St. Joseph: The Holy Cross Tradition
I have often been asked why Saint Joseph had such a great importance for Saint Brother André. We can certainly speak of the importance of St. Joseph for Canada, or of the place of St. Joseph in the devotional life of French Canadian families but we can equally say that Br. André found in Holy Cross a fertile ground to develop a spirituality that gave a prominent place to St. Joseph. I want to share with you a few elements of the devotion to St. Joseph as it evolved in Holy Cross, starting from the very early days when Fr. Basile Moreau accepted responsibility for the Brothers of Saint Joseph.
In Father Moreau’s life and teaching
From the very beginning of the Congregation, St. Joseph had been seen as an important figure. Blessed Moreau often referred to him as “our glorious patron,” our “holy patron” or the “incomparable patron of our Congregation.” He certainly kept in mind that the group of religious entrusted to him were called the “Brothers of Saint Joseph.”
In his early letters, Fr. Moreau often spoke about St. Joseph in the context of the Holy Family. Seeking more solidarity in his community, our founder saw the unity between Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the Holy Family, as a model for Holy Cross brothers, priests, and sisters.
Fr. Albert François Cousineau, C.S.C., who was Superior General from 1938 to 1950, explains how this approach of the Holy Family is an essential element of Father Moreau’s spirituality. He writes, “It is important to come back to what we can call the very soul and the mystical inspiration of the spirituality of our Congregation. Let us sum up this mystical vision. It is incorporation in Christ. The earthly model proposed by Father Moreau in his circular letter of September 1841 is the Holy Family. The fruit that can be expected from our faithfulness to this ideal is the union among us modeled on the union of the three persons in the Holy Trinity.”
St. Joseph was, however, most often seen as the one to whom we go to receive God’s favor and protection. Holy Cross religious were invited to pray to St. Joseph asking for his support in all aspects of their lives. Following spiritual authors of his time, Fr. Moreau often used the Latin expression “Ite ad Joseph,” (“Go to Joseph”) as he invited people to ask for the help of St. Joseph.
The words “Go to Joseph” refer, in fact, to Joseph the son of Jacob in the Old Testament. In the book of Genesis (Gen. 42, 55) these words are found as an instruction given by the Pharaoh to the Egyptian nation, bidding them to go to Joseph his vizier who would answer all their needs. In devotional instruction at the time of Fr. Moreau, it appeared as an invitation to pray to St. Joseph because he also can answer our prayers. In one of his sermons, Fr. Moreau after mentioning the expression “Ite ad Joseph” added, “Implore Saint Joseph and he will open to you the treasures of divine grace.”
In his circular letters, he regularly invited the members of the community to give particular attention to the devotion to St. Joseph. In his letter of February 6, 1861, he explained at greater length the importance of this feast. In his circular letter for the month of St. Joseph in 1861, he hoped to set up a place of pilgrimage to St. Joseph. He writes, “How happy I would be if, in our Solitude at Chardonnière, I could establish a place of pilgrimage in honor of this worthy spouse of the Queen of Virgins…” (p. 373).
Father Moreau also saw Saint Joseph as a model of life. In his circular letter, Father Moreau wrote, “It is not enough merely to call upon him, we must foster devotion to him and above all imitate his virtues…” (Circular Letter 138). His chaste relationship with the Virgin Mary is a model of chastity for religious. His readiness to respond to the mission entrusted to him, his obedience to the call received from God encourages religious to have the same attitude of obedience to God and the same zeal to do the will of God.
St. Joseph is also a model of humility and poverty. Fr. Moreau said, “Saint Joseph who was so noble by reason of his ancestry and so eminent because of the mission entrusted to him, lived a humble life earning his bread in the sweat of his brow…” (Circular Letter 138).
Father Moreau’s successors
Fr. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., Superior General from 1868 to 1893, continued this tradition of devotion to St. Joseph. He spoke of St. Joseph as a model but he viewed St. Joseph particularly as a protector for the work of Holy Cross. This is very clear in the difficult moment after the fire that destroyed the Main Building of the University of Notre Dame in 1879. As he undertook the new construction with very limited financial means, he placed his confidence in St. Joseph, convinced that with his help the work would be completed.
As Holy Cross spread out and developed many educational institutions, Fr. Sorin invited the religious to foster devotion to St. Joseph particularly during the month of March; in a circular letter of 1869 he insists on the importance to celebrate with solemnity the month dedicated to St. Joseph, our patron. He gives specific instructions on the way to celebrate the month of St. Joseph: “In each class we will use the minutes at the end of the day to offer special prayers to Saint Joseph and in each class room there will be an altar with a statue or a picture of St. Joseph.”
