Sermon for the Feast of Saint Joseph
by
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
God, in the great
love which He bears us, and in
His great desire to see us
saved, amongst the many means of
salvation with which
He has provided us, has given us in particular that of
devotion towards the Saints.
He wills that they, as
His friends, should intercede for us, and by their
merits and prayers,
obtain graces for us which we do not of
ourselves deserve. Not, indeed, that the merits
of Jesus Christ are insufficient to
enrich us with every
grace, for they are
superabundant; but because
He is pleased,
on
the one hand, to honor His
faithful servants by making them co-operators in our salvation; and,
on the other, to
increase our confidence that we shall obtain the graces
which we require, when we seek them through
the medium of the Saints. But who is not aware that, after the
Divine Mother,
Saint Joseph is, of all the Saints, the
one
who is the dearest to
God; and that
he
has in consequence great power with Him,
and can therefore obtain graces for
his devout clients? Hence we shall see in
the two following points:
First Point:
How great should be our veneration
for Saint Joseph, on account of
his dignity.
Second Point: How
great should be our confidence in the protection of
Saint Joseph,
on account of his
sanctity.
First Point
How great should be our veneration
for Saint Joseph,
on account of his dignity
We should indeed honor
Saint Joseph, since the
Son of God was graciously pleased to
honor him, by calling
him His
Father. "Christ",
says Origen, "gave to Joseph the honor due to a
parent". He is also thus spoken of in the gospel, "And
His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken
concerning Him" - Luke 2:33. The
Divine Mother also spoke of
him
under this name, "Behold Thy father and I have
sought Thee sorrowing" - Luke 2:48. Since, then, the
King-of-kings was pleased to raise
Joseph to so
high a
dignity, it is a right, and a duty on our part, to endeavor to
honor him
as much as we can. "He indeed should be greatly honored
by men, whom the King-of-kings has been pleased thus to exalt". "What
Angel or Saint", says Saint Basil, "ever
merited to be called the father of the Son of God? Joseph alone was thus called".
Hence we can well apply to Saint Joseph the
words of Saint Paul, "Being made so much better
than the Angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they"
- Hebrews 1:4. Saint Joseph was more
honored by God,
in this name of father, than all the Patriarchs,
Prophets, Apostles, and Pontiffs; for all
these have name of servants, Joseph
alone that of father.
Behold him, as
father, made
lord
of that little family; little in point of
numbers, but great on account of the
two great personages who composed it, i.e.
the Mother of God,
and the only-begotten Son of God made
man: "He made him
master of His house" - Psalm 104:21.
Joseph commanded in that house, and the
Son
of God obeyed, "And He went down with them,
and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them" - Luke 2:51. "This
subjection", says Gerson, "whilst it
shows the humility of Jesus Christ, also shows the greatness of the dignity of
Saint Joseph". "And to what greater dignity,
to what higher degree of exaltation", continues the same writer, "can
a person be raised, than to that of commanding Him Who commands all kings?"
Joshua excited the admiration of the whole world when he
commanded the sun to stop in
its course, that he might have time to
conquer his enemies; and
it obeyed, "the
Lord obeying the voice of a man" - Joshua 10:14. But what
comparison can there be between Joshua, whom the
sun, an inanimate creature, obeyed, and
Joseph, who
was obeyed by Jesus Christ, the
Son of God? As long as
Saint Joseph lived,
Jesus Christ
respected him as a father, and until
his death, that is for
thirty years, always obeyed
him
as such, "He was subject to them". So that
during all those years the constant occupation of the Savior was to
obey Saint Joseph.
