 | 1) St Joseph
was a miracle of holiness and the Lord infused into his soul the most perfect
habits of all the virtues and gifts. Joseph was sanctified in his mother’s womb
seven months after his conception, and the leaven of sin was destroyed in him
for the whole course of life.
– Venerable Maria de Agreda
St Joseph
had three privileges which were special to him. Firstly, that he was sanctified
in his mother's womb. Secondly, that he was at the same time confirmed in
grace. And thirdly, that he was always exempt from the inclinations of
concupiscence.
– St. Alphonsus Liguori |
 |
2) The
Most High God inspired the High Priest to place into the hands of each of the
young men a dry stick, with the command that they ask the Lord to single out
the one whom He had chosen as the spouse of Mary. While they prayed, the staff
which Joseph held was seen to blossom and at the same time a dove of purest
white and resplendent with admirable light, was seen to descend upon the
saint... And the priest espoused Mary to the most chaste and holy of men, Saint
Joseph. – Venerable Maria de Agreda
The Espousals between Joseph and Mary are an episode of great importance. Joseph
was of the royal line of David and, in virtue of his marriage to Mary, would
confer on the Son of the Virgin - on God's Son - the legal tile of "Son of
David," thus fulfilling the prophecies. The espousals of Joseph and Mary
are determinant in the history of humanity's salvation, in the realization of
the promises of God; because of this, it has a supernatural connotation, which
Joseph and Mary accept with humility and trust. - Pope Benedict XVI |
 |
3) St.
Joseph is presented as a “just man” (Matthew 1:19), faithful to God’s law,
ready to do His will. On account of this he enters into the mystery of the
Incarnation after an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream and tells him:
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife with you.
In fact the child that has been conceived in her comes from the Holy Spirit;
she will give birth to a son and you will call him Jesus: he in fact will save
his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21). Forgetting the thought of
repudiating Mary in secret, he takes her in because his eyes now see the work
of God in her. - Pope Benedict XVI |
 |
4) Mary brought forth
her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes…
- St. Luke 2:7
St Joseph adored the newborn in profoundest humility
and with tears of joy he kissed His feet in admiration… - Venerable Maria de Agreda
On that holy night,
in Bethlehem, with Mary and the Child, is Joseph, to whom the Heavenly Father
entrusted the daily care of his Son on earth, a care carried out with humility
and in silence. – Pope Benedict XVI |
 |
5) There are many good
reasons to honor 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.
- St. Josemaria Escrivá
St. Joseph was a
"committed" man, as we might say nowadays. And what commitment! He
had total commitment to Mary, the elect of all the women of the earth and of
history, always his virgin spouse… and total commitment to Jesus, who was his
offspring by legal descendance, not by the flesh. His were the burdens, the
responsibilities, the risks and the labors surrounding the Holy Family. His was
the service, the work and the sacrifices, in the shadows of that Gospel picture
in which we love to meditate on him; and we are certainly not mistaken, for we
all know him now and call him blessed. - Pope Paul VI |
 | 1) Finding Blessed Mary to be pregnant, and knowing that he was not the father, St Joseph was wounded to his inmost heart by an arrow of grief…The most intimate cause of his sorrow, and which gave him the deepest pain, was the dread of being obliged to deliver over his spouse to the authorities to be stoned (Lev. 20, 10), for this was the punishment of an adulteress convicted of the crime. The heart of St Joseph, filled with these painful considerations, found itself as it were exposed to the thrusts of many sharp-edged swords, without any other refuge than the full confidence which he had in his Spouse. – Venerable Maria de Agreda Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. – St Matthew 1:19 |
 |
2) It was nine o’clock at night when
the most faithful Joseph, full of bitter and heartrending sorrow, returned to
Mary and said: “My sweetest Lady my heart is broken with sorrow at the thought
of not being able to shelter thee as thou deserves...” – Venerable Maria de Agreda And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. – St Luke 2:7 |
 |
3) And Simeon blessed
them, and said to Mary: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the
resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And
thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be
revealed. – St Luke 2:34-35 As the most faithful Joseph loved the Blessed Virgin so much, and as he was of a kind and solicitous disposition, he was troubled to see his spouse so tearful and afflicted… This disturbance of his soul was one of the reasons why the holy angels spoke to him in sleep, (to comfort him.) – Venerable Maria de Agreda |
 | 4) Behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and
his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is
about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the
child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until
the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."
