``Where the
Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
Feast of
St. Joseph
Seven days
before the Feast of the Annunciation
(25 March) which
commemorates Gabriel's visit to Mary
announcing that she is to give
birth to the Messiah, we meet St. Joseph, her spouse.
St. Joseph was born in Bethlehem and worked as a carpenter (Matthew
13:55: "Is not this the carpenter's son?"), an occupation he later
passed on to his Son (Mark 6:3: "Is not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? are not
also his sisters here with us?"). He became betrothed to Mary, a
consecrated Virgin, in order to serve as her protector. Apocryphal
writings indicate that Joseph was an older man at the time, and was a
widower with grown-up children, but there is no way to know for
certain.
When Mary came to be with child, his confusion and resolve to "put her
away privately" in order to spare her any public humiliation were done
away with when an angel of the Lord visited him in a dream and
explained things to him:
Matthew 1:20-24
But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in his sleep, saying: 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. And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call
his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins. Now all
this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the
prophet, saying: Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a
son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is,
God with us. And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the
Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife.
After Jesus was
born, an angel again appeared
to St. Joseph and told him to take the Holy Family away in order to
escape the wrath of Herod.
Matthew 2:13-15
And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in
sleep to Joseph, saying: 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. Who arose, and
took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he
was there until the death of Herod: That it might be fulfilled which
the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called my
son.
After time in
Egypt, an angel came twice more to St. Joseph:
Matthew 2:19-23
But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep
to Joseph in Egypt, Saying: 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. Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came
into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in
the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and being
warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he
dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was
said by prophets: That he shall be called a Nazarene.
The next -- and
last -- time we hear of St. Joseph in Sacred Scripture is when Jesus
was "lost" in the Temple:
Luke 2:42-52
And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem,
according to the custom of the feast, And having fulfilled the days,
when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his
parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came
a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance.
And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it
came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them
questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his
answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him:
Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought
thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? did
you not know, that I must be about my father's business? And they
understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with
them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother
kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and
age, and grace with God and men.
Tradition tells
us that he had the great honor to have died in the presence of Our Lady
and his Son, which fact makes him the patron of a holy death. Because
during his life he was given the great responsibility of caring for and
protecting the Virgin -- who is the Mother of all Israel -- and her
Son, St. Joseph is considered the patron and protector of the entire
Church.
Customs
Some may prepare
for the Feast of St. Joseph by praying a
novena in his honor beginning on March 10 and ending on the eve of
his feast (March 18). Others make a triduum in honor of St. Joseph
before his feast -- i.e., they pray for three days, praying especially
the prayer to St. Joseph recommended by Pope
Leo XIII. As to prayer for the feast itself, the Litany
of St. Joseph would be most appropriate for this feast (download in
in pdf format in English or in Latin).
St. Joseph's Day
is a big Feast for Italians because in the Middle Ages, God, through
St. Joseph's intercessions, saved the Sicilians from a very serious
drought. So in his honor, the custom is for all to wear red, in the
same way that green is worn on St.
Patrick's Day (I recommend a red
carnation at least).
Today, after Mass (at least in parishes with large Italian
populations), a big altar (la tavola
di San Giuse or "St. Joseph's
Table") is laden with food contributed by everyone (note that all these
St. Joseph celebrations might take place on the nearest, most
convenient weekend). Different Italian regions celebrate this day
differently, but all involve special meatless foods: minestrone, pasta
with breadcrumbs (the breadcrumbs symbolize the sawdust that would have
covered St. Joseph's floor), seafood, Sfinge di San Giuseppe, and,
always, fava beans, which are considered "lucky" because during the
drought, the fava thrived while other crops failed (recipes below).
