Saint
Joseph, Our Catholic Treasure:
The 5 Motivations for Devotion
MOTIVES FOR DEVOTION TO
SAINT JOSEPH
Excerpted From
Devotion to St. Joseph,
Rev. Fr. Joseph Anthony Patrignani,
SJ,
Translated from the French; Approved
by
the Archbishop of New York, 1887
2
Second Motive for Devotion to St.
Joseph------The Example
of the Most Blessed Virgin.
The ancient patriarch Joseph, from his earliest
childhood, knew the glorious fortune which awaited him. God showed him,
in a dream, the two principal stars of the firmament, the sun and the
moon,
inclining themselves respectfully before him. Thus the first Joseph was
in some sort, we may say, the figure of the second, in whom the
prophetic
dream was most perfectly verified, when Jesus Christ, the true Sun of
Justice,
and Mary, the mysterious Moon, which communicated to the world the
light
of the Sun, rendered to Him, as to their chief, the most perfect
obedience,
and cheerfully depended in all things upon His direction. This is not
all:
another prophet, in a similar apparition, saw the same stars immovable
in their proper spheres [Habacuc 3]. In what earthly abode was such a
prodigy
ever seen, save in the holy house of Nazareth? That house was truly the
abode of the Sun and Moon; but they were immovable, since they had no
other
motion than that which they received from St. Joseph. We have seen the
Sun, that is to say the Son of God, submitting to the holy patriarch as
to a father; we shall now contemplate the Moon, that is, the Mother of
God, equally subject to Joseph, not only as to her spouse, but also as
to her protector, and in some sort her father.
Amid all the planets the moon is the most striking
image of the sun; Mary also, among all the Saints, has been the most
perfect
imitator of the virtues and actions of the Man-God. Now, amid the many
examples she has left us, I find the respect she showed to St. Joseph.
He was her spouse, as such she yielded to him and humbly obeyed him in
all things. Yes, sweet Virgin, even had not the conjugal tie placed
thee
in a state of entire dependence upon him, thou wouldst have rendered
him
all the duties of the most respectful servant, were it only to conform
to the example of thy Divine Son, which thou hadst ever before thine
eyes.
It is true that Mary knew that the Holy Ghost
had given her as spouse a man perfected in all vitues---that
alone was a sufficient reason for honoring him; but when she saw the
Son
of God obey him as His father, serve him as His master, and respect him
as His lord, her esteem, veneration, and love towards her spouse
greatly
increased. She would have, so to speak, disputed with Jesus, in proofs
of honor and respect; but not being able to attain to such humility
since
it was the humility of a God, she found in this impossibility itself a
subject of confusion, which feeling she made known to Joseph, as if to
make up for what she could not do, not merely as spouse but also as
servant,---thus
imitating her Divine Son.
Albert the Great gives a noble title to St. Joseph
by calling him the Protector, the Patron of Mary [Patronus Virginis],
because this Saint zealously defended her honor and virginity when,
still
ignorant of the mystery of her being with child, he wished to prevent
calumny
from attacking her reputation, and therefore resolved to withdraw
himself
from her quietly. Such was the wisest course to take to avoid casting
any
suspicion upon her; but he afterwards undertook her defense with much
more
vigor when the Angel had revealed to him the mystery, till then hidden
from him. "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy
wife,
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." By which
words
the Angel, or rather God Himself, declared Joseph the protector and
guardian
of that admirable purity, which, by a Divine and special privilege,
united
in one and the same person the flower of virginity to the fruit of
maternity,
as Mary herself revealed to St. Bridget. [Rev., B. VI., c. 59] From
that
moment, and through all succeeding ages, Joseph became an unimpeachable
witness to the virginity of Mary against the outrageous calumnies which
the spirit of error and heresy was one day to pour forth to tarnish its
luster. The Blessed Virgin, seeing her holy spouse inflamed by a zeal
equal
to that of the Cherubim who, armed with a fiery sword, guarded the
terrestrial
paradise, gave him, herself, as St. Bridget declares, the glorious
title
of defender of her virginity. And this was well done, since, although
she
had conceived by the sole virtue of the Holy Ghost, still the
protection
of St. Joseph was necessary in order to preserve the reputation of the
Mother as well as that of the Son, and to enable the latter to enter
the
world without dishonor. The heart of Mary being full of grace, is no
less
filled with gratitude; therefore we cannot express the measure of what
she conceived to be her indebtedness towards her holy spouse, nor the
eagerness
with which she strove to prove her gratitude to him by acts of the most
respectful submission and tenderest attachment. Suffice it to say, with
St. Bernardine of Sienna, that Mary favored Joseph with the most
precious
gifts which a virgin spouse and virgin mother could bestow. As a virgin
spouse she gave him her own heart, her immaculate heart, the living
sanctuary
of the Divinity, in order that, enriched with this treasure, he might
have
henceforth the right to say: In quality of spouse, I possess the heart
of Mary---the purest,
the most loving, and most amiable of all hearts is mine. As a Virgin
Mother
she gave him Jesus, the fruit of the tree of life, the source of every
blessing. And what flames of love did not the Divine Infant enkindle in
the heart of Joseph! With what torrents of joy did He not inundate his
soul, in those delightful moments wherein God, who is the beatitude of
the saints, smiled upon His adopted father, and rested in his arms! Did
not Joseph alone possess greater treasures, more delight than the
heavens
and earth could contain? In the three words, Jesus, my son! he said
more
than the Apostle St. Thomas, when he exclaimed, "My Lord and my
God!"---more
than the seraphic St. Francis, repeating a thousand times, "My God and
my all!" Truly he was not the father of Jesus according to nature, but
he had not on that account less authority over Him, nor less right to
call
Him son, by virtue of his position as spouse of His mother; and
furthermore,
did he not always prove himself a father, and the most tender of
parents,
by a love which no earthly father has ever equaled? Therefore, Mary
confirmed
him in the possession of this beautiful title, and bestowed it upon him
on every occasion. "Ego et pater tuus quoerebamus te: Behold, Thy
father and I have sought Thee."