- St. Matthew 2:13-15
How much St Joseph
must have suffered on the journey into Egypt in seeing the sufferings of Jesus
and Mary! … Joseph was indeed conformed in all things to the will of the
Eternal Father, but his tender and loving heart could not but feel pain in
seeing the Son of God trembling and weeping from cold and the other hardships
which He experienced on that hard journey. - St Alphonsus Liguori |
 |
5) When
Jesus was twelve years old, they went to Jerusalem, according to the custom of
the Pasch, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus
remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. And thinking
that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among
their kinsfolk and acquaintances. And
not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. – St Luke 2:41-45
Most holy Mary and St Joseph found themselves overwhelmed
with self-reproach at their remissness in watching over their most holy Son and
thus blamed themselves for his absence… and with deepest sorrow took counsel
with each other as to what was to be done. – Venerable Maria de Agreda
|
 | 1) "Precious in the
eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones" (Ps. 115:6). After
having faithfully served Jesus and Mary, St. Joseph reached the end of his life
in the house at Nazareth. There, surrounded by angels, assisted by Jesus Christ
the King of angels, and by Mary, his spouse, who placed themselves at each side
of his poor bed, filled with the peace of paradise, he departed from this life.
Who shall ever be able to understand the sweetness, the consolation, the
blessed hope, the acts of resignation, the flames of charity which the words of
eternal life coming alternately from the lips of Jesus and Mary, breathed into
the soul of Joseph at the end of his life? - St. Alphonsus Liguori |
 | 2) When he has been
tried, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who
love Him. - St. James 1:12
It is beyond doubt
that Christ did not deny to Joseph in heaven that intimacy, respect, and high
honor which he showed to him as to a father during his own human life, but
rather completed and perfected it. - St.
Bernardino of Sienna
How could we doubt
that Our Lord raised glorious St. Joseph up into Heaven, body and soul? For
Joseph had the honor and grace of carrying Him so often in his blessed arms,
arms in which Our Lord took so much pleasure. St. Joseph is therefore in Heaven
body and soul, without a doubt. - St. Francis de Sales |
 |
3) To other saints the Lord seems to have given
grace to succor us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my
experience is that he succors us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach
us that as He was Himself subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and
being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does
all that he asks. This has also been the experience of other persons whom I
have advised to commend themselves to him; and even to-day there are many who
have great devotion to him through having newly experienced this truth." - St. Teresa de Ávila |
 | 4) For Joseph, of royal blood, united by marriage to the
greatest and holiest of women, reputed the father of the Son of God, passed his
life in labor, and won by the toil of the artisan the needful support of his
family. It is, then, true that the condition of the lowly has nothing shameful
in it, and the work of the laborer is not only not dishonoring, but can, if
virtue be joined to it, be singularly ennobled. Joseph, content with his slight
possessions, bore the trials consequent on a fortune so slender, with greatness
of soul, in imitation of his Son, who having put on the form of a slave, being
the Lord of life, subjected himself of his own free-will to the spoliation and
loss of everything. - Pope Leo XIII
|
 |
5) He made him master of his house,
and ruler of all his possessions. -Psalm 105:21
In
these latter times in which a monstrous and most abominable war has been
declared against the Church of Christ … we should more efficaciously implore
the compassion
of God through the merits and intercession of Saint Joseph … Hence, by a
special decree … We solemnly declare the blessed patriarch Joseph Patron of the
Universal Church! … O God, who in your ineffable providence was pleased to
choose blessed Joseph as the spouse of your most holy mother, grant, we beseech
you, that we may be made worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom
we venerate as our protector on earth. -Blessed Pope Pius IX
The
Blessed Patriarch Joseph looks upon the multitude of Christians who make up the
Church as confided especially to his trust - this limitless family spread over
the earth, over which, because he is the spouse of Mary and the father of Jesus
Christ he holds, as it were, a paternal authority. It is, then, natural and worthy
that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at
Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the
cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ. -Pope
Leo XIII |
