God and the Great Love He Bears Us
“He hath made him lord of his house.”—Psalm 105:21
God bears us a great love and earnestly desires our salvation. And among the many means which his goodness has provided for us, one is true devotion to the Saints. For God wills that they, as his friends, should intercede for us, so that by their merits and prayers we may obtain those graces which we do not deserve through our own unworthiness. This takes place not because the merits of Jesus Christ are insufficient for our salvation—for they are superabundant for every good—but because God wills to honor his faithful servants and make them cooperators in our salvation. And on the other hand, he wills to give us greater confidence in obtaining graces by means of his Saints.
Now, among all the Saints, who is there that, after the Divine Mother, is most dear to God and most powerful with God to obtain graces for those devoted to him? This we shall consider in the following Points:
First Point—How much we ought to venerate Saint Joseph for his dignity.
Second Point—How much we ought to confide in the protection of Saint Joseph for his sanctity.
First Point—How much we ought to venerate Saint Joseph for his dignity.
1. We ought indeed to honor Saint Joseph, because the Son of God himself willed to honor him by calling him his father. Iste Pater Jesus Persona honore colebat—“Jesus in his own Person honored this father” (Origen, On the Family, treatise 1, Luke). And truly it is so, for he is named thus in the gospels: “And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him” (Luke 2:33). The Divine Mother herself also called him by this name: “Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing” (Luke 2:48).
Therefore, since the King of Kings willed to exalt Joseph to such an honor, it is just and our bounden duty that we honor him as much as we are able: Ab hominibus valde honorandus, quem Rex Regum sic voluit extollere—“He ought to be greatly honored by men, whom the King of Kings has chosen thus to exalt” (Cardinal Cameracensis, treatise on St. Joseph). What angel, what saint (asks St. Basil) has merited to be called father of the Son of God? Nomen Patris neque Angelus, neque Sanctus meruit appellari: hoc unus Joseph potuit nuncupari—“Neither angel nor saint merited to be called by the name of father: this one Joseph alone could be named.”
The sacred expositors well noted that very word which St. Paul spoke: “Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name” (Heb. 1:4). With this name of father, Joseph has been honored by God above all the patriarchs, all the prophets, the apostles, and the pontiffs; all these have the name of servants, Joseph that of father.
2. And behold him as father constituted lord of that little family—little in number, but great for the two great Personages it contained: the Mother of God and the Only-Begotten of God made man. “He made him lord of his house” (Ps. 105:21). In that house he commanded, and the Son of God obeyed. “And he was subject to them” (Luke 2:51). This subjection of Jesus Christ, says Gerson, while it demonstrates the humility of Jesus, so also it signifies the great dignity of Joseph: Et erat subditus illis: quae subjectio sicut notat humilitatem in Christo, ita dignitatem signat in Josepho—“And he was subject to them: which subjection, just as it notes humility in Christ, so it signifies dignity in Joseph” (Gerson, Sermon on the Nativity of the Virgin).
And what greater height—if we may so speak, says St. Ildefonsus—than to command him who commands all kings? Quid sublimius, quam imperare Ei, qui in femore habet scriptum Rex Regum, & Dominus Dominantium?—“What is more sublime than to command Him who has written on His thigh ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’?”
3. The world marveled at Joshua when he commanded the sun to stand still, so that he might have time to finish conquering his enemies; and the sun obeyed. “The Lord obeying the voice of a man” (Josh. 10:14). But what comparison can there be between Joshua being obeyed by the sun—an inanimate creature—and Joseph being obeyed by Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God? For as long as Joseph lived, Jesus Christ respected him as father, and for thirty years until Joseph’s death, always obeyed him as a father. “And he was subject to them” (Luke 2:51).
So in all those years the continual occupation of the Savior was to obey Joseph. To Joseph throughout that entire time belonged the office of commanding as head of that family; and to Jesus as subject belonged the office of obeying Joseph, who had been given to him by God in place of a father. Hence Jesus did nothing, moved not a step, tasted no food, took no rest, except according to the orders of Joseph. Rather, he was all attention to hear and to carry out all that Joseph commanded him.
