. Well. It is merely a feeling.

Though it reminds me of the psalms and parables, and the discipline of the secret.

Joseph himself it was who kept the book of his own virtues sealed. He was so modest and humble that he hid from the sight of men the perfection of his actions, and the treasures of his soul.

'What we know of the virtues of the saints is the least part of them.'

St. Philip Neri

A moving quote the more one thinks on it.

Being unable to read it, he began to weep so much that he excited the pity of the Angels and of the Lamb, who opened for him the mysterious book, and communicated to him all its secrets.

. . .

Our Lady and St. Joseph form a hierarchy apart, superior to all the orders of the other Saints in the Church of God.

St. Joseph's seal upon his virtues, demonstrates his virtues.. Because we know they are there, and pre-eminent.. and that he has sealed them.. teaches us something very deep.. which we cannot fully understand but still can learn from.

Fr. Binet's words speak and.. it's hard to speak about them because their piety and beauty are hard to say anything worthy of..

Nevertheless, I believe that I enter into your thoughts, reader, when I apply them, in a special manner, to our glorious Patriarch.

Such then are the two principal titles by which we must measure the graces and sanctity of Joseph.

[Shin]

I hope everyone is following this chapter closely.. here truly Pere Binet begins to show forth St. Joseph's hidden greatness of sanctity..

It's a priceless chapter.

[Shin]

According to St. John Damascene the dignity of Spouse of Mary is one so elevated that no human eloquence can express it. Neither is it possible worthily to celebrate the greatness of St. Joseph without understanding that of his holy Spouse, who is Queen of the Saints and the Angels, and the Mother of God. Who, then, is to form a true idea of the dignity of St. Joseph, as also of the graces he holds in consequence of that dignity?

When you meditate upon this.. truly the hidden virtue of St. Joseph begins to shine forth.

[Patricia]

If, in Solomon's Temple, which contained the Ark of the Covenant, everything was to be covered with gold, what graces must have gilded the soul, the heart, the breast of this holy man, the living throne of the living God, in whose arms reposed the Lord of all the Angels! That a man should go to 'sleep in the Lord' is indeed precious, but that God should go to sleep on the bosom of a man, surpasses all human comprehension.

What a poetic and beautiful comparison with the gold covered Ark! 
' God should sleep on the bosom of a man '.....the great privilege of St. Joseph.

If God willed to be in the mouth of His servant Moses to speak with an earthly king, can you wonder that He should put Himself into the heart of Joseph in order to govern, along with him, His own Son?

True!

if there be no kind of celestial blessing which she has not obtained for one or the other of her servants; must we not believe that she will have done more for her spouse and the guardian angel of her virginity than for all other human beings?

And can you believe that Jesus could refuse anything which His tender Mother asked for His beloved father? Each day, then, the treasure of graces in Joseph's soul visibly grew; each day his sanctity increased, and the charity of his heart grew more ardent. What, indeed, could he not hope for, having His spouse as advocate, His son as arbitrator, and God the Father as protector!

The powerful intercession of Our Lady is also evident when we see the holiness of St. Joseph.

[Shin]

CHAPTER VI.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE TWO PRINCIPAL TITLES OF ST. JOSEPH; AND HOW GREAT ARE THEIR ADVANTAGES TO THIS GLORIOUS PATRIARCH.


 It would be difficult, if not impossible, to deduce all the consequences of the two august titles which are the glory of St. Joseph, and the source and measure of his sanctity. We shall therefore only treat of those which seem to us the most glorious, and which present themselves most naturally to our mind.


I. ---- First consequence: Jesus and Mary belong to St. Joseph, as well their persons as their goods.

 Ancient laws lay down clearly that if a treasure be discovered in a house or in a field, it belongs, by right, to the proprietor of the house or of the ground. This law gives great advantages to the glorious St. Joseph, for the Incarnation took place in his house, now the chapel of Loretto. There it was that his most holy spouse became the Mother of God, some months after their espousals; hence the treasure of God made man, the ineffable mysteries, the torrents of grace, which were found in his house, and in his spouse, belong by a double title to St. Joseph, as legitimate owner of both.

