“Go to Joseph! Have recourse with special confidence to St. Joseph, for his protection is most powerful, as he is the patron of the universal Church.” ~Blessed Pope Pius IX
The Silent Saint, The Patriarch of Patriarchs, The Terror of Demons and Guardian of Virgins, and Spouse of the Blessed Mary.
Saint Joseph is rightly proclaimed the Patron of the Universal Church. For it was he who protected Jesus and Mary from the cruel Herod, from poverty, from famine… The Head of the Holy Family!
How do we even begin to expound on the greatness of this saint? First, let’s say this; The saint who stands next to the Blessed Virgin in glory; is not a priest, not a martyr, not a deacon, not a confessor, not a doctor of the church, not a pontiff… Saint Joseph was a father, a husband and a workman! Ponder on this… the saint who sits next to Jesus and Mary is not a cleric, nor a martyr… but a husband and a father.
If Mary was a walking adoration chapel, carrying the Bread of Eternal Life within her virginal womb, than Joseph was the first of adorers, next to the magi, the
shepherds and the wise men and three kings! Actually, Joseph was the first to adore the Sacred Humanity of Jesus Christ, the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the God-Man made incarnate within the womb of Mary! He was the first to lead the First Eucharistic Processions to Egypt and Jerusalem during Mary’s pregnancy, and we can also say, when Jesus was but a little boy, holding both their hands as they traveled.
Let me not get ahead of myself, for this Saint is so good to us, by his prayers and intercessions, we should love him because he loves us dearly. This Saint, born of the royal blood of King David, had the supreme privilege of being wed to Mary, and father to Jesus Christ on earth, until his natural death. He had his own Annunciation (Gospel of St.Matthew 1:18-25), just like his blessed wife, he, was given the supreme dignity of taking her hand in marriage, and raising the very Son of God.
“A just man,” (St. Matthew 1:19) Scripture calls him. God’s word declares St. Joseph to be a just man, eminent in virtue. Well, sure! By virtue of his proclamation and very vocation, he has to be just! He has to be pure and holy to marry the Blessed Virgin, and to raise the Sinless Lamb of God! Let us rebuke the heresy that Joseph and Mary had other children, for this attacks the infallible dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of Our Lady, and dishonors God greatly. It also takes away the title of Joseph Most Just and slanders his own virginity!
Yes, dear reader, this most eminent Saint was a virgin before God, for His and Mary’s marriage was the heavenly model of marriage before God. Let me expound on this; Fr. Donald Calloway, in his book; “Consecration to St. Joseph,” speaks thus; “Your spiritual father is a gentleman.
Saint Joseph is the first Christian gentleman; next to Jesus, he is the greatest example of masculine chastity. He was married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and he treated her with respect, dignity and reverence.” (Calloway, “Consecration to St. Joseph, Pg 46)
The esteemed author says in the previous page; “Saint Joseph and Mary lived in what is called a “Josephite Marriage.” They were truly husband and wife, but they never engaged in sexual relations. Their vocation was to be untied in heart, mind, and soul, but never in body.” (Calloway, Pg 45)
Joseph’s Most Chaste Heart, is at its core, a Crucible of Chastity. The marriage of Mary and Joseph was pure, spotless, full of superabundant love between two humans, that was the eminence of charity and chastity. As the dear author, Fr. Donald Calloway points out, that St. Joseph is a gentleman, the best example next to Jesus Christ, of masculine chastity.
In Fr. Calloway’s work we continue to read; “”Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” (Lk 12:34). Saint Joseph has three treasures: Jesus, Mary and you. Nothing consumes the heart of St. Joseph other than these three treasures.” (Calloway, Pg 55)
Did you think when we see these plaster statues of the Lily-Staffed saint, that he’s just as cold and unfeeling in heaven? No! He loves you! He protects you! He wants what is best for you because God wills the best for you, and St. Joseph does the will of God!
Believe me, I say to you, that St. Joseph is your spiritual father if you so wish him to be, for all you have to do is ask this great saint and God will grant you him as a patron and he will embrace you as a client and child.
Why, my beloved reader, do you think that his heart is titled ‘Most Chaste?’ Because he possess the supereminence of this virtue, next to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary!
Following Fr. Calloway, we read; “Saint Joseph will help you have a chaste heart. Lust is the predominant vice at work in the hearts of men today. The world is filled with immoral and lust filled actions. These actions greatly offend God, ruin families, and cry out to heaven for justice. Did not Our Lady warn St. Jacinta of Fatima that many souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh?” (Calloway, Pg 55)
I gave the above statistic for a reason; to show the scourge of lust on this world. To show the absolute unholy, filthy scourge that Lucifer and his apostate angels have unleashed on man and woman to destroy chastity and purity. Lucifer hates chastity and purity, for the sole fact that it is the Virtue that combats lust and gluttony, lack of temperance and control. He hates it because Our Lady and St. Joseph possess it super-eminently, and perfectly.