The Lord revealed to St. Brigid: Sic Filius meus obediens erat, ut cum Joseph diceret, fac hoc, vel illud, statim ille faciebat—“My Son was so obedient that when Joseph said, ‘Do this or that,’ He immediately did it” (Book 6 of Revelations, ch. 58). Hence Gerson writes: Saepe cibum & potum parat, vasa lavat, bajulat undam de fonte, nuncque domum scopit—“Often He prepares food and drink, washes vessels, carries water from the fountain, and now sweeps the house” (On Joseph, distinction 3).
4. St. Bernard writes of St. Joseph: Fidelis servus & prudens, quem constituit Dominus suae Matris solatium, suae carnis Nutritium, solum denique in terris magni consilii coadjutorem fidelissimum—“A faithful and prudent servant, whom the Lord established as the solace of his Mother, the nourisher of his flesh, and, finally, on earth the most faithful cooperator in the great counsel” (Homily 2 on the Missus). Joseph, then, was destined not only to be the solace of the Mother of God, who was so greatly afflicted in this world, and the nourisher of Jesus Christ, but even, in a certain manner, a cooperator in the Redemption of the world, which was the work of the great Counsel of the three Divine Persons.
Therefore, having assigned Joseph in place of a father to his Son, God gave him the charge of nourishing him and defending him from the snares of enemies: Accipe puerum—“Take the child”—as if he were speaking to him in the words of Psalm 10:14: Tibi derelictus est pauper—“To thee is the poor man left.” Joseph, I have sent my Son to earth, and I have sent him poor and humble, without splendor of riches or apparent nobility, so that he will be despised in the world and called the son of a carpenter—Is not this the carpenter’s son? (Matt. 13:55)—according to the humble trade you exercise, for I will that you be poor, having destined you to stand in place of father to my poor Son, since he comes not to reign in the world but to suffer and die for the salvation of men. You shall therefore be on earth his guardian and father in my place. Tibi derelictus est pauper—“To thee is the poor man left.” Into your hands I entrust him. He will be persecuted, and you shall partake of his persecutions; watch over him and be faithful to me.
And therefore St. John Damascene says that the Lord gave to Joseph toward Jesus the affection, the solicitude, and the authority of a father: Dedit ei affectum, sollicitudinem, & auctoritatem Patris—“He gave him the affection, solicitude, and authority of a Father.” He gave him the affection of a father, that he might guard him with great love; the solicitude of a father, that he might assist him with all caution; and the authority of a father, to ensure that Joseph would be obeyed in whatsoever he disposed concerning the Person of the Son.
5. Having made him Coadjutor in the work of Redemption, as St. Bernard says, God willed that Joseph should be present at all the events of Jesus’ life, that he might be a faithful witness of the glory which the angels gave to God at the birth of his Son, even as it was revealed to the shepherds, who then came to relate it to Mary and Joseph when they visited the Savior announced to them. Joseph was also a witness of the coming of the magi, who, guided by the star, came from afar to adore the holy Infant, as they themselves manifested: “For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him” (Matt. 2:2).
God also willed that Joseph, together with Mary, should offer the newborn Infant, as they indeed did—“they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22)—sacrificing him even then to death for the salvation of the world, according to the Scriptures already known to Mary and Joseph, in which the Passion of Jesus Christ was already foretold.
6. And when the Lord saw that Herod, through jealousy of his kingdom, sought to lay hands upon the divine Child to put him to death, he sent an angel to Joseph to tell him on his behalf to take the Child and his Mother and flee into Egypt. “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him” (Matt. 2:13). Behold Joseph, faithful and obedient to the voice of our Lord! Indeed, as interpreters hold, in that very night in which he received the warning from the angel, he takes the Child and his Mother Mary and sets forth toward Egypt.
Joseph, without losing time, gathers the tools of his trade, as many as he could carry, which would serve him in Egypt to sustain his poor family. Mary, for her part, takes in her arms her Infant with those poor little cloths that would serve for the Child; and thus both set forth—alone and without any servant, those poor pilgrims—to make that journey so long and full of perils, having to pass through so many desert places before arriving in Egypt, where they had neither relatives nor friends, and where they found only barbarous and unknown people. Once they had arrived there, Joseph labored night and day, working, as St. Bernard says, to nourish his holy Spouse and that divine Child.