 Divine law agrees with human law. 'Thou shalt be under thy husband's power,' God said to Eve, 'and he shall have dominion over thee; (1) and all that is thine shall belong to him.' Truly, if the person of the wife be not in her own power, independently of her husband, much less is all the rest. Now, according to St. Bonaventure, all the treasures of God, and of the Angels, all the wealth of Paradise, was in the soul of Our Lady, (2) and consequently at the disposal of her holy spouse. She loved to say to him: 'O Joseph! the Almighty has done great things in me; in me, who am lowliness itself, He has shown the riches of His mercy. Help my soul to glorify the Lord, and to render to Him the thanksgivings which are His due; for all I have received from His infinite munificence belongs to you; "all I have is thine." ' (3)

And this communion of goods was so absolute, that all which belonged to the one belonged to the other; if indeed we should not rather say that the husband was still more master of all than the wife.


II. ---- Second consequence: Joseph has the right of commanding Jesus and Mary.
 
 This proposition is so clear, that there is no need to prove it; and the few words I shall speak on the subject are not so much to establish the fact, as sweetly to occupy our minds and hearts with this admirable privilege of St. Joseph.

 Let us boldly apply to this holy Patriarch what Cardinal St. Peter Damian says of the Queen of Heaven: Mary does not merely request, she commands; for she is lady and mistress, not servant. (4) Joseph also can, if he please, command his spouse, and dispose absolutely of her person and her property. 'Do this,' he can say; 'give me that! for I command you by the power given me by God over you, and by the laws of our legitimate marriage.' It is true that this holy man was so humble, and had such veneration for his spouse, that he never exerted his right of commanding. The good ask what they might command, while fools command instead of asking. But as Mary considered in her heart that it was God Who had given Her Joseph as spouse, she looked up to him with entire submission, and anticipated his wishes with tender love.

 Yet Joseph was to enjoy still a higher prerogative. The Uncreated Word, by taking our nature in the womb of the ever-blessed Virgin, chose to bind Himself to render her honor, service, and obedience; and Joseph being the spouse and master of Mary, it follows that Jesus could not be dependent on His Mother without, at the same time, being dependent on him who was her lord and master. How beautiful it is to see a mortal command two persons who are worthy to rule in heaven and earth! How admirable to see those two persons whom the celestial hierarchies revere, obey the slightest desire of an humble artisan, who gains his bread by the sweat of his brow!

 Iphicrates, a celebrated Athenian general, was once asked by an orator what he was, to have such a high idea of himself. 'Are you a horse or a foot soldier? Do you use the bow or the shield?' Iphicrates replied: 'I am none of those of whom you speak; but I command them all.' (5) Oh how justly these words may be applied to St. Joseph! In his humility, he repeats that he is nothing, that he has nothing, that he can do nothing; and yet, we may say with truth that Jesus and Mary are under obedience to Joseph; since it is certain that the property of this son and of this spouse were at the disposal of the father of the family.


III. ---- Third consequence: Joseph has the right of being honoured by Jesus and Mary.

 Let us consider, in the third place, how, as father and spouse, this incomparable Saint has a right to be honoured by Jesus and Mary, since it is a precept, both natural and divine, that every son must honour his father, every wife her husband. Here Gerson expresses a sweet and loving thought; in the same way, he says, as Sara, according to the Holy Scriptures, called Abraham her lord, so also the Blessed Virgin, penetrated with respectful love for her spouse, gave him no other name than that of lord and master. (6) And what is still more, Joseph was such in very deed, having absolute command and disposal of her, and of her Son. The very love which I bear to Our Lady, makes me long to have Joseph for my good master also, since he is hers; I desire to honour Joseph, because Mary honours him. Yes, I will praise and honour Joseph, because, according to a pious author, whoever praises and honours Joseph, praises and honours the Blessed Virgin also. For as they are one in heart, in love, and in soul, the honours paid to the one are equally accepted by the other. Indeed, one feels inclined to believe that the humility of Our Lady is so extreme, the love so disinterested and so pure, that it pleases her more to see her beloved spouse honoured, than to be honoured herself. I know, at least, that she once deigned to thank St. Teresa for the honour that her zeal had procured to St. Joseph throughout the world.

