St. Joseph is so quiet, so humble — and often so forgotten. But, while instituting a new feast for him in 1955, Pius XII advised, “Thus, if you wish to be close to Christ, we again today repeat, ‘Go to Joseph!’”
The Pope echoed what God prefigured way back in Genesis (41:55, 57) with the patriarch when “Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. ... In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain.”
Devotion to St. Joseph was rare in the early Church but increased by the Middle Ages. The Holy Fathers from Leo XIII to Pope Benedict XVI have repeatedly called our attention to Jesus’ earthly father.
What better time to answer the call to “Go to Joseph” than on his solemnity, March 19?
Father Larry Toschi of the Oblates of St. Joseph explains the Old-New Testament parallel: Patriarch Joseph was in charge of the grain of Pharaoh, but St. Joseph was in charge of the Bread of Life: Jesus. “And the Church is the body of Christ. So he watches over all of us here,” says Father Toschi, author of St. Joseph in the New Testament (Guardian of the Redeemer Books, 1991), just as he did with Jesus.
He gives good reasons why St. Joseph is a go-to saint for our needs. “It makes sense. He’s the most powerful after Mary; he had the highest responsibility after Mary — even more than the apostles.
He was chosen by God to be the husband of the Mother of God and raise Jesus as his son. He is most intimately connected to the Incarnation. So when we want a favor, we go to him.”
Well-known saints did. Teresa of Avila declared: “I took St. Joseph for my patron and advocate, and I recommend myself unceasingly to his protection. I do not remember ever to have asked anything of him that I did not obtain.” She realized any request denied was only for her greater good.
St. Bernardine of Siena reasoned: “The Lord, who on earth honored St. Joseph as a father, will certainly not refuse him anything he asks in heaven.”
In his landmark 1889 encyclical Quamquam Pluries (On Devotion to St. Joseph), Leo XIII taught that “as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. … Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph.”
In St. Joseph & Daily Christian Living (Macmillan, 1961), Jesuit Father Francis Filas commented on Leo’s teaching: “Devotion to Joseph is ultimately devotion to Our Lady, because Joseph is all he is because of and through Mary. For that matter, devotion to Our Lady ultimately is devotion to Our Lord, because Mary is all she is because of and through Jesus. It is no original comment to add that ‘What God has joined together’ — Jesus, Mary and Joseph — ‘man should not tear asunder.’”
And like his wife, Joseph was first obedient to God’s will. We should Go to Joseph to help us do the same.
”Nothing was more important to him than to follow the will of God — which means he was always at the service of Jesus and Mary,” says Rick Sarkisian, Ph.D., author of Not Your Average Joe (LifeWork Press, 2004). For instance, he willingly — and at once — embarked on the flight to Egypt.
“We’re asked the same way to find God’s will, follow God’s will and fulfill God’s will,” Sarkisian points out.
Sarkisian reminds us that God often reveals his will in our daily lives: “That’s what Joseph did: not just in the giant events like the betrothal to Mary and Nativity of Jesus, but in everyday events.”
Father Toschi adds that Joseph went through many trials with faith. “So St. Joseph, who went through all these trials trusting in divine Providence, is one who can accompany us in our trials and suffering and trust in divine Providence,” he says. When we do, “God makes everything work together for the good.” We Go to Joseph to lead the way.
Father Toschi often tells fathers to Go to Joseph when they need help as a parent, with the same advice for people out of work or who are worried or upset.
In Chicago, Michael Wick has learned through devotion to St. Joseph to follow that route. Wick considers Joseph a great role model of doing God’s work in a simple way by just doing what you’re called to do.
“For me, he epitomizes someone who is attentive to God’s will and open to God’s way, because God’s ways are not always our ways,” Wick says.
Joseph can give us willingness to put aside our own agenda and fine tune it to what God reveals in the daily grind of the ordinary. That includes following the Church’s teachings, having openness to life, trying to provide for the family in these difficult economic times, and responding to the needs of spouse and children.
Wick also looks to Joseph as a protector because he protected the Holy Family at every turn.