He then returns from Egypt according to the new command of the angel, who said to him: “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel” (Matt. 2:20). Joseph immediately leaves Egypt and returns to Judea. But there, warned again by the angel, he chose not to dwell in Judea for fear of Archelaus, who reigned there in place of his father Herod—now dead—and he went to dwell in Nazareth in the region of Galilee, where he then remained until his death in the company of his beloved Jesus, continuing to live poorly in his humble trade.
7. It happened during that time that, after going together with Mary and with Jesus—then a boy of twelve years—to visit the temple, on the return home he met Mary, with whom he believed the Son had gone, and realized that Jesus was not there. For three days Joseph did nothing but weep, finding himself separated from the love of his heart, which was Jesus. But what afflicted him most was the fear that Jesus had left him because of some displeasure that he had given him, so that he no longer esteemed him worthy to preserve so great a treasure, as Lanspergius writes: Tristabatur ex humilitate, quia arbitratur se indignum, cui tam pretiosus commissus esset thesaurus—“He was saddened by humility, because he judged himself unworthy, to whom so precious a treasure had been entrusted.”
But at length he was consoled when he heard from Jesus himself that he had remained in the temple for the affairs of his Father’s glory. And then Joseph continued to assist Jesus until his own death, in which he had the blessed fortune to end his life between Mary and Jesus, who in that moment assisted him. Hence St. Francis de Sales said it should be held for certain that Joseph died of love, even as the Virgin his Spouse died.
Second Point—How much we ought to confide in the protection of Saint Joseph for his sanctity.
8. We ought to have great confidence in the protection of St. Joseph, since he was exceedingly dear to God on account of his sanctity. To form a proper concept of the sanctity of St. Joseph, it suffices to know that he was chosen by God to take the place of father over the very Person of Jesus Christ. St. Paul writes: “Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament” (2 Cor. 3:6). Which is to say, as St. Thomas explains, that when God chooses anyone for some office, he gives him all those graces which render him suitable for that office: Quando Deus quemdam ad aliquid eligit, ita disponit, ut ad id inveniatur idoneus—“When God chooses someone for something, he so ordains that he is found suitable for it” (St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae III, q. 27, a. 4).
Thus, God having destined Joseph to fulfill the office of father over the Person of the Incarnate Word, it must be held as certain that he conferred upon him all the endowments of wisdom and sanctity befitting such an office. Nor should it be doubted that he enriched him with all the graces and privileges conceded to the other Saints. Gerson and Suarez say that St. Joseph had, among others, three special privileges: first, to have been sanctified in the womb of his mother, like Jeremiah and the Baptist; second, to have been at the same time confirmed in grace; third, to have been always exempt from the appetites of concupiscence—a privilege of which St. Joseph, through the merits of his purity, is accustomed to make those devoted to him partakers, delivering them from carnal movements.
9. Joseph in the Gospel is called “just”: “Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man” (Matt. 1:19). A just man—that is, writes St. Peter Chrysologus, a perfect man who possessed all the virtues: Joseph vocari justum, attende, propter omnium virtutum perfectam possessionem—“Joseph is called just, observe, on account of the perfect possession of all virtues.” So Joseph was already holy before his marriage; but much more did he grow in sanctity after contracting the nuptial bond with the Divine Mother. For the examples alone of his holy spouse were sufficient to sanctify him.
But if Mary is the Dispensatrix, as St. Bernardine of Siena says, of all the graces which God bestows upon men, how profusely must we believe that Mary enriched her spouse, whom she so greatly loved, and by whom she was so greatly loved in return? How much more then must we believe that the sanctity of Joseph increased through the conversation and familiar companionship which he had with Jesus Christ for all those years that he lived with him?
If the two disciples who were going to the town of Emmaus found themselves inflamed with divine love for the few moments in which they kept company with the Savior and heard his sayings, so that they afterward said, “Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in the way?” (Luke 24:32)—what flames of holy charity must we judge were kindled in the heart of Joseph in having lived familiarly for thirty years with Jesus Christ, in hearing his words of eternal life, in observing his perfect examples of humility, patience, and obedience, in seeing him so prompt to undertake those labors and in serving in all that was necessary for the house? What fire of divine love must all those sparks of charity have wrought in the heart of Joseph—a heart that was free from every earthly affection?
