First Day.

After the adoration of the Lord, and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin, next in order of importance comes the devotion to St. Joseph. Among all the saints of God in heaven, there is none more powerful, none has more claim on our confidence and love. Almighty God encourages us to look up to St. Joseph, for to him were intrusted the greatest treasures that the world ever saw, Jesus and Mary. Our Lord from the first moment recognized St. Joseph as the one who took the place of His heavenly Father, and He obeyed him in all things. Mary respected this saintly man as the head of the family, as her spouse whom God had sent to her for her protection. She, before whom the angels bowed in respect, willingly served St. Joseph in the necessities [pg 101] of this life. The Church of God, the custodian of truth, revelation, and tradition, has encouraged this devotion by many indulgences. St. Francis de Sales said to his confessor on the eve of his death: “Do you not know, venerable father, that I belong to St. Joseph?” St. Teresa called him her father and master.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, be mindful of me, pray for me, watch over me. Guardian of the paradise of the new Adam, provide for my temporal wants. Faithful guardian of the most precious of all treasures, I beseech thee to bring this matter to a happy end, if it be for the glory of God and the good of my soul. Amen.

Second Day.

The devotion to St. Joseph, when well understood and faithfully practised, is undoubtedly a great means of increasing piety. We know well that we honor the saints most by imitating their virtues, therefore we will endeavor to acquire these virtues which most distinguished our saint, and the chief virtue of St. Joseph was piety. We will learn to love Jesus tenderly; to do all our actions with the intention of pleasing Him, to remain faithful to the teachings of the Church; all this is piety. The whole life of St. Joseph was a life of poverty, humility, retirement, recollection and prayer. When the Egyptian people were starving, and clamoring for food, Pharao said to them, “Go to Joseph,” who had gathered [pg 102] the superfluous grain of seven abundant years, and kept the keys of the granaries in his possession. So now, also, can we say confidently, “Go to Joseph,” who holds the keys of the graces and blessings of God. We need never fear the poverty which may stare us in the face, knowing that all our needs will be supplied by him.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Third Day.

When Mary was chosen to be Mother of God, the old judgment of God was re-echoed: “It is not good for man to be alone.” God gave her a chaste spouse. The honor of the Son of God required that He should be born of a virgin, but He needed a man to protect Him and His Mother. A man worthy of this trust had to be chosen, and such a one was found in the person of St. Joseph. He was a man of angelic purity and he would guard the purity of his bride. He was to be the reputed father of Jesus before the Jews, lest Mary be stoned for having broken her marriage vows; his purity was to be in every way similar to that of the purest of virgins. All those who were immediately connected with the great work of our salvation, were to be pure and spotless, their sanctity was to be unquestioned. It was the will of God that the divine origin of His adorable Son should be hid from human eyes, and Joseph was chosen to become the cloak with which this mystery was enshrouded. Only in the secrecy of his family life did he manifest his adoration of the [pg 103] “Word made flesh,” and there, as in a sanctuary, he adored his Lord and Saviour.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Fourth Day.

Joseph is that wise and provident servant, who was set over his family to distribute to it the necessary food at stated times. He is the visible physical means which God employed for the work of the salvation of mankind. God chooses, it is true, humble instruments to accomplish His holy designs, but at the same time He furnishes them with suitable graces, that His work may be gloriously and effectively performed. Such a servant was chosen by God in the person of St. Joseph, who was a humble and saintly man. To him He gave His graces, for He refuses them to the proud. We too ought to be disinterested and humble in the service of God, using our natural talents to the fullest extent because they belong to God, and have been given to us for the special purpose of performing the duties of our vocation in this world. Disinterestedness and humility are the great sources from which all good proceeds.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Fifth Day.

All the saints were filled with the spirit of the Lord, and in consequence they esteemed the [pg 104] virtue of humility as the foundation of perfection. St. Bernard considered this virtue as the corner-stone of the edifice of faith; the perfection of Christian virtues; the tower of safety, into which the soul could retire before the insidious attacks of Satan. And St. Ambrose calls this virtue the first one, and the source of all other virtues—all other virtues must be combined with humility to give them value. To no other virtue does God give so many graces. Just because St. Joseph thought nothing of himself, and lowered himself in the eyes of others, did Jesus select him as His foster-father. This great virtue of humility appears in all the circumstances of his life. Though of the royal house of David, still he did not disdain to labor at the humble trade of a carpenter. He was perfectly resigned to the providence of God; God's will was his will, and he never repined at the trials God sent him.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Sixth Day.