 But whilst Mary addresses her holy spouse by the name of lord, listen to the divine voice of the Infant Jesus calling him: 'My father, My father.' And this not once, but a hundred times a day. It seems to me, that, were the Seraphim capable of jealousy, they would feel a holy envy of this blessed Patriarch; since it is their highest glory to be the servants of Jesus and of Mary, whose lord and father Joseph is. While, beyond the firmament, those transcendent spirits are prostrate before the throne of God, and tremble at His feet, they behold Jesus and Mary on earth, expecting and receiving the orders of Joseph, with a submission and humility which transport the Angels with admiration.

 You have read in the Book of Esther how king Assuerus recompensed the fidelity of Mardochai. He commanded that he should be clothed with the king's apparel, and set upon the horse which the king was used to ride upon, and have the royal crown upon his head; and that the first of the king's princes should hold his horse, and, going through the streets of the city, proclaim before him: 'Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hath a mind to honour.' Something similar was done by God with regard to St. Joseph, with the essential difference, however, that God honours as God, while man can only honour as a man.



<sub>1. 'Sub viri potestate eris, et ipse dominabitur tui' (Gen. iii. 16).
2. 'Ager est Maria, in qua thesaurus Angelorum, imo totus Dei Patris absconditus est' (S. Bonavent., In Speculo B.M.V., lect. 7).
3. 'Omnia mea tua sunt' (Luc xv. 31).
4. 'Non solum rogans, sed imperans; domina, non ancilla' (S. Petr. Damian., Serm. 44. In Nativ. B.M.V.).
5. Plutarc. Apophthegm., De Iphicrate.
6. Epistola de festo sancti Joseph celebrando.</sub>

[Shin]

How beautiful it is to see a mortal command two persons who are worthy to rule in heaven and earth! How admirable to see those two persons whom the celestial hierarchies revere, obey the slightest desire of an humble artisan, who gains his bread by the sweat of his brow!

How deep and bottomless St. Joseph's humility in the face of this, and to be granted this.

[martin]

This book is a real treasure.  St Joseph is not only revered by us sinners on earth but even by the Savior of the world and the Immaculate Virgin.
Reading all this has got my confidence in St Joseph lifted even higher.

The strange thing is, someone in an earlier post said that when they pray to St Joseph they don't seem to get answers to their prayer. I used to think this too but I never gave up invoking his help and I discovered that my initial thoughts were wrong.
I see St Joseph working in very discrete ways and without hardly any detection on my part until I look back over a period of time and realize that there has been a gradual but remarkable change taking place in many of the areas in my life where I continually have asked for his help. He is truly the quiet saint, just as he was when on earth, but don't be deceived by what seems to be a lack of response on his part. It is absolutely impossible that St Joseph would ignore our prayers. He just works differently and even in more sublime way than the other saints we all love. 

[Shin]

I see St Joseph working in very discrete ways and without hardly any detection on my part until I look back over a period of time and realize that there has been a gradual but remarkable change taking place in many of the areas in my life where I continually have asked for his help. He is truly the quiet saint, just as he was when on earth, but don't be deceived by what seems to be a lack of response on his part. It is absolutely impossible that St Joseph would ignore our prayers. He just works differently and even in more sublime way than the other saints we all love.

It is the truth. . .

 

[Shin]

CHAPTER VII.