“He’s a great example of trust in duty and as a husband and father,” Wick finds. “I turn to him seeking his inspiration and intercession.” Wick, who works for the Institute for Religious Life, an apostolate entrusted to St. Joseph by its founder, Servant of God Father John Hardon, goes to Joseph for that help as he raises his family of four children, 8 to 16, with wife Bianca.
When he makes decisions, he asks: Is that God’s will for me? Is this going to draw me closer or distract me from mission in life as husband and father? Is it going to draw the kids away from the purpose in life of getting closer to God? “I entrust Joseph to help discern and guide me in these decisions.”
He adds, “My wife and I had to make some limits on the children’s activities so God always comes first,” as they look to model the Holy Family praying, doing things together and being together.
Benedict XVI’s patron saint is Joseph. “For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails,” noted the Pope during an address preceding St. Joseph’s feast in 2009. “He had to settle far from his native town. His only reward was to be with Christ.”
In this and every event, Joseph was the first head of the domestic church, as John Paul II would later call the family. In fact, in his 1989 encyclical Redemptoris Custos (On the Person and Mission of St. Joseph in the Life of Christ and of the Church), he stated, “It is in the Holy Family, the original ‘Church in miniature,’ that every Christian family must be reflected.”
As fathers and mothers Go to Joseph, he will give them what they need to be that Church in miniature.
Asking for his intercession should go without saying.
Father Toschi points out that one really important prayer that’s neglected is the prayer to St. Joseph after the Rosary composed by Leo XIII. Added to Quamquam Pluries, it was also recommended by John Paul II in his encyclical on St. Joseph. There’s also the Litany of St. Joseph.
Wick also suggests the Prayer of Entrustment to St. Joseph (contact IRLstaff@religiouslife.com for free copies).
And Sarkisian recommends the nine- and 30-day novenas to Joseph. By praying we “constantly remind Joseph of how much we love him and how much we trust him,” he explains. “We’re asking him to take our greatest burdens, fears, worries and present them before the throne of God as the greatest saint in heaven next to Mary. He has immense power to cover us with his cloak and surround our lives with it in a profound way.”
All we have to do is Go to Joseph.
Register staff writer Joseph Pronechen is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.
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Amen!!! I love St Joseph!
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
Being the Feast of St Joseph today, it is good to know the earthly journey life of St Joseph.God first loved us before we even love him. He did not create us and left us alone to find the truth of his Will. God chose St Joseph over all other men created by him to be the Foster Father of Jesus Christ, just like he created Mary, the Mother of God to be our Mother on earth. Through their powerful intercessory prayers as a Holy Family (Mary/Joseph/Jesus Christ, we obtain favours/graces/mercy from God to enlighten all our burdens on earth by Total Obedience and Surrender to God wholeheartedly similar to Mary/Joseph/Jesus Christ to God by His Grace.They are the Role Models for us to follow daily in our lives as they are the Greatest Saints closest to Image and Likeness of God, our Father in Heaven.
Maureen De Wind
St Joseph has assisted me so many times. I always believed he is a most powerful intercessor because he worked and provided for the Mother and Son of God. What gift God gave him! I believe his silence made him more attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, I pray to follow his example and that at my death he will come to my assistance.
I already posted a comment. I pray to St Joseph to protect all unborn children and all children who suffer from sexual abuse and all abuse that he may protect them as he protected the infant King Jesus.
St. Joseph please protect the homes at risk of foreclosure and those assisting in that effort. Bless those working in the mortgage indistry that they show compassion for the many families struggling. Lord Jesus and Our Blessed Mother hear our prayers! Thank You!!!!
There may be AS much information written about Joseph in the Bible as there is about Mary. But with all the extra-biblical documentation for Mary, reams and reams of it, enough to choke a horse, it’s so overwhelming, Catholics turned her into someone equal in important ways to Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit! And some want to make her “Co-Redemptrix” to make it official!!!! It’s blasphemous.
Think about it - the whole world prays to Mary at the same time, and they think she hears and responds to them. If it’s true, then Mary shares GOD’S ATTRIBUTES of OMNIPRESENCE, OMNISCIENCE AND she’s ALL - POWERFUL. What mere man can be married to that? So St. Joseph is just Jesus’ stepfather; he’s overlooked & overshadowed by the HUGE MARY.