Well, Our Lady will crush his head! (Genesis 3:15) Eve gave into his wiles, and Our Lady, the New Eve, corrected this mistake. Eve brought sin into the world by one action, Mary brought salvation into the world through her womb in one God-Man. So, there’s a reason why the Rosary, and all devotion to Our Lady is so dreadful to that prideful apostate angel. Especially devotion to St. Joseph, either through his rosaries or, his Seven Sorrows and Joys.
We can see through these devotions the virtues of this eminent saint shine through, but His Most Chaste Heart, the fiery Crucible of Chastity, is the burning, molten core of love for purity and God.
His litany names him the ‘Terror of Demons,’ and for good reason. It was Herod that sent his wicked soldiers to slay the newborn Jesus, and to rid the world of the King of Kings. For Herod was prideful, just a Lucifer was.
St. Joseph fled through the night with Mary and Jesus multiple times to safety. He thwarted the devil’s plans, several times. He wields the Lily Staff, symbolizing his purity, which he uses to impale that ancient serpent and protect the Children of God. In one hand he wields the Lily Staff symbolizing his eminent chastity and sublime purity, in the other, The Divine King rests gently in his father’s arms, hand raised in benediction, blessing those who love this good father and angelic saint of God.
We know as the Church Militant, that we are not obliged to adhere to private revelation, though it would be unwise to ignore the consensus of saints and mystics, whom by a very august grace, were revealed the lives of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
We see in Blessed Ann Catherine Emmerich’s divinely inspired and, with the full approval of Holy Mother Church, the visions of The Life of Jesus Christ, but especially the hidden life at Nazareth. “After the conception of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin experienced a great desire to visit her cousin Elizabeth. I saw her traveling with Joseph toward the south.” (Life of Jesus Christ, Pg 196)
St. Joseph is a gentleman! He is the role model for all husbands, and fathers. What husband and father would even comprehend letting their wife go on a journey by herself, with child, across the state or country itself, without any form of defense or solace should she find herself in peril? Not St. Joseph! He was right at her side, to and fro, and with the greatest of love, zealously defended the Unborn Jesus.
“It may, perhaps, have been an hour after the birth when Mary called St. Joseph, who still lay prostrate in prayer. When he approached, he fell on his knees, his face to the ground, in a transport of joy, devotion, and humility. Mary again urged him to look upon the Sacred Gift from Heaven, and then did Joseph take the Child into his arms.” (Life of Jesus Christ, Pg 227) I cannot imagine, with all sensible human faculties the emotions this good father felt, when he took into his arms his Lord, his God, his King, his son, and saw that seraphic face, from his chubby cheeks, to his closed eyes resting in Sacred Humanity.
What of the Circumcision? Who of the first was to behold the Precious Blood flow? St. Joseph was seen it before this own eyes. What of the fear and anxiety when Mary and Joseph lost the boy Jesus in the temple for three whole days? “And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought the sorrowing.” (St. Luke 2:48)
Do we forget that even the Blessed Mother called Joseph, Jesus’ father? Truly he was. How is this important? Let me explain: St. Joseph, from Jesus’ infancy, taught Him how to be a true gentleman, a true man. Everything Joseph did, Jesus emulated. Think about it. Do sons not emulate their fathers? Do they not look up to them in love and affection? Jesus worked alongside Joseph in his workshop, Joseph taught the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Author of the Law, how to work with His hands. Truly, this patriarch of patriarchs has a high place in paradise, and should be honored for the supreme and majestic grace he was privileged to be blessed with.
Why a Patron of a Happy and Holy Death?
“When Joseph was dying, Mary sat at the head of his bed, holding him in her arms. Jesus stood just below her near Joseph’s breast. The whole room was brilliant with light and full of angels. After his death, his hands were crossed on his breast, he was wrapped from head to foot in a white winding sheet, laid in an narrow casket, and placed in a very beautiful tomb, the gift of a good man.” (Life of Jesus Christ, Pg 330)
How, in all good reasoning could the very picture presented to the imagination not cause the eyes of the soul to be wet with tears? There is no other human being who has ever lived, will live or is currently living, that will experience any death more sublime and full of divine charity than St. Joseph’s death. That is why Holy Mother Church proclaims him the patron of a holy death.
What death could anyone reasonably ask for besides to die in the arms of Our Lady and Our Lord?