PARALLEL BETWEEN ST. JOSEPH AND SOME OTHER SAINTS


 We may safely assert that St. Joseph possessed, in a superior degree, all the graces which we admire in the other Saints. The following pages will establish this assertion and thereby materially strengthen our devotion to this glorious Patriarch.


I. ---- St. Joseph and the Saints of the Old Testament.

 How much happier was St. Joseph, the last of the Patriarchs, than all those who preceded him! Moses desired ardently to contemplate the divine Face of the Messias, and he was obliged to wait fifteen centuries before enjoying this happiness for an instant on Mount Tabor. Abraham saw in spirit the day of the coming of the Saviour upon earth, and this vision, which passed like a flash of lightning, transported him with joy. How many kings, princes, pontiffs, and prophets longed to see, if only for one instant, this Desired of the nations, and to prostrate themselves in adoration before Him; yet, never could they obtain this grace! And behold, Joseph carries Him in his arms, calls Him his Son, hears himself called Father by the Infant God. 'When I saw the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord,' says the Prophet Ezechiel, 'I fell upon my face.' St. John writes: 'I saw one like to the Son of Man, and when I had seen Him I fell at His feet as dead.' Scripture says: 'No man shall see God and live. I have seen God; I must die.' (1) Yet Joseph sees the Incarnate God face to face. He sees Him everyday, and each moment of the day, and he does not die either of fear or of love, or let us rather say, he dies of love; but the love which kills also resuscitates him. The same flames make him die, and bring him again to life.
 

II. ---- St. Joseph and the Apostle St. Peter.

 It is true that St. Peter received from Jesus Christ most extensive powers. Firstly, Christ gave him the keys of heaven, with power to open it, and, when necessary, to shut it; secondly, He commanded him to feed His sheep and His lambs; thirdly, He gave him the care of the whole Church, and the title of Vicar of Christ. 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church;' (2) fourthly, he had the honour of loving Jesus Christ more tenderly than the others, and of wishing to defend Him at the risk of his life; fifthly, he was the first whose feet the Saviour washed, the first whom He consecrated bishop, in giving him His most precious body. But are all those favours to be compared with those granted by Heaven to St. Joseph?

 In the first place, it is true that the keys of heaven were not given to him as to St. Peter: the keys are given to servants. But to Joseph, the spouse of the mother, the adopted father of the Son, not merely the keys, but the doors themselves are confided: since we may truly say that Jesus and Mary are the two living gates of Paradise. The Saviour gives Himself this name: 'I am the door of the sheep,' (3) and the Church gives the same to Our Lady: 'Gate of Heaven, pray for us.' Now, Joseph has the care of those gates; he is their guardian, and opens and shuts them according to his pleasure, which is that of God.

 In the second place, it is not Joseph who is commanded as a simple shepherd to feed the lambs and the sheep; but to him it was given to nourish the Shepherd and the Shepherdess themselves; to feed the Lamb of God, and the Mother of this Divine Lamb. St. Peter distributes their food to the servants; but it is Joseph who must provide for the Infant Lord Jesus, and for the great Mistress of heaven and earth, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 In the third place, if St. Peter is the head of the Church, St. Joseph is the head of Jesus and of Mary, who are more precious in the eyes of God than the entire Church. Simon Peter is also the Vicar of Jesus Christ; but I shall show you presently that Joseph has been the vicar of each of the three Persons of the most Holy Trinity.

 In the fourth place, when Jesus Christ asked St. Peter if the love he bore Him was greater than that of the other disciples, St. Joseph was not present; and my heart tells me that the Saviour would not have asked this question in the presence of Joseph, or that had He done so, St. Peter would have been eager to transfer the honour to him who incontestably merited it.

 In the fifth place, Jesus once washed St. Peter's feet; but how often must not the same Saviour have rendered similar services to Joseph during the five and twenty years that He was subject to him! (4) Also, it was not one single time that He gave Himself to Joseph, but every day, and a thousand times a day.