The figure of Brother Andre and Saint Joseph Oratory
Fr. Gilbert Français, C.S.C., Superior General from 1883 to 1926, continued in the same tradition but it was during his term as Superior General that a new dimension of the devotion to St. Joseph in the Congregation of Holy Cross appeared with the founding of Saint Joseph’s Oratory. In 1918, when the Crypt Church was inaugurated at the Oratory, he wrote a letter to the superior of the Oratory, expressing his joy to see the manner in which Saint Joseph was honored in Montreal. He does not refer directly to Br. André, but he shows his belief in the importance of the shrine. While expressing his joy and his support, he says nothing of Br. André. It is only after the death of the founder of the Oratory that his name will be celebrated.
In 1937, Fr. James Donahue, C.S.C., as Superior General mentioned the name of Br. André, but his comment is directed toward the importance of the devotion to St. Joseph for Holy Cross. He writes, “I have felt for some time now the need to encourage all our religious to deepen and intensify their devotion to Saint Joseph. I am convinced that it is God’s will. We are called to this as a community as well as individual members of the community…” Later he adds, “May the death of our Br. André and the return of the month of March be for us an occasion to renew our devotion to St. Joseph."
In 1938, Fr. Cousineau was elected Superior General. At the time of his election, he was superior of St. Joseph’s Oratory. He had accompanied Brother André during the last days of his life. It was natural for him to continue this tradition of devotion to St. Joseph and to see this devotion in its relationship with Br. André and the development of St. Joseph’s Oratory.
In following years, when the process leading to the beatification and canonization of Brother André progressed, the devotion to St. Joseph and to Br. Andre became more and more common.
Since the time of its foundation, Holy Cross has always been exhorted to give an important place to St. Joseph as a model and a powerful intercessor before God. As we celebrate the feast of this great saint, we are all invited to imitate him and renew our commitment to dedicate our life to the mission God has entrusted to us.
St. Joseph is for us a guide and a protector.
****
St. Joseph
The Husband of Mary
The
Bible does not record a single word spoken by St. Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph
The
Litany of St. Joseph approved by the Universal
Church St. Joseph Holy Church St. Joseph
Joseph
was a man who perfectly responded to the stupendous calling God gave him. The
American Catholic Bishops, in their Marian Pastoral, "Behold Your Mother,
Woman of Faith,” had this to say about the age of Joseph. "According to
the custom of her time and people, Mary was probably no more than 14 when her
parents arranged her marriage, and Joseph probably about 18. God asked great
things of them both and they responded to His call with dedicated love"
(chapter 5, 143).
It
is not giving a true picture of Joseph the young husband and father to picture
him as a very old man with his foster Son. It was not an old man who was able
during the night at the message of an angel to obey the angel of the Lord and
make the long escape into Egypt
We
do not have any exact words handed down to us as spoken by St. Joseph, but
obviously Joseph himself told of the different times he received messages from
an angel of the Lord.
St.
Matthew in his gospel tells us Joseph is an "upright" or "just
man." For Scripture to use such a description is saying much about a man.
Being a just man, he is endowed with many other corresponding virtues that make
him truly holy. Joseph appears in the life of the Holy Family at decisive times
to exercise his role as father. The name of Joseph is seen at the end of the
genealogy of Jesus Christ, "son of David, son of Abraham," as St.
Matthew opens his gospel. It ends, "Jacob was the father of Joseph the
husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ" (Mt. 1:16 ). Through Joseph, the Evangelist
here unites Christ to the descent of David. You remember that the Savior was to
come from the House (family) of David so as to fulfill the prophecies.
One
can try to imagine the great sorrow of Mary when she realized that Joseph did
not know the source of the Child she obviously carried in her womb. It is
apparent that the angel had not told Mary to reveal this to her husband or she
certainly would have. Joseph was faced with a decision that must have tormented
his conscience and mind - what he should do with Mary pregnant - when Joseph
knew that he himself was still living by the vow of virginity that both he and
Mary had taken, even though they were rightfully husband and wife.
Joseph
was a "just man." He trusted his wife Mary. Never for a moment would
this "just man" consider his most holy wife to be guilty of sin. Yet
he could not understand the what or how of the situation which was obvious to
his eyes. Being a man of honor, a good and holy man, Joseph did not want to
expose her to the rigor of the Law (Dt. 22-20f.) when he did not understand the
mystery.
Jewish
betrothal had the force of law that the fiancé (engaged) was already called
"husband" with the privileges of a husband with his wife. Joseph's
justice is seen not in wanting to withhold his name from a child whose father
he did not know but in his being convinced of Mary's virtue while he himself
remained bewildered by mystery.
Finally
the angel came and informed Joseph that the Child that Mary was with would mean
that it would also be his Child, for it was conceived by the Holy Spirit but
only within his marriage to Mary.
"Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has
conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and
you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from
their sins" (1 Mt. 1:20 -21).
Notice
how the paternity (fatherhood) of Joseph is recognized. The Savior would come
from the family of David, of which Joseph was a member, and Joseph was to give
the name to the Savior. The Son of Mary would be the Son of Joseph too, in an
even higher sense than is normally and naturally the case with human fathers.
The
Child was conceived and born within the marriage bond of Mary and Joseph.
Joseph is the father of Jesus through Mary. It is all through the miraculous
intervention of God, yet within the true marriage of Mary and Joseph. And this
very solemn point is to be remembered. Joseph represents in a human way the
First Person of the Blessed Trinity to the Christ Child. In heaven, from all
eternity, God the Father is the "Father" Jesus will speak of so
often. Within the human family, Joseph is His father, and He is Joseph's Son.
His community called Jesus "the carpenter's Son," and the "just
man" could accept that title.
Marriage
is the channel of parenthood for St.
Joseph St. Joseph
As
St. Joseph took the Child and His Mother into Egypt Nazareth
"Is
not this man Jesus, the son of Joseph?"
In
various passages of the Bible we see Joseph in the role of father and parent.
St. Luke records the prophecy of Simeon: "And father and mother were
wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him" and when Mary
and Joseph missed the Christ Child St. Luke records: "And when he was
twelve years old, they went up into Jerusalem Jerusalem
When
Mary is astonished and says: "Son, why have you done so to us? Behold your
father and I have sought you sorrowing," Jesus replied: "How is it
that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?"
Jesus here referred to his heavenly Father. Jesus was not putting down His
virginal father or Mary's emphasis on the paternity and maternity of Joseph and
Mary. Their roles are rather enhanced. For the next words of the Gospel tell
us: "And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth
The
paternity (fatherhood) of Joseph was singular and different from all others. It
was entirely supernatural by conception but natural by law and by marriage. The
father is very important in the emotional development of any child. Our Lord
was like us "in all things except sin." That means that Joseph had a
profound influence on the development of the boy Jesus. The love that existed
between this father and this Son was realized in a union of souls on a higher
level, both natural and supernatural, than has ever been before or since or
will ever be realized again.
The
paternity of St. Joseph
Let
us think again of God's plan of salvation. The person of Joseph and his role in
God's plan are closely related to the way God came into this world. Wanting to
be like us in all things except sin, Jesus had a family heritage like the rest
of us. Jesus enters into a family, "born of a Woman" who has a loving
husband. Jesus is conceived and born with strong parental ties. It is a real
family, not make-believe. There is a real husband who becomes the real father
by divine intervention.
It
was under the family authority of Joseph that the "Word was made
flesh." Not to an unmarried Virgin was Jesus born but in all the sanctity
of family life of which Joseph is, by God's plan, an essential head. "To a
virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the
virgin's name was Mary."
It
is not correct to say that Joseph was the adopted father of the Christ Child.
His paternity was not merely symbolic but real. St. Thomas Aquinas put it this
way: "Joseph is in the same manner as much father of Christ as spouse of
Mary, not by virtue of the union of blood but by matrimonial right." Jesus
came forth as the fruit of the matrimony of Mary and Joseph, which was for the
purpose of bringing forth the Child Jesus.
Just
as Mary said "Yes" (Fiat) to the request of heaven that she become
the Mother of the Redeemer, so Joseph, when he fully understood all, said
"Yes" to the plan of heaven. The angel announced to Joseph that Mary
was with Child "begotten . . . of the Holy Spirit." Joseph did not
put her away privately then. He accepted her as his wife and accepted the Child
Jesus as his own. Joseph provided for and protected the Child as well as His
Mother, for they were truly his family which he freely accepted.
With
faith and love and obedience, Joseph represented the whole human race in
accepting the Savior Child, just as Mary represented all of humanity in saying,
"Be it done . . . according to your word."
By
becoming father of Christ, who is the Head of the Mystical Body, the Church, St. Joseph
It
is true the Word was already made flesh when Mary said "Yes, " but
for the Redemption to fully to begin to operate in the family there are still
needed the acceptance, the "yes" of Joseph. Fathers of the Church
from early centuries saw Joseph as another Adam as Mary was a second Eve.
Eve
first sinned and then influenced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. When Adam
also sinned the entire human race fell. Mary first cooperated with the grace of
accepting the Incarnation (God becoming Man), and she was like a new or second
Eve. Then Joseph enters, and unlike Adam who accepted the forbidden fruit,
Joseph accepts the blessed fruit of Mary's womb as His own. In this way St. Joseph
Mary
cooperates with God in undoing the work of the first Eve. Joseph cooperates
fully with God in undoing the work of the first Adam. A woman first accepts
evil in the world and then influences her husband. A Woman also first accepts
the Author of Grace in the world, and her example and virtue influence her
husband to accept the same Author of Grace for the world.