During the whole of that time it was Joseph's
charge to command, as the head of the family; and the office of
Jesus was, as a subject, to
obey Saint Joseph,
who
had been given to Him by
God in place of a
father. Hence, on the one hand,
Jesus
performed no action, did not even take a step, tasted no food, took no repose,
but by the orders of Saint Joseph; and on
the other, was all attention in listening to and executing all that
Saint Joseph imposed upon
Him. Our Blessed
Lady said to Saint Bridget, "My Son
was so obedient, that when Joseph said 'Do this' or 'Do that', He immediately
did it". Hence John Gerson writes, "He often
prepared the food and drink, washed the vessels, brought water from the
fountain, and swept the house". Saint Bernard, speaking of
Saint Joseph, says, "He
was a faithful and prudent servant, whom our Lord made the solace of His Mother,
the nourisher of His humanity, and, in fine', the only most faithful cooperator
in the great council on Earth". Therefore,
Saint Joseph was not only destined as a relief to the
Mother of God,
who had so many
tribulations on Earth; not only was
he
the supporter of Jesus Christ, but
he was also destined to cooperate, in a way,
in the redemption of the world, for this was
the work of the great council of the Three
Divine Persons. God having also
given him to His
Son in the place of a father,
He at the same time charged
him to feed and defend
His Son from the
snares of His
enemies, "Take the
Child"; as if He had addressed
him in the words of the Psalmist, "To
thee is the poor man left; thou wilt be a helper to the orphan" -
Psalm 9:14. Joseph,
I have sent My Son
on Earth; and I have sent
Him poor
and humble, without the splendor of riches
or apparent nobility; hence, in the world,
He will be despised,
and called the Son of a
carpenter, "Is not
this the carpenter's Son?" - Matthew 13:55, according to
thy humble trade;
for I have willed
that thou shouldst be
poor, because I
have destined thee to hold the place of a
father over
My Son,
Who is poor;
for He is not come to reign in the world,
but to suffer and die for the
salvation of
men. On Earth, then,
thou wilt hold My place of
father over
Him,
and be His guardian,
"To thee is the poor man left; thou wilt be a helper to
the orphan". I abandon
Him into thy hands.
He will be persecuted, and thou wilt have to share in
His sufferings; guard
Him with care, and be thou
faithful to
Me.
"Therefore", says Saint John Damascen,
"God gave Saint Joseph the love, the care, the
authority of a father over Jesus; He gave him the affection of a father, that he
might guard Him with great love; the solicitude of a father, that he might watch
over Him with care; and the authority of a father, that he might feel sure that
he would be obeyed in all that he arranged as to the Person of this Son".
Having, then, made him, as
Saint Bernard says, a cooperator in the
work of redemption,
He willed
that he should be present at the birth of
Jesus, that
he
might be a faithful witness of the glory
which the Angels gave to
God on this occasion; and also that it had
been revealed to the shepherds, who, when they came to visit the
Savior Who had been announced to them,
related all to Mary and
Joseph. Again, that
he might be a witness of the coming of the
kings, who, guided by a star, had come from afar to adore the
Holy Child, as they themselves said, "For
we have seen His star in the east, and are come to adore Him" -
Matthew 2:2. God also
willed that
Joseph,
together with Mary, should offer
Him the new-born
Babe, as they did, "they carried Him to
Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord" - Luke 2:22; and then
sacrificed Him
to death for the salvation of the world, according to the
Scriptures, in which
the Passion of Jesus Christ had already been foretold, and which were well known to
Mary and Joseph.
God then seeing that,
through jealousy, and
fear of losing his kingdom, Herod wished to gain possession
of the Divine Child to take
His life, sent an
Angel to Saint Joseph, to desire
him, in His name,
to take the Child and
His Mother, and fly to
Egypt: "Arise, and take the Child and His Mother,
and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to
pass that Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him" - Matthew
2:13. Behold, Joseph,
faithful and obedient
to the voice of God, arose in the
night (the very same night on which
he received notice from the Angel,
as interpreters explain it), took the Child
and His
Mother, and journeyed towards Egypt.
Joseph, without loss of time,
gathered together as many instruments of his
trade as he could carry, which were
required to enable him to support
his poor
family in Egypt. Mary,
on the other hand, took the Child in
her arms, and the poor linen for the
use of her
Son; and they set out alone, without a servant, as
poor pilgrims, having to pass through so many desert places
before they could reach Egypt, a country in which they had no
relations or friends, and where they would only find barbarous
and unknown people. When they got there,
Saint Joseph, as Saint Bernard says, labored night
and day to support his
Holy Spouse and the
Divine Child. Having afterwards
returned from Egypt, according to the new command of the
Angel: "Arise,
and take the Child and His Mother, and go into the land of Israel. For
they are dead that sought the life of the Child" - Matthew
2:20; Joseph at once left Egypt,
and returned into Judea. But he was again told by the
Angel not to remain in Judea,
for fear of Archelaus, who
reigned there in the place of Herod his father, who was
dead; he
went therefore to dwell in Nazareth, in the parts of Galilee,
and remained there in the company of his
beloved Jesus, living in
poverty on the small profits of
his humble trade, until the time of
his death.
