I first entered the “School of St. Joseph” through a book entitled The Life and Glories
of St. Joseph, originally published in 1888. It is definitely time to revisit this old
treasure…
“Spend your life in honoring St. Joseph, and your love and homage will never
equal the love and homage paid to him by Mary; it will approach never so
distantly to the obedience, the love, the homage paid to him for thirty years on
earth by the Son of God. But in proportion as your heart grows towards him in
the reverence and unbounded confidence of a son will you trace in your soul a
more faithful copy of the Incarnate Word.”
Letter on Devotion by Herbert, Bishop of Salvord, 1877
Speaking of treasures, from a junk store rare-book find to a long and well-worn
tattered friend, this present work, Month of St. Joseph, was fit either for the dust bin, the
fire, or for a restoration. St. Joseph chose the latter.
A decade or so ago, I chose as the object of my contemplation, the little Society of
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I desired to sit at the hearth of the Holy Family and drink in
the draughts of pure love. I was never disappointed.
At Fatima we glimpsed the glory and mission of St. Joseph. As the Miracle of the
Sun signified the cosmic battle, there in the midst was St. Joseph, the Child Jesus in his
arms, blessing the world. Now is the time for St. Joseph, whose very name means “to
increase”. The connecting link between the Old and the New Dispensation, St.
Joseph’s repute is destined to increase not only in grace and favor with God but with
men as long as the world shall last.
The modern world lacks order because the hierarchy of God and of the family has
been so vilely attacked and destroyed. On earth St. Joseph occupied the place of God
the Father in the hierarchy of the Holy Family. Being lower in the “pecking order” of
grace, St. Joseph, nonetheless, occupied the highest place, a foretaste of his heavenly
glory.
Excerpt from day twenty-nine:
The following remarkable words were addressed by the Blessed Virgin herself,
to one of her most faithful servants, venerated in the Church on account of her
heroic virtues, and the sublime instructions contained in her writings: “My
daughter, you cannot now declare the eminent sanctity of St. Joseph. Mortals can
never be acquainted with it before they enjoy the presence of God, in whom they
will discover that mystery with admiration. In the last day, when all men shall be
judged, sinners who are condemned will weep bitterly, for not having known this
potent and efficacious means of salvation, and for not having availed themselves
of it.”
“The world is too ignorant of the great prerogatives that the Most High has
accorded to my Spouse. You should implore his aid in all your necessities, and
endeavor to augment the number of his devotees. The Almighty accords, on earth,
whatever my Spouse requests in Heaven."
St. Joseph carried the Law and the Gospel in his arms and saved the Infant God from
His enemies. May St. Joseph save us, the Body of Christ, in our present dangers,
surrounded on all sides by the powers of Hell.
Let the universal Church say; let every man, woman and child on earth cry out:
“Hail Joseph”, “Ave Joseph”, “Ite ad Joseph”, “Go to Joseph!”
O, Defender of the Head and Body of Christ, terror dæmonum; ora pro nobis. Amen.
St. John of God Feast Day, March 8, 2021