Joseph consented to become the spouse of the Blessed Virgin, because he knew he could preserve the chastity which he had vowed to keep, and because he could be the guardian of the virginity of Mary. Little did he suspect that he was to become the spouse of the Mother of God. St. Bridget had a vision, in which the sentiments of St. Joseph were made known to her by the Blessed Virgin herself. She said: “When Joseph, who was given to me by the Most High as my protector, knew of the mystery of [pg 105] the incarnation, which was operated in me by the power of the Holy Ghost, he was filled with astonishment, and conceived not the least suspicion against my purity. He believed firmly in the prophecies which proclaimed that the Son of God would be born of a Virgin, and therefore he considered himself unworthy to serve such an exalted Mother.” St. Joseph learned the virtue of humility still more profoundly in his association with Jesus and Mary, for how could it be otherwise when he hourly observed their self-abnegation? Daily did he see the Mother of God engaged in the most lowly services.

Prayer.

Holy Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Seventh Day.

What must have been the feelings of the holy patriarch in witnessing the humiliation of the Son of God! What must have been his astonishment, when the divine wisdom of the Child Jesus asked him his counsel, obeyed him in all things, and was for many years his fellow-laborer at his humble trade! The Lord taught him the great lesson: to be meek and humble of heart. Surely we may suppose that St. Joseph was in a constant ecstasy of adoration as he contemplated the Son of God, lowered to the condition of a helpless child, and afterwards by natural growth becoming a man and laboring at such humble employment. How could he have within himself one spark of pride or vanity in the knowledge that he was a descendant of King David? Therefore he humbled himself all the [pg 106] more, and only considered himself great in the thought that he was allowed to imitate the humiliation of the Son of God. Let us learn from St. Joseph the value of this virtue, and practise it all our lives. Let us often enter the Sacred Heart of Jesus to learn from Him meekness and humility.

Prayer For Humility.

Glorious patron, St. Joseph, let me understand the deep feeling with which thou didst witness the humble lives of Jesus and Mary. How far am I from being able to say that I have acquired this virtue! Thou seekest only to hide from the gaze of the world the divine gifts with which thou art enriched, whilst I seek to draw the attention of the world on myself, to shine before the world, and to be much thought of. O my loving protector, my patron, my father, obtain for me the virtue of humility, which is the foundation of all perfection. Obtain for me the great grace to know myself, to despise myself, to look for humiliations from others, to feel inferior to all, that in the future I may desire no other witness of my actions but God, and no other reward but God. Amen.

Eighth Day.

When God had created Adam, and made him strong and intelligent, He found that one great thing was wanting. Adam needed a companion; he could not content himself in all the superabundance that was around him. Then God took a rib out of the first man, and built a woman upon it. The same thing seems true in the case of the [pg 107] Blessed Virgin. She was all alone in the spiritual order among men. She was endowed with many graces, yet in all her abundance she would be desolate, only God said, let us make her a companion like unto herself, one who would also be the favorite creature of God, and would be the recipient of many extraordinary graces. He therefore chose a great saint, and gave him special gifts. A prince of this world does the same thing when he desires to make a lowly subject his companion; he first makes him a noble, then enriches him with much wealth in order that the favorite may make a good appearance before the world. God united in St. Joseph all the virtues and graces of the other saints, that he might be greater than they. From all eternity it had been ordained that St. Joseph was to be the foster-father of Jesus.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Ninth Day.

Great must have been the terror of Mary when the angel of God appeared to her, and announced that she was to be the Mother of God. She was troubled, but the angel encouraged her, saying, “Fear not, Mary.” The angel announced the incarnation to St. Joseph, and he was greatly troubled; the angel assured him, “Fear not, Joseph, Son of David.” Mary gave life to the Lord and brought Him up. Joseph, on his part, labored day and night to scrape together what was necessary for their existence. Both Mary and Joseph were equally, according [pg 108] to their position, contributing to the rearing of Jesus. Like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, St. Joseph is powerful with her divine Son. St. Joseph is called, by the Holy Ghost, a just man. He was the first to be exposed to the persecutions of the Jews for the Lord. In all things then, is Joseph like unto Mary; similar also are his virtues, and like also his eternal reward.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Tenth Day.

We may trace other phases of similarity between the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. Mary is the Queen of angels, high above them, because she is the Mother of the Creator; she is then all-powerful, and she can use these heavenly spirits for the glory of God. St. Joseph is not inferior to the angels in purity; his mind was always careful to guard against any pollution; he was a guardian angel to Jesus, Our Lord. This office made him a great being in the sight of Jesus Himself, for He acknowledged His guardian angel and was on the most intimate terms with him. St. Joseph served Our Lord as a throne. The choir of thrones are the angels on whom God is carried about in majesty, and Jesus was carried about in the arms of St. Joseph. The seraphims, in a certain degree, were inferior to St. Joseph. The angels have no paternity, but St. Joseph is called the father of Jesus. The angels could then bow down before St. Joseph, and acknowledge and call him their superior, because he had received a commission which no angel had ever [pg 109] yet received, and because he had a name which had never been given to any of these holy choirs.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Eleventh Day.