It is true that he also greatly loved his Spouse Mary; but that love for Mary did not divide his heart, as the Apostle says of the married man: “But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: And he is divided” (1 Cor. 7:32–33). No, because his love for his Spouse rather filled him more with divine love. Hence we may say of him that Joseph, having lived with Jesus Christ, grew so greatly in merits and sanctity that we may say he surpassed the merits of the other Saints.
10. This being established, since the Apostle writes that Jesus Christ in the other life will render to each one the reward according to his merits—“Who will render to every man according to his works” (Rom. 2:6)—what glory must we consequently think has been given to Joseph, who so greatly served and loved him while he lived in this world?
On the final day the Savior will say to the elect: “For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat… I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me” (Matt. 25:35–36). Yet these did not feed Jesus Christ, nor lodge him, nor clothe him in his own Person, but only in the person of the poor. But St. Joseph procured food, lodging, and clothing for the very Person of Jesus Christ himself. Moreover, the Lord has promised his reward even to one who gives a cup of water to the poor in his name: “For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in my name… he shall not lose his reward” (Mark 9:40).
What then shall be the reward of Joseph, who not only provided Jesus Christ with food, home, and clothing, but saved his life, delivering him from the hands of Herod? All this should serve to greatly increase our confidence in the protection of St. Joseph, thinking that God, in consideration of his so many merits, will not deny him any grace whatsoever that Joseph shall ask of him for the benefit of those devoted to him.
11. St. Bernardine of Siena adds, and says: Dubitandum non est, quod Christus familiaritatem, & reverentiam, quam exhibuit illi, cum viveret, tanquam Filius Patri suo, in Coelis utique non negavit, sed potius complevit—“It is not to be doubted that Christ in heaven has in no way denied, but rather has fulfilled, that familiarity and reverence which he showed him while he lived, as a Son to his Father” (Sermon on St. Joseph). Let these words be noted: Familiaritatem, & Reverentiam—“Familiarity and Reverence.” What signs of reverence does St. Joseph receive from the Lord who on earth revered and treated him as his Father? Certainly in heaven he will deny him nothing of what he asks.
Moreover, it may be added that although Joseph on earth did not have any authority over the humanity of Jesus Christ as a natural father, yet he had it (at least in some manner) as spouse of Mary, who as natural Mother of the Savior had true authority over him. For he who has dominion over the tree has dominion also over its fruit. This caused Jesus Christ on earth to respect Joseph and obey him as his superior. And this same thing now causes the prayers of St. Joseph in heaven to be regarded by Jesus as commands. For it is fitting that when a Father prays to his Son, his prayers are reputed as commands: Dum Pater orat Natum, velut imperium reputatur—“When the Father prays to the Son, it is reckoned as a command” (On St. Joseph, cited location).
Practical Devotion to Saint Joseph
12. Let us now hear what St. Bernard writes about the power that St. Joseph has in dispensing graces to those devoted to him: Quibusdam Sanctis datum est in aliquibus patrocinari, at S. Josepho in omni necessitate concessum est opitulari, & omnes ad se pie confugientes defendere—“To certain Saints it is granted to patronize in some things; but to St. Joseph it is granted to help in every necessity and to defend all who piously take refuge in him.” Now what St. Bernard wrote as his sentiment, St. Teresa confirmed by experience, saying: “To other Saints it seems the Lord has granted to succor in one necessity alone; but St. Joseph it is proven by experience that he succors in all.”
Let us be assured of this, since as Jesus Christ on earth willed to be subject to Joseph, so he does in heaven whatever the Saint asks of him. Let us imagine, then, Christians, that the Lord, seeing us afflicted in our miseries, says to us all those words that Pharaoh said to the people in the time of that great scarcity of grain in Egypt: “Go to Joseph” (Gen. 41:55). Go to Joseph if you desire to be consoled.
By the grace of the Lord, at present in the world there is no Christian who is not devoted to St. Joseph; but among all, certainly those prove most devout who most frequently and with greatest confidence commend themselves to him. Let us therefore not fail every day—yes, many times a day—to commend ourselves to St. Joseph, who after Most Holy Mary is the most powerful with God. Let us not fail daily to offer him some particular prayer, and especially during his Novena let us increase our prayers and fast on his Vigil. Let us ask graces from him, for he will obtain them all for us, provided they are useful for our souls.