No wonder our church is in such a mess. The roles are wrong - women are not to usurp men’s being in leaders. So the Vatican makes up for it by filling the Church with MALES, and ignoring the average Catholic woman, putting Mary way up there, as a role model that NO AVERAGE WOMAN can ever be like, because MOST of what they say Mary was is extra-biblical. It’s mostly hearsay! How could the whole world be able to pray to her at the same time and have her hear them?
Oh, I know, she “brings our prayers to Jesus” and as His mother, He can’t refuse her. Well there’s a word for that: Manipulation. And Jesus is grown up now. He doesn’t need to kow-tow to His mother, like a baby or a child. Joseph is not understood because St. Joseph was a MAN. He was a MAN that was responsible for the care and protection of a woman, his wife (Mary) and of his Son, Jesus.
So few MALES in the clergy ever grow up to be MEN. They are males - sometimes 80 years old, with the mentality of 15 year old boys. They are man-boys. They have no role model that’s a regular human being. So they can’t be role models themselves. Too bad. St. Joseph would be a great role model for Catholic men, priests included. And what we know about him is REAL and from the Bible. St. Joseph was amazing.
O, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph, do assist us by your powerful intercession, and obtain for us all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that having engaged here below your heavenly power I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms, I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return that kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us.
St. Joseph is THE MAN! He was a humble father to the lord Jesus, a hard working carpenter and a devoted husband. Any man should go to Jeseph when dealing with any type of “men’s” problems regarding work or family relationships. It is a shame how St. Joseph’s day is practically ignored.
However, poeple in the USA use St. Patricks’ day as an excuse to overdrink alcohol. I am certain that St. Patrick would not approve of the behavior. I am in Rhode Island and at a recent St. Patrick’s parade held in Newport, 95 poeple were arrested for public drunkeness, assault and disorderly conduct-And I am sure many of the people don’t even have a clue who St. Patrick was or that these poeple practice faith. How sad Indeed.
Back in the 50’s I was adopted by my new father and I made a very bad mistake by changing my whole name to his, instead of just my last name. My middle name use to be Joseph, but I didn’t have anyone to guide me about how important that name was. Now I know and I keep asking St. Joseph to forgive me.
Sister Mildred (Mary Ephrem) Neuzil, Diary, Apparition of OUR LADY OF AMERICA, Fostoria, Ohio, Pg. 13 .:
“It is true, my daughter, that immediately after my conception, I was, through the future merits of Jesus and because of my exceptional role of future Virgin-Father, cleansed from the stain of original sin. I was from that moment confirmed in grace and never had the slightest stain on my soul. This is my unique privilege among men.
My pure heart also was from the first moment of existence inflamed with love for God. Immediately, at the moment when my soul was cleansed from original sin, grace was infused into it in such abundance that, excluding my holy spouse, I surpassed the holiness of the highest angel in the angelic choir.
My heart suffered with the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Mine was a silent suffering, for it was my special vocation to hide and shield, as long as God willed, the Virgin Mother and Son from the malice and hatred of men. The most painful of my sorrows was that I knew before hand of their passion, yet would not be there to console them. Their future suffering was ever present to me and became my daily cross. I became, in union with my holy spouse, co-redemptor of the human race. Through compassion for the sufferings of Jesus and Mary I co-operated, as no other, in the salvation of the world.”
Sister Mildred described her vision of St. Joseph’s most pure heart:
It seemed to be lying on a cross which was of brown color. It appeared to me that at the top of the heart, in the midst of the flames pouring out, was a pure white lily. Then I heard these words: “Behold this pure heart so pleasing to Him Who made it. …The cross, my little one, upon which my heart rests is the cross of the passion, which was ever present before me, causing me intense suffering. I desire souls to come to my heart that they may learn true union with the Divine Will.” (Diary, Pg. 28).
On his feast in 1958, St Joseph spoke to Sister Mildred of the Trinity’s desire to honor him:
“My child, I desire a day to be set aside to honor my fatherhood. The privilege of being chosen by God to be the Virgin-Father of His Son was mine alone, and no honor, excluding that bestowed upon my Holy Spouse, was ever, or will ever, be as sublime or as high as this. The Holy Trinity desires thus to honor me that in my unique fatherhood all fatherhood might be blessed.