It was the privilege of the father to give a name to the child, and this privilege St. Joseph exercised at the circumcision of the Lord. It was he too who usually performed the painful operation of the circumcision. Thus it was that St. Joseph shed the first drops of the adorable blood which was to redeem mankind. The name of Jesus had been predestined for the Saviour, and given by God Himself; but Joseph, the father on earth, was commissioned to declare it publicly. O great saint! you cannot give to this divine Child a greater dignity than He possesses, for He is your Creator and Lord; but you do the next greatest thing, you give him a name which publishes Him to the world in His character of Redeemer—this great honor is reserved for you. Holy name of Jesus, the greatest of all names, before the mention of which all heaven and earth shall bow their knees in adoration, be to me a source of heavenly joy, and a consolation in all the trials of life.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Twelfth Day.

Joseph, no doubt, understood all the importance and meaning of the name of Jesus. He therefore [pg 110] knew all the obligations which this holy name imposed on the divine Child, as well as the obligations which it imposed on himself. He understood that Jesus must be the man of sorrows and derision, and that he must share His destiny. St. Joseph always had the image of the crucified Lord before his eyes. If the faith of the great Apostle of the world was such that he carried the image of the crucified Redeemer always before his eyes, much the more can this be said of our saint, for he had Jesus always with him. When he embraced His sacred head, he had before him that head crowned with thorns, and bowed on His breast in His last agony; he could see that little body covered with wounds from the scourging. God treated St. Joseph as His most intimate friend, and filled him with His share of sorrow. Do we wish to enter into the glory of the Lord, then we, too, must suffer patiently. The closer we follow the Lord, the more intimate we are with Him, the more we will look for sufferings, and love them because they make us resemble the Lord more closely.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Thirteenth Day.

St. Joseph was a man of faith. We read in St. Paul, “the just man lives by faith.” It is the foundation of sanctity, it is the fountain of our spiritual life. All the works of St. Joseph were done in a spirit of faith. Were it not for this spirit of faith, he would never have consented to become the spouse of the Blessed Virgin, for he desired to preserve [pg 111] his own chastity; and the spirit of faith taught him how he might do this. When he had entered upon his duties as spouse, he noticed that the Virgin was with child, and he fell into deep sorrow and concern, until an angel appeared, dispelling all his doubts: “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; and she shall bring forth a Son: and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He will save His people from their sins.”—Matt. i. 20, 21. The spirit of faith made him believe in these words, whether he understood them or not. He subjected his will to the manner in which God wished to redeem mankind, and he was forever afterwards without solicitude.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Fourteenth Day.

Then came a new trial to the faith of St. Joseph. In due course of time the Lord was born, a little helpless Child, in the humble stable at Bethlehem: where He was wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and laid on a little straw in a manger. Joseph became the first adorer, after the Blessed Virgin. But it required great faith to recognize in this weak Infant the Son of the most high God; still the grace of God sustained him, and he humbly adored. The angel had promised a wonderful Child. He was to be a powerful being, Who would conquer the demons of hell, and free the people of Israel. Now Joseph beholds a small, weak Infant, beginning life in [pg 112] poverty and distress. Far from being a powerful creature He even needs the help of Mary and Joseph. St. Joseph carried the Child in his arms, and yet at the same time acknowledged that the same Child in heaven was carried about on the shoulders of the holiest angels, and governed the universe with His will. He heard the wailings of the Child, but knew that He was the joy of paradise. He taught Him the praises of His heavenly Father, knowing at the same time that He was eternal wisdom.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Fifteenth Day.

Joseph is eminently the just man who lives by faith. No sooner is the Child Jesus born, than, as if an unforeseen accident had happened, which made it necessary to fly, as if there were no God to protect that Babe, an angel appeared to Joseph in his sleep, and bids him arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and fly into the land of Egypt. The enemies of the Child will be on your heels, and all depends on your rapid flight, to save Him from their hands. “Fly into Egypt,” a far-off foreign country. He gets up, and hastily gathering the few necessary articles, makes off in the dead of night, so that the people of Bethlehem may not know where he has gone. But Joseph performs his duty in a spirit of faith: he does not doubt the omnipotence of God. He feels that such is the command of God, and he makes no objections, but goes with alacrity into the poverty and suffering which he knows are inevitable.