During this time it was, that, having gone with
Mary and with
Jesus, Who was then
about twelve years of age, to visit
the Temple, he returned home
and met Mary,
whom he believed to
have been accompanied by Jesus, but
Jesus had not returned; therefore
for three days
Joseph constantly
wept, for he was
separated from Jesus, the
love of his
heart; but that which caused
him the greatest
affliction was the
fear that
Jesus had left him on
account of some displeasure which
he might have caused
Him, and therefore that
He no longer considered
him worthy
to have charge of so great a Treasure,
as Lauspergius writes. He
was, however, afterwards consoled
when he heard from
Jesus Himself that
He had remained in the Temple
for affairs which concerned the glory of God.
From that time he attended on
Jesus until
his death,
when it was his
happy lot to
expire in the arms of Jesus
and Mary, who attended upon
him in that last moment; hence
Saint Francis de Sales says that, "it is
certain that, like the Blessed Virgin his spouse, he died of love".
Second Point
How great should be our confidence in the
protection of Saint Joseph,
on account of his
sanctity
We should have great confidence in the
protection of
Saint Joseph, because, on account of
his sanctity,
he was very dear to
God. To form an idea of the
sanctity of Saint Joseph, we
need only know that he was chosen by
God to hold the place of
father over the
Person of
Jesus Christ. Saint Paul writes, "Who
also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament" -
2Corinthians 3:6; which, as Saint Thomas explains it, that "when
God chooses any one for a particular charge, He gives him the graces
which fit him for it". God
having, then, chosen Saint Joseph to
fill the charge of a father
over the Person of the
Incarnate Word, we must certainly
believe that He conferred upon
him all the
gifts of wisdom and
sanctity which became such an
office. Nor should we doubt that He
enriched him with all
graces and
privileges granted to other Saints. Gerson and
Suarez say, that amongst other
privileges he had
three, which were special to
him:
 That
he was
sanctified in his
mother's womb, as Jeremiah, and the Baptist
That
he was at the same time
confirmed in grace
That
he was always exempt from the
inclinations of concupiscence; a
privilege with which
Saint Joseph, by the merit of
his
purity, favors his
devout clients, delivering them from carnal
movements.
In the Gospel, Saint Joseph
is called just, "Whereupon
Joseph her husband, being a just man . . . " -
Matthew 1:19. What is meant by a just man?
Saint Peter Chrysologus says, that "it
means a perfect man, one who possesses all virtues". So that
Joseph was already
holy before
his marriage; but how much must
his sanctity have
increased after his union with the
Divine Mother. The example alone of
his holy
spouse sufficed to sanctify
him. But since
Mary, as Saint Bernardine of
Sienna says, is the Dispenser of
all graces which
God grants to men, in what
profusion must we not believe that she
showered them down upon
her spouse,
whom she
loved so much, and by
whom she
was so tenderly loved.
 How
much must the sanctity of
Joseph have increased by
his conversations and
familiarity with Jesus, during
the many years
he lived with Him. If
the two disciples going to Emmaus
were inflamed with Divine love
by the few moments which they spent
in company with Our Savior, and by
His words; so much so, that they
said, "Was not our heart burning within us,
whilst He spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures?"
- Luke 24:32; what flames of holy love
must we not suppose to have been enkindled in the
heart of Saint
Joseph, who for
thirty years conversed with
Jesus Christ, and listened to
His words of
eternal life;
who observed the perfect example
which He gave of
humility and
patience, and saw the promptitude with which
He obeyed
and helped
him in his
labors, and in all that was needed
for the household. What a furnace of Divine
love must this burning charity
of Jesus have enkindled in the
heart of
Joseph; a heart which was
entirely free from all Earthly affections.