 Lastly, He made him, in a certain sense, Bishop of the Holy Family, and though his diocese was only comprised of two persons, those two persons, in themselves, were worth more than all heaven and earth.


III. ---- St. Joseph and the Apostle of the Gentiles.

 What shall we say of the great St. Paul, whose parallel is to be found nowhere? Truly, there is so much that is sublime in this Apostle, that, according to St. John Chrysostom, he has no equal. How glorious to have been surrounded with light from heaven on the way to Damascus, to have heard the voice of Jesus, to have spoken with Him! Was not he rapt even to the third heaven, where he heard secret ineffable words? Was not he armed with the sword of the Divine Word, and did not he announce this holy Word to the Gentiles, to the kings, and to the children of Israel? Lastly, did he not confirm all he taught by his patience, by his miracles, by his blood? Nothing can be more glorious, I own; but the stars, however brilliant, are eclipsed before the sun.

 St. Joseph, it is true, was not caught up to heaven; but heaven descended into his house. He was not brought before the throne of God as a servant before his master; but the Incarnate Word was brought to Joseph, as a son to his kind father. Joseph did not see God for a moment like St. Paul, who knew not if it were in the body or out of the body, and who could repeat nothing of all that was said to him; but he was rapt in body and in soul during whole years; we may say, indeed, that his whole life was one continued ecstasy, one perpetual vision of God. Also he was quite able to repeat what he had heard, for he often spoke of it with his spouse, and together they held sweet and sublime conferences about all that Jesus had said to one or the other. Doubtless, few persons were capable of understanding those divine discourses; scarcely any besides Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. To St. Paul was revealed what an Apostle and a servant might know, but the secrets of a son to his father and mother were reserved for Mary and for Joseph.


IV. ---- St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle.

 Most certainly these two Saints were greatly favoured by the Lord Jesus. The one reposed upon the Heart of his Master during the Last Supper; the other poured the water of Jordan upon His divine Head, and, pointing Him out to heaven and earth, said: 'Behold the Lamb of God!' For these reasons, I avow that they received from the Lord most special graces, and were exalted, not merely above ordinary men, but also above the greatest Saints.

 Yet, higher still than these two great servants of God, must we exalt him upon whom their Master bestowed the name of father. They cannot claim to be preferred before the father of the family. A thousand times did this happy Patriarch press the Infant Jesus to his heart; a thousand times did he kiss the sacred breast, seat of the divinity. He did not pour the water of Jordan on His Head one single time; but how many times may he have moistened that Head with tears of joy and tenderness, when receiving Him from the hands of Our Lady and pressing Him to his bosom!


V. ---- St. Joseph and the holy Angels.

 I know well that St. Michael was the valiant defender of the Incarnate Word, and that he overthrew Lucifer, who dared to dispute with the Man-God the honours of Divinity. But I know, also, that Joseph saved the same Incarnate Word from the fury of Herod, who hoped to involve Him in the massacre of the Innocents. He exposed his own life to save that of the Infant Jesus, to preserve Him Who was to work the salvation of the world by dying on the Cross.

 Much, indeed, do we owe to St. Gabriel for the part he took in the work of the Incarnation, and for the good tidings of great joy which he brought from heaven to earth. That is true; but is not St. Bernard right when he affirms that Joseph was, during his whole life, the faithful co-operator of God in this great mystery? (5)

Gabriel had only to give the orders; Joseph, to execute them, must encounter labours, journeys, dangers, and terrors.

 The Angels came and ministered to the Saviour in the dread solitude of the desert; but that was only once, and they were in great number; it cost them little, or rather nothing to do so. But Joseph, during years, laboured day and night to gain food for the Divine Infant, for Mary, and for himself, and his whole life was one service, or rather one perpetual sacrifice, which he offered to the Son of God made man, so that this great Saint did, himself alone, what the others did altogether.


