St. Joseph: Patron saint of three popes

VATICAN INSIDER 

03/18/2012  
St. Joseph: Patron saint of three popes

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/san-giuseppe-saint-joseph-san-jose-papa-el-papa-pope-13596/ 

PORTRAIT OF ST. JOSEPH BY GUIDO RENI

The feast of St. Joseph, Mary’s husband, is linked to the lives of three great Popes

MICHELANGELO NASCAROME

In a letter written to his grand-daughter in April 1949, during his time as Apostolic Nuncio to Paris, Mgr. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, defined St. Joseph as “the diplomat saint who knows when to keep quiet and speaks with moderation and always with great generosity.” This definition or rather, the main programmatic aspect that influenced the lives of Roncalli and the future John XXIII. As the Catholic Catechism (no. 2156) recalls: The patron saint provides a model of charity; the baptised person is assured of his intercession. Thus, in Roncalli and also Joseph Ratzinger, one can clearly make out characteristics of their respective patron Saints. In April 1947, Bishop Roncalli wrote to his brother: “There was never a time when St. Joseph did not listen to my prayers. Looking closely at my life, it bears similarities to his. Amongst these scribes and Pharisees – as you call them – I have the task of presenting and defending the Lord. Is that not so?”

A few years ago, Benedict XVI illustrated the experience of Christian prayer with the image of “inner silence”, recalling the figure of St. Joseph: “His, is a silence permeated by contemplation of the mystery of God, entrusting himself totally to divine will. In other words, St. Joseph’s silence is not the sign of a hollow interior, but of the fullness of faith which he carries in his heart and which guides all his thoughts and actions [...] It was from his “father” Joseph that Jesus learnt - on a human level – that strong interiority which is a condition for authentic justice, that “superior justice” He would one day teach his disciples (see Matthew 5:20).”

The Pope’s words emphasise St. Joseph the Patriarch’s main vocational identity. It would be wrong to consider Mary’s husband as a marginal presence in Christ’s educational growth. Joseph is called - together with the Mother of God – to look after and raise the Son of God, through a very personal act of obedience. It is Joseph who helps us understand to what lengths God will go to ask his creations to surrender themselves completely to His will.

The task Joseph is called to fulfil, is that of making space for God, because it is through his personal “authorisation” that the mystery of salvation can be accomplished through the incarnation of Christ. St. Joseph’s fertility is essentially his willingness to give himself up and to embrace God’s will, in its entirety. 

Another great Pope – renowned for his personal devotion to Mary - also bears St. Joseph’s name: the Blessed John Paul II.

In his writings, Pope Wojtyla often referred back to the spiritual benefits which the charisma of Carmel had given him during his vocational growth. We also know that Pope Wojtyla always carried the Brown Scapular he was consecrated with, wherever he went. But there is another, perhaps less known detail which confirms the spiritual attention that linked John Paul II to Carmelite history. On 16 October 2003, Karol Wojtyla gave his papal ring as a gift to the convent - founded by the Carmelitan Raffaele Kalinowski - in his home town Wadowice, where the Pope often used to pray. He did so in order to decorate the picture of St. Joseph, whose name he bears (Karol Józef Wojtyła was the name the Pope had been baptised with). Wojtyla recognised St. Joseph as the second patron saint of his Baptism, devotedly praying to him “every day.”

John Paul II’s papal bull reads: “[...] In the city where I was born, St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of my Baptism, bestowed his protection on the People of God in the Discalced Carmelite Church ‘on the hill’, where his painting is venerated above the high altar, the Pope wrote. “I offer the papal ring, in the 25th year of my pontificate, for a similar decoration of the painting of him who nourished the Son of God, venerated in the Carmelite Church, Wadowice. May this ring”, he added, symbol of married love, which will be placed on the hand of St. Joseph in the painting of Wadowice, remind his devotees that the Head of the Holy Family is ‘that just man of Nazareth who possesses the clear characteristics of a husband….and remained faithful to God’s call until the end….and received the same love, through whose power the Eternal Father has predestined us to be His adopted children through Jesus Christ.” (Redemptoris Custos, 1: 17-18).