I especially exhort you to ask from him three special graces: the pardon of sins, love for Jesus Christ, and a good death. As to the pardon of sins, I say thus: When Jesus Christ lived on earth in the house of Joseph, if there had been some merchant who had desired pardon of his sins from the Lord, could he have found a more secure means than Joseph to be consoled? Therefore, if we desire to be pardoned by God, let us have recourse to St. Joseph, who now in heaven is more beloved by Jesus Christ than he was loved on earth.
Moreover, let us ask St. Joseph for love of Jesus Christ. This I hold for certain: that the most singular grace St. Joseph obtains for his devoted is a tender love toward the Incarnate Word, on account of how tenderly the Saint loved him in this world. Moreover, let us ask him for a good death. It is known to all that St. Joseph is the Protector of a good death, and this for three reasons. First, because he is loved by Jesus Christ not only as a friend, but as a father; whence his intercession is far more powerful than that of the other saints; for, as Gerson says, the prayers of St. Joseph have in a manner the force of a command with Jesus: Dum pater orat Natum, velut imperium reputatur—“When the father prays to the Son, it is reckoned as a command.” Second, because St. Joseph has greater power against the demons who assail us at the end of life; for Jesus Christ gave him the special privilege of protecting the dying from the snares of Lucifer, in recompense for the saint’s having once saved him from the snares of Herod. Third, because, in view of the assistance that Jesus and Mary rendered him at his own death, he has the privilege of obtaining a holy and sweet death for his servants; for he too had the fortune to die in the midst of Jesus and Mary. Hence those devoted to him ought to hope that at death St. Joseph will come, accompanied by Jesus and Mary, to assist them. Of this there are several examples.
Examples of Joseph’s Assistance at Death
13. Boverio narrates how in the year 1581, Brother Alexius of Vigevano, a Capuchin lay brother, being at the point of death, asked the friars to light some candles. They asked him why; he responded that St. Joseph and Most Holy Mary must soon come to visit him. And scarcely had he said this when he then said: “Behold St. Joseph and the Queen of Heaven! Kneel, my fathers, and welcome them!” And saying this, he placidly expired on the 19th of March, the very day consecrated to the honor of St. Joseph.
Father Patrignani narrates (in the cited book, ch. 7, §3), from St. Vincent Ferrer and from other writers, that a certain merchant of the city of Valencia was accustomed each year on the day of the Nativity to invite to table an old man and a woman who was nursing an infant, in honor of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This devout one appeared after his death to one who prayed for him and said that at the hour of his passage, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph came as visitors, saying to him: “You in life received us in the person of those three poor ones in your house; now we have come to receive you into our house.” And having said this, they conducted him to Paradise.
Moreover, it is narrated in the Franciscan Legenda on the 14th of February that the Venerable Sister Pudenziana Zagnoni, who was very devoted to St. Joseph, at her death had the happiness to see the Saint, who approached her bed with Jesus in his arms. And she began to speak now with St. Joseph and now with Jesus, thanking them for so great a favor, and with that sweetest company her soul happily expired.
It is likewise narrated in the History of the Discalced Carmelites concerning the Venerable Sister Anna of St. Augustine, a Teresian, how, as she was dying, some religious sisters saw her assisted by St. Joseph and by St. Teresa, and that the Servant of God was jubilant with gladness. And another religious then in another monastery saw her ascending to Heaven in the midst of St. Joseph and St. Teresa.
Another religious of St. Augustine, as Father Giovanni de Allosa narrates in his book on St. Joseph, appeared to a companion of his and said that God had liberated him from Hell because of his particular devotion which he had to St. Joseph. And then he made known that the Saint, as putative Father of Jesus Christ, can do much with him.
Points for Reflection
1. “Therefore, if we desire to be pardoned by God, let us have recourse to St. Joseph, who now in heaven is more beloved by Jesus Christ than he was loved on earth” (§12)
2. “Let us not fail daily to offer him some particular prayer, and especially during his Novena let us increase our prayers and fast on his Vigil; and let us ask graces from him, for he will obtain them all for us, provided they are useful for our souls” (§12)
3. “I especially exhort you to ask from him three special graces: the pardon of sins, love for Jesus Christ, and a good death” (§12)