It is true that his
love for
Mary was also very great; but this
love did not divide his
heart, as is too often the case,
according to the word of the Apostle, "But
he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how
he may please his wife: and he is divided" - 1Corinthians
7:33. No, for love for
his spouse
filled him still more with
Divine love. Hence, we cannot doubt
that, during the time which Joseph
spent with Jesus Christ,
he advanced in such a degree in
sanctity and
merits, that he
surpassed the merits of all the
other Saints.
Admitting this, the Apostle writes, that in the next life
Jesus Christ "will
render to every man according to his works" - Romans
2:6. What great glory must we not
suppose that He bestowed upon
Saint Joseph,
who served
and loved Him so much whilst
he lived on Earth. At the
last day
Our Savior will say to the elect,
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I
was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me
in; naked, and you covered Me; sick, and you visited Me; I was in
prison, and you came to Me" - Matthew 25:35-36.
These, nevertheless, have fed
Jesus Christ, have lodged
Him or clothed
Him, only in the persons of the
poor; but Saint Joseph,
procured food, a dwelling, and clothes, for
Jesus Christ in
His own Person. Moreover,
Our Lord has promised a
reward to him who gives a cup of
water to the poor in
His name, "For whosoever shall give
you to drink a cup of water in My name, because you belong to Christ:
amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward" - Mark
9:40. What then, must be the reward
of Saint Joseph,
who can say to
Jesus Christ, "I not only provide
Thee with food, with a dwelling, and with clothes; but I saved Thee from
death, delivering Thee from the hands of Herod". All this
helps to increase our confidence in
Saint Joseph; it makes us reflect that, on account of so many
merits, God
will refuse no grace which
Saint Joseph asks of
Him for his
devout clients.
Saint Bernardine of Sienna adds, that "we
cannot doubt that Christ not only does not refuse to Saint Joseph in
Heaven that familiarity and reverence which, as a Son towards His
father, He accorded him when He lived on Earth, but rather, that it was
now perfected". Remark the words,
familiarity and reverence; that Lord,
Who, on Earth, revered
Saint Joseph as
His father,
will certainly deny him nothing that
he asks in
Heaven. Besides this, we may add that, although on Earth
Saint Joseph had not the authority,
by nature, of a father over the
humanity of Jesus Christ,
he nevertheless had it, at least in
a certain manner, as the spouse of
Mary, who,
as the real Mother of
the Savior, had authority over
Him; he to whom the tree belongs has
also a right to its fruits. This caused Jesus,
when on Earth, to respect and obey
Saint Joseph as His
superior. This also causes Jesus,
now in Heaven, to consider the
prayers of
Saint Joseph in the light of commands.
Let us now listen to what Saint Bernard writes of the power of
Saint Joseph to dispense
graces to
his devout servants: "To some of the
Saints, power is granted to succor in particular necessities; but to
Saint Joseph, power is granted to succor in all necessities, and to
defend all who, with devotion, have recourse to him". That
which Saint Bernard wrote as his opinion, Saint Teresa
confirmed by her own experience; she says, "It
would seem that to other Saints, Our Lord has granted power to succor in
some particular necessity; but experience proves that Saint Joseph
succors in all". Of this we are certain; for, as on Earth,
Jesus Christ was pleased to be
subject to Saint Joseph, so in
Heaven He does all that the
Saint asks. Let us therefore imagine
that we hear Our Lord, when
He sees us
afflicted in the midst of our
miseries, address us all in the words in which Pharaoh
addressed his people at the time of the famine
in Egypt, "Go to Joseph" -
Genesis 41:55, if you desire consolation. By
Our Lord's Grace, there is not at
present a Christian in the world who is not
devout to Saint Joseph;
but, amongst them all, those receive the most abundant
graces who recommend themselves to
him the most frequently and with the
greatest confidence. Let us therefore never pass a day without many
times recommending ourselves to Saint Joseph,
who, after the most
Blessed Virgin Mary, is the most
powerful of all the Saints with God.
