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Memorial: 19 March; 1 May
(Joseph the Worker)
Profile
Descendant of the house of David. Layman. Carpenter. Earthly spouse of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. Foster and adoptive father of Jesus Christ. Visionary
who was visited by angels. Noted for his willingness to immediately get up
and do what God told him.
Died: 1st century, prior to the Passion, of natural causes
Patronage: against doubt, against hesitation, Americas, Austria,
diocese of Baton Rouge California, Belgium, Bohemia, bursars,
cabinetmakers, Canada, Carinthia, carpenters, China, Church,
confectioners, craftsmen, Croatian people (in 1687 by decree of the
Croatian parliament) dying people, emigrants, engineers, expectant
mothers, families, fathers, Florence Italy, happy death, holy death, house
hunters, immigrants, interior souls, Korea, laborers, diocese of La Crosse
Wisconsin, archdiocese of Louisville Kentucky, diocese of Manchester New
Hampshire, Mexico, diocese of Nashville Tennessee, New France, New World,
Oblates of Saint Joseph, people in doubt, people who fight Communism,
Peru, pioneers, pregnant women, protection of the Church, diocese of San
Jose California, diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, social justice,
Styria Austria, travelers, Turin Italy, Tyrol Austria, unborn children
Universal Church, Vatican II, Viet Nam, diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
West Virginia, wheelwrights, workers, working people
Representation: bible; carpenter's square; carpenter's tools;
chalice; cross; hand tools; infant Jesus; ladder; lamb; lily; monstrance;
old man holding a lily and a carpenter's tool such as a square; old man
holding the infant Jesus; plane; rod
Reading
He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and
protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary,
Joseph's wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until
at last God called him, saying 'Good and faithful servant, enter into the
joy of your Lord.'
from a sermon by Saint Bernardine of Siena
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There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human
being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special
grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with
all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.
This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the
foster-father of our Lord, and the husband of the Queen of our world,
enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the
trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his
divine Son and Mary, Joseph's wife. He carried out this vocation with
complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying "Good and faithful
servant, enter into the joy of your Lord."
Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster child. Ask your
most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the
mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns
eternally. Amen.
from a sermon by Saint Bernardine of Siena
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What emanates from the figure of Saint Joseph is faith...Joseph of
Nazareth is a "just man" because he totally "lives by faith." He is holy
because his faith is truly heroic.
Sacred Scripture says little of him. It does not record even one word
spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. And yet, even without words,
he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness.
Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because
he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the words of
the Living God. He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly
perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of
the Living God.
We see how the word of the Living God penetrates deeply into the soul of
that man, that just man. And we, do we know how to listen to the word of
God? Do we know how to absorb it into the depths of our human
personalities? Do we open our conscience in the presence of this word?
Pope John Paul II from Daily Meditations
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