SUMMARY: Readers of this book,
SAINTS AND HEROES SPEAK, will have noticed that whereas almost every chapter
begins by having the saint or hero speak in the first person, your author did
not do that with this chapter. I would not presume to do what God in His
infinite wisdom chose not to do. Joseph has appeared in Sacred Scripture and
through the centuries as a just and holy man clothed in silence and mystery.
But what he was and is, is still being meditated upon by the Church after 2,000
years, and a great appreciation of this man of the Gospels is beginning to
develop more fully and profoundly in our own times.
God
has His way and His purpose and time, which human thoughts and ways cannot
improve upon. It would seem to me, however, that our own times, so sadly in
need of recapturing and remembering and then living the sanctity of family life
and the importance of the father in the family, have been blessed by heaven to
understand more fully the holiness and importance of the role of the virginal
father and head of the Holy Father, St. Joseph.
Just
at a time when divorce, the breakdown of family unity, the abandonment of the
family as "a little Church" (a place where we first learn about God
and His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior) are all spreading too rapidly, the Holy
Spirit moves the members of the Universal Church, of which St. Joseph is the
Protector, to study again in prayer the role of that father of the Holy Family.
Below
I should like to share with you the words of Pope Paul VI concerning St. Joseph
"Today
our religious thought is attracted by an evangelical figure, extremely humble
and good, St. Joseph
"His
presence in the Messianic plan, his protective and pedagogic mission in the
domestic nucleus, the 'Holy Family,' through which Christ entered human
society, his privileged and self-sacrificing union with Mary, mother of the Son
of God and Son of Man, give St. Joseph special claims on our administration,
and particularly justify our confidence in his patronage, which extends, by
divine plan, over the whole Church, the mystical body of Christ, and which each
of us can therefore invoke for himself.
"We
remember the visit we made, long ago, to the great sanctuary dedicated to St. Joseph Montreal Canada
It
was the privilege of the author of this book shortly before ordination to
Christ's holy priesthood to go on pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Joseph, his
Oratory, on the hill near Montreal Canada St.
Joseph Rome
From
an early age, my second name being "Joseph" (children of my
acquaintance when growing up considered the second name our "Saint's
Name") I reamed a devotion to St.
Joseph St. Joseph
Communism
has sought to separate the working-class people in the world from Christ's holy
Church. In parts of the world demonstrations would take place on May 1 each
year. The Catholic Church answered this attempt of atheistic Communists by
establishing the Feast of St. Joseph the Workman on May 1. In the United States St. Joseph
In
the fifth apparition of Our Lady at Fatima in
1917, Our Lady announced that on October 13, 1917 , the entire Holy Family would appear at
the same time as the promised miracle so that all could believe the children
were telling the truth. In the July 13 apparitions of that year, Our lady
requested the consecration of Russia Russia Russia Russia
In
September, 1917, Our Lady said: "In October, Our Lord will come, and also
Our Lady of Dolors and Our Lady of Carmel. Saint Joseph
Sister
Lucia, still living at the time of the writing of this book, as the surviving
seer of Fatima , wrote the following regarding
the October apparition:
"When
Our Lady disappeared in the immense distance of the firmament, beside the sun
we saw Saint Joseph Saint Joseph St. Joseph
It
is most interesting that in the approved Fatima
apparitions, St. Joseph St. Joseph Fatima
was a message for the world. St.
Joseph
We
can conclude this chapter on St.
Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph Temple
Fathers
of families can pray to St. Joseph St.
Joseph St. Joseph
God
became Man to save the world, and He became Man within a family. St. Joseph
What
is needed is to bring St. Joseph Universal
Church St. Joseph
As
devout Catholics seek to re-establish a Christian society, St. Joseph
We
must look upon St. Joseph
Within
marriage, the average Christian vocation, the Incarnation is realized again in
the beautiful flowering of human sexuality as God intended within the Sacrament
of Matrimony. Every true Catholic Christian family is an image of the Church.
All the members are joined in Christ. Human sexuality, as God intended, becomes
not a source for sin but a source for grace, a growing in the very life of God.
When
the true marriage of Joseph and Mary is appreciated, this alone, when put into
the lives of the average Christian, would do much to Christianize society. Why?
The family is the basic unit of society. If the family crumbles, society and
the nation crumble. If family life is strengthened in Christ, the Church and
the nation are strong, united.
St.
Joseph should be presented to our families, and his intercession sought by
today's youth, seeking purity, and seeking to fulfil one day the true Christian
fulfilment of marriage in Christ.