Let us never allow a day to pass without offering
him some particular
prayer; but especially during the
Novena for his
Feast, let us
redouble our prayers, and
fast on the vigil; and let us
seek from him the
graces which are useful for our
souls; for
he will always obtain them
for us. In particular, I exhort you to ask for
three special graces:
For
the forgiveness of your
sins
For
the love of
Jesus Christ
And
for a good
death.
As for the forgiveness of
sins, I thus argue; when
Jesus Christ lived in this world, in
the house of Joseph, could a
sinner who desired to obtain the
forgiveness of
his sins from Our Lord,
have found a more efficacious means to obtain this
consolation than through Saint
Joseph? If, then, we desire to be
pardoned by God, let us
have recourse to Saint Joseph,
who, now that
he is in Heaven, is
more loved by
Jesus Christ than
he was loved by
Him on Earth. Let us also ask
Saint Joseph for
love towards
Jesus Christ; this I firmly believe to
be the particular grace which
Saint Joseph obtains for those who
are devout to him,
tender love towards the
Incarnate Word; and the
Saint
merited this by the tender love
which he himself bore
Him on Earth. Let us also ask
him for a
happy death; all know
that Saint Joseph is the
Patron of a
good death; for
he had the
happiness to die in the
arms of Jesus and
Mary; therefore
his devout servants should
hope with confidence that, at their
death,
Saint Joseph will visit them, accompanied by
Jesus and
Mary, and that he will
help them. Of this there have been
many instances.
Boverio relates that in the year 1541,
Brother Alexius of Vigevano, a Capuchin lay-brother, was
dying, and begged the brothers to
light some tapers; they asked him why? He replied, that it was because
Saint Joseph and the most
Blessed Virgin would shortly come to
visit him. He had scarcely pronounced these words when he exclaimed, "Behold
Saint Joseph and the Queen of Heaven; kneel down my fathers, and welcome
them"; and so saying, he sweetly
expired on the
19th of March, the day which is
consecrated in honor of Saint Joseph.
Saint Vincent Ferrer, Father Patrignani, and others,
relate that a merchant in the city of Valencia, used every year,
on Christmas-day, to invite to
dinner an old man and a woman nursing a child, in honor of
Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph. This good man appeared
after his death to a person who was
praying for him, and told him that
at his death
Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph had visited him, and said: "In
life thou didst receive us into thy house in the person of three poor
persons; we are now come to receive thee into our house"; and
they took him to Paradise. In the
Franciscan legendary, on the 14th of
February, it is related that Sister Prudentiana Zagnoni,
who had great devotion to Saint Joseph,
was favored at her
death with the vision of
Saint Joseph,
who came close to her bed with
Jesus in
his arms. She began to converse
first with Saint Joseph,
then with
Jesus, thanking them for so great a
favor, and in this sweet company breathed forth her
happy soul. In the history of the
Discalced Carmelites it is also related that when the Venerable
Sister Anne of Saint Augustine, a Carmelite nun, was dying,
some of her sisters saw Saint Joseph
and Saint Teresa, who attended upon her, and that the servant of
God was
filled with joy. A nun in another convent saw her ascend to
Heaven between
Saint Joseph and Saint Teresa.
Father John de Allosa, in his book on
Saint Joseph, relates that a religious of the Order of
Saint Augustine appeared to a companion, and said, "that
God had delivered him from Hell on account of the particular devotion
which he had had for Saint Joseph". He then declared that the
Saint, as the
adopted father of Jesus Christ,
had great power with Him.
Ancient Miraculous Prayer to Saint Joseph
This prayer was found in the fiftieth year of our
Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. In 1505 it was sent from the Pope to Emperor Charles when he
was going into battle. Whoever shall read this prayer or hear it or keep it about
themselves shall never die a sudden death, or be drowned, nor shall poison take effect on
them; neither shall they fall into the hands of the enemy,
nor shall they be burned in any fire, nor shall they be overpowered in battle.
O Saint 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 Saint Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession,
and obtain for me from your Divine Son 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 Saint 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 the Kiss when I draw my dying
breath, Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us.
Amen
Many
miracles have been attributed to this daily prayer.
Make this prayer known everywhere . . .
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