“May the Discalced Carmelites, faithful custodians of the church of Wadowice, in accepting my gratitude for all that I received from the Carmelitan school of spirituality during my childhood, following the example of their Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus, contemplate in St. Joseph, the perfect model of the intimacy with Jesus and Mary, Patron of inner prayer and of tireless service to one’s brothers (see Vita, 6: 6-8 ; 32, 12). ”

l meeting with the faithful

Station at St. Paul without-the-walls

Lent: March 21st 

 Stational Church  

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Suffering Servant

Meditation - On the Compassion of Some Women of Jerusalem
A goodly number of the women of Jerusalem (not disciples of Jesus) met this saddest of funeral processions. No doubt their weeping and sobbing and loud wailing, however sincere, was not in real accord with the sorrow that was straining Jesus' heart to the breaking point-His sorrow, namely, over their refusal to accept the truth of His Messiahship and of His supreme royalty as the promised Christ and Savior. Still, the heart of Jesus was deeply affected by the sympathy of these women. Contrasted with all else that was poured into His ears, it was very acceptable and was gratefully received.

But what lastingly gives this incident its chief significance is the fact that, even here in His greatest misery, Jesus is thinking predominantly of the doom of the Holy City and its temple, now practically sealed. Evidently His heart is aching at the vision of the horrors that will soon overtake it and the whole Jewish race, for its criminal blindness to His divine credentials and its obstinate refusal to profit by His teaching and His Precious Blood. For the days are near, when the barren among the Jewish women will be called blessed; when death, sudden and terrible though it be, will seem preferable to life. Try, therefore, to look deep into Jesus' Sacred Heart in its very keen sympathy for these women, and especially for their children. For of the children here present in the procession, or carried in the arms of their mothers, many no doubt were to be witnesses and victims of the abomination of desolation coming upon Jerusalem not forty years hence (Luke 19:41-44)

Excerpted from Our Way to the Father by Leo M. Krenz, S.J.

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The Station today is at St. Paul without-the-walls. On this day the catechumens were subjected to a new examination and, if approved, were registered for Baptism. The beginning of the four Gospels was read to them, and the Creed and the Our Father was "given," or explained to them. Today's Mass has a decided Baptismal character. The joys of this day were anticipated on Laetare Sunday.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2012-03-21#station

John 5:17-30 "My Father goes on working, and so do I."

MAGNIFICAT www.magnificat.com

Community Eucharist:

This morning the Abbot read the riveting passage - every word of a long Gospel.

A commentary by Benedict xvi is a glimpse of his insight.

MASS

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

"The Lord consoles his people and takes pity on those who are afflicted." The Lord assures us, "I will never forget you." "The Lord supports all who fall." It is for us simply to ''call on him from [our] hearts." For "the Son gives life to anyone he chooses."

A reading from                                           '

the holy Gospel according to John   5: 17-30

JESUS SAID TO THE JEWS, "My Father goes on working, and so do I." But that only made them even more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the ...

The Father at Work
by POPE BENEDICT XVI

Father - with this word I express my certainty that someone is there who hears me, who never leaves me alone, who is always present. I express my certainty that God, despite the infinite difference between him and me, is such that I can speak to him, may even address him familiarly as "thou" (German du).

His greatness does not overwhelm me, does not reject me as insignificant and unimportant. Certainly I am subject to him as a child is subject to his father, yet there is such a fundamental similarity and likeness between him and me, yes, I am so important to him, I belong so closely to him, that I can rightly address him as "Father".

My being born is not a mistake, then, but a grace. It is good to live even though I do not always perceive it. I am wanted; not a child of chance or necessity, but of choice and free­dom.

Therefore I shall also have a purpose in life; there will always be a meaning for me, a task designed just for me, there is a conception of me that I can seek and find and fulfil. When the school of life becomes unbearably hard, when I would like to cry out as Job did, as the psalmist did - then I can transform this cry into the word "Father" and the cry will gradually become a word, a reminder to trust, because from the Father's perspective it is clear that my distress, yes, my agony, is part of the greater love for which I give thanks.