Dear child, I was king in the little home of Nazareth, for I sheltered within it the Prince of Peace and the Queen of Heaven. To me they looked for protection and sustenance, and I did not fail them. I received from them the deepest love and reverence, for in me they saw Him Whose place I took over them. So the head of the family must be loved, obeyed, and respected, and in return be a true father and protector to those under his care. In honoring in a special way my fatherhood, you also honor Jesus and Mary. The Divine Trinity has placed into our keeping the peace of the world. The imitation of the Holy Family, my child, of the virtues we practiced in our little home at Nazareth is the way for all souls to that peace which comes from God alone and which none other can give.” (Diary, Pgs. 28-29).
Then Sister Mildred had a vision of St. Joseph in his glory in heaven. He seemed suspended, as it were, a short distance above what had the appearance of a large globe with clouds moving about it. His head was slightly raised, the eyes gazing upward as if in ecstasy. The hands were in a position similar to that of the priest during the celebration of Holy Mass, only they extended upward somewhat more.
The color of his hair as also of his rather small and slightly forked beard seemed a very dark brown. His eyes resembled in color the hair and beard. He was clothed in a white robe that reached to his ankles. Over this he wore a sort of cloak which did not come together at the throat, but covering the shoulders and draped gracefully over each arm, reached to the hem of the robe. The cloak at times had, or seemed to have, the appearance of a brown, sometimes a purple, hue, or perhaps a slight blending of the two. The belt about his waist was of a gold color, as were his sandals.
His appearance, though quite youthful, gave at the same time the impression of rare maturity combined with great strength. He seemed a bit taller than medium height. The lines of his face appeared strong and purposeful, softened somewhat by a gentle serenity. I also saw his most pure heart at this time. Moreover, I saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovering above his head.
Standing sideways, facing each other, were two angels, one on the right, the other on the left. Each carried what appeared to be a small pillow in a satin covering, the pillow on the right bearing a gold crown, the one on the left, a gold scepter. The angels were all white, even their faces and hair. It was a beautiful whiteness that reminded me of the stainlessness of heaven. [Then he said] Thus should he be honored whom the King desires to honor. …
[He promised to come again, then blessed Sister as she knelt.] (Diary, Pgs. 29-30).
“I am the protector of the Church and the home, as I was the protector of Christ and His Mother while I lived upon earth. Jesus and Mary desire that my pure heart, so long hidden and unknown, be now honored in a special way. Let my children honor my most pure heart in a special manner on the First Wednesday of the month by reciting the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary in memory of my life with Jesus and Mary and the love I bore them, the sorrows I suffered with them. Let them receive Holy Communion in union with the love with which I received the Savior for the first time and each time I held Him in my arms.
Those who honor me in this way will be consoled by my presence at their death, and I myself will conduct them safely into the presence of Jesus and Mary.” (Diary, Pgs. 31-32.)
Reply to born again cradle catholic—“No wonder our church is in such a mess. The roles are wrong - women are not to usurp men’s being in leaders. So the Vatican makes up for it by filling the Church with MALES, and ignoring the average Catholic woman, putting Mary way up there, as a role model that NO AVERAGE WOMAN can ever be like, because MOST of what they say Mary was is extra-biblical. It’s mostly hearsay! How could the whole world be able to pray to her at the same time and have her hear them?
Oh, I know, she “brings our prayers to Jesus” and as His mother, He can’t refuse her. Well there’s a word for that: Manipulation. And Jesus is grown up now. He doesn’t need to kow-tow to His mother, like a baby or a child. Joseph is not understood because St. Joseph was a MAN. He was a MAN that was responsible for the care and protection of a woman, his wife (Mary) and of his Son, Jesus.
So few MALES in the clergy ever grow up to be MEN. They are males - sometimes 80 years old, with the mentality of 15 year old boys. They are man-boys. They have no role model that’s a regular human being. So they can’t be role models themselves. Too bad. St. Joseph would be a great role model for Catholic men, priests included. And what we know about him is REAL and from the Bible. St. Joseph was amazing.”
—Wow! “Born again Catholic Cradle” Sounds more like you are anti-Catholic than a born again and a feminist that is a bit bitter.