VI. ---- St. Joseph vicar of the three Persons of the most Holy Trinity.

 The prince of the Apostles is highly honoured for being the vicar of Jesus Christ upon earth, and it must be allowed that this dignity is great. But presently I shall allow you, as I promised, that St. Joseph was the vicar on earth of all the three Persons of the adorable Trinity.

 The Eternal Father appointed him His vicar. God, says the Abbot Rupert, delegated Joseph to discharge towards Jesus Christ all those offices which were incompatible with Divinity. (6) For this reason He communicated to him His own name of father; and as, in giving a name, God gives also the qualities belonging to that name, the heart of Joseph, as the Saints teach us, was so full of paternal affection towards Jesus, that no one but God and himself could express it. What greatness to have with the Incarnate Word a relation of paternity, similar, in a manner, to that of the Eternal Father with the Uncreated Word! O Father and father! O ineffable communication! O incomprehensible mystery! Can you, O Joseph, think of it without trembling? That He who said to God the Father, 'My Father, give us this day our daily bread,' should say also to you, 'My father, give us our daily bread; for My heavenly Father has entrusted this to your foresight and paternal care'! St. Paul, to prove the divinity of Jesus Christ, says: ' To which of the Angels hath He said at any time, Thou art My Son?' (7) And here, to show the dignity of Joseph, we must say: 'To which of the Angels did the Incarnate Word say at any time, Thou art My father?' But what the Son of God never said to any Angel, He said to a man, to Joseph, in whom He recognised the vicar upon earth of His Heavenly Father.

 The Eternal Word also made him His vicar and delegate. Tell me, I pray you, who is the greatest in the house of Nazareth? Certainly Joseph only follows after Jesus and Mary; and yet it is Joseph who commands them both. Jesus, during His infancy and hidden life, desires that Joseph should speak for Him, that he should act for Him, and for His Mother; that He and His Virgin Mother should remain hid, and that Joseph alone should appear.

 The Holy Spirit, Who, in the Canticles, gives to the Immaculate Virgin the name of Spouse, has also constituted Joseph His vicar, since He chose him, above all men, to be the veritable spouse and protector of Our Lady.

 My God! how unlimited is the confidence placed by the three Divine Persons in this holy man! The Father gives him His Son: the Son gives Himself in person to him; the Holy Spirit confides to him His spouse. The Father gives to him the entire charge of Jesus, constituting him the master of His only Son; the Son abandons Himself completely to his direction, doing nothing but in obedience to him; the Holy Spirit establishes him as angel guardian to Mary, and as head of the family of God. So that, while God governs all men, and the whole world, one man, upon earth, governs the Incarnate God and His most holy Mother, and does so by the express command of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

 Since, then, it has pleased the Most High, in His goodness, so marvellously to exalt this most blessed of Patriarchs, what honour should not be paid to him by heaven and earth, what love should not inflame our hearts for him! Should not our indifference and insensibility cover us with confusion? Great Saint, we most humbly beseech you in our own name, and that of all men, to pardon us; and, prostrate at your feet, from the bottom of our hearts, we desire to make reparation.


<sub>1. Ez. iii. 1. -- Ap. i. 13, 17. -- Ex. xxxiii. 20. -- Jud. xiii. 22.
2. 'Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam' (Matt. xvi. 18).
3. 'Ego sum ostium ovium' (Joan. x. 7).
4. 'Nemo ambigat Dominum Jesum, cum adhuc in puerili esset aetate, obsequia praestitisse Mariae, ipsique Joseph' (S. Laurent. Justin., Lib.de Obedientia, c. viii.).
5. 'Solum in terris magni concilii coadjutorem fidelissimum' (Homil. ll., Sup. Missus est).
6. 'Ad omnes labores, quos Deus ferre non poterat, Josephum pignorat ' (Rupert.).
7. 'Gui dixit aliquando angelorum: Filius meus es tu?' (Heb. i. 5).</sub>