It was not only towards the Man-God that St. Joseph
showed himself a careful and tender father; towards Mary herself he
acted
more as a father than as a spouse or master. Therefore, Mary, to
correspond
to the sentiments of her humble, pure, and loving spouse, made it ever
her duty to love, honor, and serve him with all the deference of a
wife,
or, to speak more properly, with all the submission of a daughter
towards
a father. She knew that the Eternal Father was with her spouse, and
that
He directed him in all his actions, as it is written of the ancient
Joseph:
she realized that He had established him as His lieutenant, and had
confided
to his care not only the God-Man, but also His Mother; therefore, as an
obedient and respectful daughter, she had yielded up the direction of
her
conduct into the hands of St. Joseph, that he might dispose of her as
he
pleased. Joseph Wills that Mary should accompany him in his journey to
Bethlehem: she sets out immediately. He desires that she should take
the
new-born child and fly with him into Egypt: she follows without a word
of complaint. Joseph remains for years in that heathen land: Mary does
not ask the reason for so protracted an exile. Joseph issues the order
to return to Judea: Mary follows him as a docile sheep follows its
shepherd.
It is not to her, but to her spouse that the Angels manifest the orders
of Heaven: she is not displeased at that, but even shows herself as
prompt
and exact in executing the will of Joseph, as the stars are to move on
in their orbits and to accomplish their revolutions...
Such was the homage rendered by
the Mother of
God to the adopted father whom God had chosen for Himself upon earth,
and
whom He had given to her as a spouse. But she was to do still more:
from
the throne which she occupies in the highest Heavens, she in some sort
abases herself to serve him still further by the invitations she gives
to all Christians to offer him their homage. Who does not know that, in
the holy house of Loretto, which is no other, as we are aware, than
that
of Nazareth, where she had given, during her life, so many striking
proofs
of respect and obedience to St. Joseph, she ordered Father Balthazar
Alvarez,
of the Society of Jesus, her devout servant, to take the
illustrious patriarch for his special protector? (See the Life of that
Religious, ch. vi.) It was Mary who made another of her devoted
servants, of the Premonstratensian order, change his name of Hermann to
that of Joseph. (Surius, April 17.) She further commanded a Moorish
slave at Naples, who was about to receive Baptism, to take the name of
Joseph, in memory of her holy spouse. (Father Segneri). And to thank
St. Teresa for the glory which she had procured for St. Joseph, by
extending his devotion throughout the Church, she came from Heaven to
bestow upon her an inestimable present. (Life of the Saint, c. vi.)
Finally, it was Mary who opened the Heavens to enable St. Gertrude to
behold the incomparable brilliancy of the throne occupied by her holy
spouse, and caused her to observe that at the name of Joseph, the
Saints in Paradise, bowed their heads to do him honor. (Rev., B. IV.,
c.xii.)
If, then, Mary has left us these striking examples of respect and
obedience towards St. Joseph, and if now that she can no longer serve
him in Heaven, where they both reign in so much glory, she excites her
devoted children to become also the devout servants of her spouse, and
to honor him with a peculiar title; who is there among us who would
think himself dispensed from revering him and rendering him homage? I
know that all Christians profess, though with more or less fervor, to
give Mary the first place in their hearts, after Jesus. But how can
they flatter themselves that they love them, if they do not also love
him whom Jesus and Mary cherished with so tender an affection?
A pious lady, named Anne Kertai, first undertook to
introduce the
devotion to St. Joseph into Tyrnau, in Austria, where that to the
Blessed Virgin was already flourishing. She succeeded in executing her
project by raising a chapel to the Saint in the Church of the Jesuit
Fathers. The devotion of the inhabitants of Tyrnau towards Mary was
doubtless a jewel of great price in her eyes, but she desired to see it
encased in gold which should heighten its brilliancy. The desire to add
so beautiful an ornament to the devotion towards Mary, induced her to
exert all her zeal to inspire her fellow-citizens with an affection
towards St. Joseph similar to that which they bore to the Blessed
Virgin.
Some may, perhaps, object that, by adopting so many different
devotions, we divide our hearts, since what is given to one is as so
much taken from the other. This is an imaginary fear, as experience
makes it evident that devotion towards Joseph, far from diminishing
that towards Mary, only increases it. We do not take our heart from
Jesus to give it to Mary, nor do we take it from Mary to bestow it on
Joseph. The mutual affection existing between Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
made of the Holy Family but one heart and one soul, cor unum et anima
una:
it will be the same with regard to the devotion which will reunite
these three august persons in our heart. Many Saints are of this
opinion: according to St. Magdalen of Pazzi, St. Joseph takes especial
care of the faithful who fight under the banner of Mary; another Saint
declares that whoever will be truly devout to Joseph will be equally so
to Mary; so true is it that these two admirable spouses, like two harps
tuned in unison, form together a most perfect harmony. Honor,
therefore, St. Joseph, and do not fear to do too much for him, since
the honor which you render to the husband will necessarily revert to
the wife, by virtue of the affection which unites them; besides which,
among married people, even by human laws, there is a perfect community
of honors and wealth.
Continued forward for Motivations 3-5.
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