You show a lack of faith when you say Mary can’t hear all our prayers? Hello? The spirit when you are in heaven is to be way more capable than we are in our human form.
You say that woman can’t possibly live up to Mary? Well, you’re right, but men can’t possibly live up to Jesus either! We are human and we are sinners. We can try our best to live a life thru the teachings of Jesus and, if we are honest with ourselves, we can go to confession and ask for our sins to be forgiven.
It sounds like you never have heard of saints. There are MANY female roles models within the catholic church—Have you ever heard of the blessed Mother Teresa? How about St. Therese, St. Joan of Arc, St. Rita, St. Bernadete—and Mother Angelica of EWTN!?
And to say priests cannot be role models and they are man-childs? That is so not true. Yes, that can be the case with some (That may have to do with St. Aquinas’ teaching of poeple should be holding on to the innocence of a child, for children are pure and their minds can be more open to things such as spirit before becoming corrupted by the modern world—especially today with cell phones, ipads, and the noise of and interruptions of today’s technical noise), but there are MANY Priests out there with the community and certainly are aware of the things and issues that go on within children, youths, teenagers and adults. You mean to say Priests that are out there doing missionary work in places like South Central, Ca-and in places like Africa and Haiti are not things to look up to?
I feel you should talk to a priest or a nun to get answers regarding your, ahem “Catholic Faith”—-for it seems like there is much bitterness and manipulations going on inside of you.
Teddy, you wrote: “Wow! “Born again Catholic Cradle” Sounds more like you are anti-Catholic than a born again and a feminist that is a bit bitter.”
Cradle’s reply-
I attend Mass every Sunday, and I’m not anti-Catholic, persay, but I do speak up, when there is bad teaching. As for being a feminist: I am opposed to the ordination of women and I believe in a husband being the head of a home, and the wife is a help-meet.
Teddy wrote, “You say that woman can’t possibly live up to Mary? Well, you’re right, but men can’t possibly live up to Jesus either!”
Cradle’s reply-
Why do you use Mary as the example for women, and JESUS as the example for men? Why not Mary as the example for women, and JOSEPH as the example for men? Frankly, IF our church would stick to the Bible for our examples of Mary and Joseph, all of us WOULD be able to use them as examples for our own lives. The Holy Family would be a terrific ideal. There is no need to use deceased saints as an ideal. Therein lies the problem. Our church uses EXTRA-BIBLICAL writings and preaches them as truth, calling it “Tradition” and putting it on par with Scripture. No wonder our church is in a mess.
Teddy wrote: “I feel you should talk to a priest or a nun to get answers regarding your, ahem “Catholic Faith””
Cradle’s reply-
With all due respect, Teddy, I’m not that interested in knowing more about my “Catholic” faith, because it has absolutely no Eternal Value. When I see God in Heaven, He will not ask me how good a Catholic I was. He will ask me, “Why should I allow you into my Heaven?” I will say, “Because Your Son, Jesus, died for my sins, and by His Blood, I am forgiven.” Now THAT has eternal value. That is all we need to know. Mary and Joseph know that - as do all the Old & New Testament saints.
Dear “cradle”, so you go to Sunday Mass. Wow! Now, why do you even bother going as you don’t believe in the Church? Which came first-the Church or the Bible? The Church, of course, which is why we have Tradion along with the Bible to direct us. What do you think that Mary was doing in the Upper-room with the other 120 while waiting for the Holy Spirit to come? She was teaching them about her Son and their role in the Church. I thank God that He has given us saints to help us while we are on our journey down here. Oh! Be ready when Jesus meets you; He might say those words that we don’t want to here: Depart from Me, I don’t know you! LEARN your faith that the Church gave you and not what Martin Luther made up. May the Holy Spirit open you eyes to the gifts that God wants you to have. God bless. JMJ
JMJ- If Mary was in the Upper-room with the other 120, teaching them about her Son and their role in the church, why did the Holy Spirit have to come at all for Pentecost? Wouldn’t Mary have had it all under control, as she does now, if one follows your reasoning?
I go to Mass on Sunday to worship God, my Father, and to give thanks for Jesus, my Brother, for the gift of eternal life, for me, a sinner in need of His mercy.
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