His Holiness Benedict XVI was elected to the See of Saint Peter in 2005.

Benedict XVI (Pope)

From Co-Workers of tile Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year, Sr.lrene Grassl, Ed .• Sr. Mary Frances McCarthy, S.N.D., & Rev. Lothar Krauth, Trs. C 1992, lgnatius Press, San Francisco, CA. wwwignatius.com.

Used with permission. 

St. Cuthbert - Independent Catholic News

Holy Island

Reflection: A sandwich for St Cuthbert

By: Maurice Billingsley

Posted: Monday, March 19, 2012 11:06 pm

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=20070

March 20 is the feast of St Cuthbert, who died on this day in 687. There is a story that one Friday, the bishop of Lindisfarne, Saint Cuthbert was welcomed into an isolated farmstead by a woman who offered to feed him and his horse. 'Stay and eat', she said, 'for you won't reach home tonight.' But Cuthbert would not break his Friday fast, so rested a while, let her care for his horse, and pressed on his way. It got dark well before he was in sight of home so he found shelter in a tumbledown, empty, isolated shepherd's hut. Here his horse began to pull down the thatch of the roof to have something to eat, but even Cuthbert could not see thatch as food for a man, however hungry he might be. The horse carried on attacking the roof, making the best of what was available in this wild place. As it pulled at the thatch, a packet fell to the floor; when the good bishop opened it he found bread and meat, the meat still warm. He shared the loaf with his beast as he gave thanks to God. How did the meal get there? Was it concealed by the hospitable woman as she tended his horse back at the farm? Cuthbert did not know, but he was happy to eat what was provided after his day of fasting had finished – for like the Muslims at Ramadan today, he would have counted sunset as the day's end. In Muslim countries today, many Christians will observe the fast in solidarity with their neighbours. So  let us enjoy our sandwiches – yes, even in this season of Lent – to thank the Lord who provides the food, as Cuthbert did, and to share in the ministry of hospitality, like the woman on the farmstead.

Vultus Christi

Tibi dixit cor meum, quaesivi vultum tuum, vultum tuum, Domine, requiram: ne avertas faciem tuam a me. Ps 26:8–9

« The Holy Abbots Robert, Alberic, and Stephen | Main | The Kingdom of Heaven Is At Hand »

http://vultus.stblogs.org/2008/01/i_love_them_that_love_me.html

January 26, 2008

I Love Them That Love Me

San Bernardo alle Terme
One of my favourite churches in Rome is San Bernardo alle Terme. It is a luminous round church, built in 1598 on the site of the hot steam baths of Diocletian. Immense paintings by an artist named Odazj dominate the two side altars: the one on the right is dedicated to Saint Bernard, the one on the left to Saint Robert of Molesmes, the first abbot of Cîteaux. The first time I visited the church of San Bernardo I was so taken by the magnificent painting of Saint Bernard in the embrace of Jesus Crucified that I failed to understand the significance of the one depicting Saint Robert. It was on a later visit that I discovered it. It has, with the passing of time, become rich in meaning for me.
Saint Robert of Molesmes and the Virgin Mother
Saint Robert, whom we celebrate today with his two immediate successors, Saints Alberic and Stephen, was the founding abbot of the “New Monastery” at Cîteaux in 1098. The painting in the church of San Bernardo alle Terme shows Saint Robert clothed in his white cowl. Abbot Robert’s face is entirely recollected; his head is bowed, illustrating the twelfth step of humility in Chapter Seven of the Holy Rule. At the center of the painting we see the Virgin Mother of God in all her beauty. Her face is radiant. She wears a rose coloured dress with a blue mantle and pale brown veil. The Infant Jesus, leaning on her knee, is in conversation with an angel. Angels surround the Queen of Heaven on all sides, fascinated and thrilled by what she is doing.
Mystical Espousal to the Virgin Mary
Our Lady is placing a wedding ring on Saint Robert’s finger. Robert, overwhelmed by so tender a love, offers her his right hand. The painting depicts the Mystical Espousal of Saint Robert to the Virgin Mary, a theme not often represented in art. Even in the annals of holiness, mystical espousal with the Virgin Mary is not encountered very frequently. We hear of it in the lives of Saint Edmund of Canterbury, of the Premonstratensian Saint Hermann–Joseph of Steinfeld, and of the Dominican Alain de la Roche. In the seventeenth century, Saint John Eudes wrote of Our Lady as the spouse of priests, and bound himself to her by means of marriage contract. Does not the liturgy attribute to Our Lady the words of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs: “I love them that love me” (Prov 8:17)?
Saint Joseph
In the painting I am describing it is clear that the initiative is Our Lady’s. She appears to have drawn Saint Robert upward to herself to receive this ineffable grace binding him to her. Now, the most extraordinary detail, to my mind is this: just above Saint Robert and a little to his right, none other than Saint Joseph is looking on! He is pointing to his staff, the top of which has flowered into a pure white lily. What does this mean? Saint Joseph is saying that intimacy with the Virgin Mary is the secret of holy purity. He is pointing to his flowering staff to say that one bound to Mary, as if by a marriage bond, will be pure. She is the virginizing Bride. One who obeys the injunction of the angel to Joseph — “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” (Mt 1:15) — will find that she communicates the grace of a fruitful purity to those who bind themselves to her in a permanent and exclusive way.