Sixteenth Day.

Joseph remained in Egypt until the time of Herod's death. The angel again appears to him, and bids him return to Judea, as if the divine Infant were not sure of His life until His enemies had disappeared. What frailty, what meekness in this little Child! Can this be a God? Without the least hesitation, Joseph treats the Child with the same reverence, and adores Him, as if he had seen Him working miracles. Never was such a faith found in Israel. Nowadays we could not find such a faith. “From a want of this noble faith,” St. Teresa says, “the world is full of sin.” Ask St. Joseph to obtain for us a faith similar to his. Faith is a gift and a virtue. By this gift our intellect is enlightened, we know God, and confide in Him. By the virtue of faith we use this light, and let it shine on all our actions. Let us not be satisfied to bow down our intellect under the influence of the great grace of the gift of faith; we should regulate all the actions of our life according to the dictates and laws of this faith, and live according to it. St. Joseph can obtain such graces for us, if we pray to him.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Seventeenth Day.

St. Joseph possesses another great virtue: it is his obedience. From his childhood he observed [pg 114] with conscientious exactitude all the laws of God. Without a murmur he accompanied Mary to Bethlehem in a severe time of the year, and with Mary so soon to give birth to the Child Jesus, to fulfil the command of a heathen prince. When the command was given to take up the Child and flee into Egypt, he was ready. But one word is necessary: he does not consider any plans for flight, but executes the command without a moment's delay. In many cases he could have alleged causes of inconvenience, or of his not understanding how it could be accomplished; he might have asked the angel for an explanation, saying, how comes it that a few days ago you announced that this Jesus is to be the Redeemer of His people, and now He is to fly before His enemies? He will not be able to free His people afterwards, when now He cannot hold His ground. But he subjected his reason to his faith, and obeyed.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Eighteenth Day.

Through our faith God leads us to the knowledge of His goodness and His promises, that so the desire and hope of enjoying God may be born in us. St. Joseph's faith and knowledge of God effected in him a great confidence; he had been peculiarly confirmed in hope. It is a fact that our confidence in God grows with grace when our hope is strengthened by the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, and when we have great devotion and love for the Blessed Virgin; so we must certainly conclude that Joseph's love of Jesus, [pg 115] Whom he daily carried in his arms, should lay a greater foundation of hope than that of any of the saints. The flight into Egypt is an example of it. His confidence in the providence of God is so implicit that he makes no preparation. There is Jesus, the Son of God, Who is to go with Him; there is Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, who is to be of the party. These are the two strongest pillars of our hope, and why not to the hope of St. Joseph? God the Father will provide. Is He not the God Who, with a strong arm, led the Israelites out of Egypt, and, after forty years of wandering, introduced them according to promise into the land flowing with milk and honey?

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Nineteenth Day.

In Joseph's flight into Egypt, he knew that Jesus was a more powerful protector of a perilous journey than the Ark of the Covenant which was carried before the tribes of Israel, or the column of smoke that led them during the day and the pillar of fire that protected them at night. He would be the manna, the inexhaustible food, in a desert and strange land. Accompanied by this treasure, St. Joseph is content to suffer for Jesus, and under the eyes of Jesus. We can imagine the sympathy of Joseph for his charge, when he relieved the Blessed Virgin of her burden, and had Him to rest on his bosom. Good and faithful Christian, in all the trials of life keep Jesus close to your heart, and when the world storms and frets, be faithful to your promises made in Baptism, and [pg 116] often repeated during your Christian life by receiving the sacraments.

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.

Twentieth Day.

The providence of God knows what our destiny is, and what is the best for us. Then let us be resigned to His will. All our anxieties would disappear if we were thoroughly convinced of the goodness of God in our behalf; but because we want to do everything without God, not only do we feel anxiety for the future, but disaster will really overtake us. Let us trust in Providence and give Him entire control of all that concerns us. In all our necessities let us pray and wait, until it is God's pleasure to step in, and do away with our troubles, if it be to His greater glory; or if not, then let us patiently bear them. We know that Providence so watches over us, that not a hair falls from our head without His approval. God has His reasons for all that He does, and for all the evil that He permits, though we may not be able to see them. In this way the Christian soul sleeps softly and peacefully in the arms of God, as a child in the arms of its mother. As David, the prophet king, sang in his psalms: “I will sleep and rest in peace because Thou, O Lord, hast founded my hope on Thy providence. Thy mercy shall accompany me all the days of my life.”

Prayer.

Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.