Originally printed in The Reign of Mary, Spring 1987
St. Joseph: The Special Patron of Fathers
By Pope Pius XII
The following talk, given by Pope Pius XIl to a group of newly-weds on the feast of St. Joseph many years ago, sets before us the beautiful example of St. Joseph as head of the Holy Family. As such he is the model especially of fathers of families, yet each one of us can draw helpful lessons for imitation from this inspiring character sketch of our beloved saint.
Receiving you, my dear sons and daughters, Our thoughts turn towards St. Joseph, most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, Patron of the Universal Church, whose solemnity the sacred liturgy celebrates today. If all Christians have reason to rely upon the protection of this glorious Patriarch, you most certainly have a special title thereto.
All Christians are children of the Church. This holy and tender Mother gives to souls at Baptism that mysterious participation in the Divine nature that is called grace, and after having borne them to eternal life, she does not abandon them, but, by means of the sacraments, obtains for them that food which maintains and develops their lives. Hence she may be compared to Mary, Our Blessed Lady, who gave the Word His human nature and then sustained and nourished His life by her maternal care. Christ must be formed in each child of the Church (Gal. 4:19), and each should aim at growing “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ” (Ephes. 4:13).
But who should watch over this Mother and this Jesus? You have guessed aright: he who nearly twenty centuries ago was called to be the spouse of Mary, the reputed father of Jesus, the head of the Holy Family. With what care did he carry out his sublime mission! We would like to know its most minute circumstances. But this favorite of Divine confidence who was to veil the double mystery of the Incarnation of the Word and of the virginal Maternity of Mary, seems to have spent his earthly life hidden away in the shadows. Nevertheless, the few short passages of the Gospel that speak of him suffice to show what St. Joseph was as head of the family, and therefore what a model and what a special patron he is for you young husbands.
As the faithful guardian of the precious treasure entrusted to him by God, Mary and her Divine Son, he cared first of all for their material needs. When, in obedience to the edict of Augustus, he went to be inscribed in the census register of the city of David, called Bethlehem, he did not want to leave his Virgin Spouse, about to be come the Mother of God, alone in Nazareth. For lack of more detailed Gospel accounts, pious souls like to picture to themselves the attentions he lavished upon her then, and upon the newborn Child later. They see him opening the heavy door of the filled inn, which is similar to the khan of the modern oriental village; then applying in vain to relations and friends; finally, having met refusal everywhere, making every effort to reduce the grotto to some semblance of order. The little Jesus trembles with cold — and see, St. Joseph takes His little hands between his own to warm them! A little later, having learned from an angel that his Treasure was in danger, he “took the Child and His Mother by night” (Matt. 2:14), and by sandy roads, removing briars and rocks from the path, he led them into Egypt. There he labored hard to nourish them. Finally, upon receiving new directions from heaven, probably several years later, he took them back, at the cost of the same trials, to the city of Nazareth in Galilee (Matt. 2:22-23). Here he taught Jesus, his Divine Apprentice, how to handle a saw and a plane, and he went to work also away from home, whither he returned in the evening to see the two loved ones who awaited him, at the door with a smile on their lips, and with whom he sat at the little table to partake of their frugal meal.
A very great responsibility of the father of the family is that of providing food for his wife and children. It is sad indeed to see one’s loved ones waste away because there is no food in the pantry and no money in the purse.
It was Providence which led Joseph, the Patriarch, by the hand when he was betrayed and sold by his brothers, being first a slave, to become finally the superintendent and lord of the whole land of Egypt and the provider for his family (Gen. 41:43; 45:9,18).
It was Divine Providence that guided the second Joseph into that same land, where he arrived penniless, with no knowledge of its inhabitants, its customs, or its language, and whence, in spite of these difficulties, he returned safely with Mary and Jesus, Who was growing in wisdom, in age and in grace (Luke 2:52).
Has not Divine Providence in our day the same understanding goodness, the same limitless power? We fear that men have forgotten the words of Our Lord in the Gospel: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). Give to God courageously and loyally all that He has a right to expect of you: all possible personal effort, the obedience you owe Him as supreme Lord, and confidence in Him as the best of fathers. Then you can count upon the things you expect from God and which He promised you when He said: “Look upon the birds of the air, look upon the lilies of the field, and be not worried about the morrow” (cf. Matt. 6:26-34).
Knowing how to ask of God the things you have need of is the secret of prayer and of its power, and it is another lesson we have from St. Joseph. The Gospel, it is true, does not tell us which prayers were said in that home in Nazareth. But the faithfulness of the Holy Family in the observance of religious customs is explicitly stated, as for example in St. Luke (2:41 ff.) when he relates that Jesus went with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for the Pasch, in accordance with the custom of that solemnity. It is easy and pleasant then for us to picture to ourselves that Holy Family in Nazareth at the accustomed hour of prayer. In the golden dawn or the purple dusk of Palestine, Jesus, Mary and Joseph kneel, facing Jerusalem, on the small balcony of their little white home. Joseph, as head of the family, leads the prayer inspired by Jesus, and Mary unites her sweet voice to the manly one of the holy Patriarch.
Future heads of families, think upon and imitate this example, which too many neglect in our day. Through confident recourse to God you will obtain not only supernatural blessings, but also the best assurance of that “daily bread” so anxiously and laboriously sought, sometimes without success. You delegates of the Father Who is in heaven, “of Whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:15), ask of Him that, as He has given you of His affection, so also He may give you of His strength, that you may bear the sweet but sometimes heavy burden of family care.