Not Good for Man to Be Alone
Already in the second chapter of Genesis, God said to Adam, “It is not good for man to be alone; let us make him a help like unto himself” (Gen 2:18). The complement to this word of God to Adam is the word of Jesus Crucified to John: “After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own” (Jn 19:27). Every union of a man with a woman, even, and I would say especially, the union of hearts and souls, is ordered to a spiritual fecundity. “Whoso findeth me, findeth life,” says Our Lady, “and shall obtain favour of the Lord (Prov 8:35).
Saint Benedict
Perhaps this is why the artist shows the Patriarch Saint Benedict, the father of a progeny too great to be numbered, accompanied by an angel holding his pastoral staff and the open book of his Rule, in the lower left hand corner of the painting. Saint Benedict gazes upon what is happening to Saint Robert with an expression of gratitude and wonder.
New Beginning and Authentic Renewal
What exactly is the message of this extraordinary painting? You may recall what Pope Benedict XVI said on the occasion of his visit to the abbey of Heiligenkreuz last September: “Where Mary is, there is the archetype of total self-giving and Christian discipleship. Where Mary is, there is the pentecostal breath of the Holy Spirit; there is new beginning and authentic renewal.” Saint Robert’s mission was to launch a new beginning at Cîteaux; it was to foster an authentic renewal of life according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. He could not do this apart from Mary.
Mediatrix of All Graces
In the Gospel given us for this feast, Our Lord says: “ I have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain” (Jn 15:16). Robert’s mystical espousal with the Virgin Mother is the promise and guarantee of spiritual fruitfulness. The same Jesus who says, “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5), wants us to understand that, by reason of the Father’s mysterious over-arching plan, without Mary, the Mediatrix of All Graces, we can do nothing. “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman” (Gal 4:4). Just as the first creation required the presence and collaboration of Eve at Adam’s side, so too does the new creation, and every particular manifestation of it, be it personal or corporate, require the presence and collaboration of Mary, the New Eve, at the side of Christ, the New Adam.
Our Lady and the Holy Spirit
Cîteaux was a new creation, a particular corporate manifestation of the Kingdom of God in all its newness. The same may be said of every authentic reform and renewal of monastic life in the history of the Church. Whenever and wherever the Blessed Virgin Mary is welcomed and loved, she attracts a mysterious descent of the Holy Spirit. Our Lady prays for us at every moment, saying, “Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth” (Ps 103:30).
Saint Robert’s Legacy
In 1099, one year after the foundation of the New Monastery at Cîteaux, Saint Robert was obliged, by a bull of Pope Urban II, to return to the abbey of Molesme as abbot. He remained there until his death in 1111. Saints Alberic and Stephen Harding succeeded him as abbots of Cîteaux. Abbot Robert’s love for Our Lady, the Virgin Mother who had placed a ring on his finger, was part of his legacy. Cîteaux flourished because Mary was present there, present as she was in the house of Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse; present as she was in the house of Saint John, the Beloved Disciple; and present as she was in the midst of the apostles on the first Pentecost.
Earthen Vessels
Weakness, fear, tribulation, and humiliations are unavoidable in the Christian life. Each of us carries the precious gifts of God in his own peculiar frailty. Saint Paul said it in the First Reading, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us. In all things we suffer tribulation, but are not distressed; we are straitened, but are not destitute; we suffer persecution, but are not forsaken; we are cast down, but we perish not” (2 Cor 4:7-9). The Blessed Virgin Mary is accustomed to carrying earthen vessels. The secret of holiness is to place our weakness in her immaculate hands.
All Things Made New
She who placed a wedding ring on Abbot Robert’s finger will not deny us the grace of a fruitful intimacy with her Most Pure Heart. It is with His Mother, and through her, that Our Lord fulfills the promise made to Saint John on Patmos: “Behold, I make all things new” (Ap 21:5).

Posted by Father Mark on January 26, 2008 4:32 PM | Permalink

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Comments (5)

your missouri friend:

That's really beautiful. I've never thought about spiritual espousal to the Blessed Mother before; rather, spiritual sonship has always been my thought. But you've explained the espousal in a very beautiful way. Thank you, Father.

Posted by your missouri friend | January 26, 2008 6:07 PM

Posted on January 26, 2008 18:07

patrick:

there was a very interesting book (WHEN SAINTS ARE LOVERS) that came out a few years ago on the spirituality of Fr. Thomas Price, one of the co-founders of Maryknoll. it gives a fascinating account of late 19th century and early 20th american catholic spirituality. it is hard to do justice to the account of Fr Price's spritual path in a few words without making it sound strange (which it is not, unique it is, but not strange or silly.) as part of his spiritual path he would write daily letters to the Blessed Virgin, through this special relationship he found with her through these letters, she introduced him to St Bernadette and they (Fr Price and St Bernadette entered into a special marriage/spousal relationship with an exchange of rings and vows and hearts. the book really develops this and shows how deep and real it was...not just a pious fantasy. this whole aspect of his spiritual life only came to light years after when old diaries and copies of his letters to Mary were found.....makes one wonder how many others have found this path of spousal spirituality among the hidden saints of the ages?

Posted by patrick | January 27, 2008 3:17 AM

Posted on January 27, 2008 03:17

Kathy:

John 14:1-31
And that fact that HE came through Mary OUR MOTHER...and then he had to leave so that the Holy Spirit could come...whoa...so that we are not left 'orphaned'. Not only did HE provide the Holy Spirit, HE provided a Mother - The Blessed Mother-
John 19:25-28...thereby fulfilling all things:
28"After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled,"
Deo Gratias

Posted by Kathy | January 28, 2008 5:13 PM

Posted on January 28, 2008 17:13

Kathy:

+JMJ+
Thank you Fr. Mark. I hope to use this post during my preparation for my anniversary of my Consecration to Jesus through Mary. GOD is sooo very good!
God Bless

Posted by Kathy | January 28, 2008 5:16 PM

Posted on January 28, 2008 17:16

Kathy:

Fr. Please correct my above post...it should read my Consecration to Jesus through Mary! Not good to be posting late in the afternoon with other family responsibilities pressing.
Thank you and God bless you Fr. Mark.

Posted by Kathy | February 1, 2008 3:40 AM

COMMENT Lent 4

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Anne Marie ...
To: Fr Donald ...
Sent: Sunday, 18 March 2012, 13:15
Subject: Re: [Dom Donald's Blog] Homily - Saint John 3:14-21.

Daffodils are such a simple sign of new life.

Sent from my iPhone
Anne Marie