The table -- which is always blessed by a priest -- will be in three
tiers, symbolizing the Most Holy Trinity. The top tier will hold a
statue of St. Joseph surrounded by flowers and greenery. The other
tiers might hold, in addition to the food: flowers (especially lilies);
candles; figurines and symbolic breads and pastries shaped like a
monstrance, chalices, fishes, doves, baskets, St. Joseph's staff,
lilies, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, carpentry tools, etc.; 12
fishes symbolizing the 12 Apostles; wine symbolizing the miracle at
Cana; pineapple symbolizing hospitality; lemons for "luck"; bread and
wine (symbolizing the Last Supper); and pictures of the dead. There
will also be a basket in which the faithful place prayer petitions.
Three children dressed as the Holy Family will knock
on three doors, asking for shelter. They will be refused at the first
two, and welcomed at the third, in memory of the Holy Family's seeking
of hospitality just before Christ was born. This re-enactment is called
"Tupa Tupa," meaning "Knock Knock." When they are finally welcomed at
the third door, the cry "Viva la
tavola di San
Giuse!" rings out to begin the feasting and is heard throughout
the day.
The feasting ends with each participant taking home a bag that might be
filled with bread, fruit, pastries, cookies, a medal of St. Joseph, a
Holy Card and/or a blessed fava bean. Keep your "lucky bean," and let
it remind you to pray to St. Joseph.
Recipes to help
you celebrate the life of St. Joseph:
Minestrone
(serves 10)
4 TBSP olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
5 carrots, sliced
6 cups vegetable stock*
Large can diced tomatoes and its juice
Large can crushed tomatoes and its juice
Large jar Great Northern Beans or Cannellini Beans, undrained
2 small zucchinis, quartered and sliced
2 summer squash, quartered and sliced
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (or 1 can corn, undrained)
1 1/2 lb fresh spinach, torn (or 1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach)
2 TBSP chopped fresh oregano (or 2 tsp. dried) -- approx.
1 TBSP chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried) -- approx.
2 TBSP chopped fresh thyme (or 2 tsp dried) -- approx.
1 TBSP fennel seeds, approx., to taste (this is key)
salt and pepper to taste
For serving:
Small pasta, cooked separately just before serving -- optional
Shredded Provolone and grated Parmesan for topping
1 tablespoon olive oil
Over medium-low heat, in a large pot, heat olive oil and saute garlic
for 2 to 3 minutes (do not let brown!). Add onion and saute for 4 to 5
minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes more. Add
stock and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to low and add beans, corn), spinach,
zucchini, squash, oregano, basil, fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Simmer
an hour. Ladle soup into bowls, and add cooked pasta (if desired).
Sprinkle cheeses on top. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with crusty
bread. Better the next day.
* Use more, or use V-8, tomato sauce, water, etc. for more liquid.
Pasta di San Giuse (pasta with breadcrumbs that
symbolize sawdust)
Note: This recipe came from my parish's website,
and was said to be in tribute of "Mamma Giglio." I don't know who Mamma
Giglio is, but I don't want to omit the dedication to an Italian Mamma!
Heat oil in large pot, and saute in it the garlic and pepper flakes.
Add the fennel, tomatoes, paste, and basil. Cover and let simmer 30
minutes 'til fennel is tender. Add the sardines and simmer a few more
minutes.
Topping:
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup fine homemade breadcrumbs
Heat oil, and add crumbs and heat until golden brown. Pour sauce over
the pasta, then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
Sfinge di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Cream Puffs)
Sfinge:
1 cup water
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 TBSP sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
1 cup sifted flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 TBSP Cognac or vanilla
Put water, butter, granulated sugar, lemon rind, and salt in a large
saucepan. Bring to a boil, and as soon as the butter has melted, remove
from heat. Add the flour all at once, stirring constantly and with
vigor.
Return the pan to the heat, and stir constantly until the mixture forms
a ball and comes away from the sides of the pan. Cook just a little
longer, until you hear a slight crackling, frying sound. Remove the pan
from the heat, and cool slightly.
Add the eggs, one at a time. Be sure that each egg is thoroughly
blended into the mixture before you add the next. Stir until smooth and
thoroughly blended . Add the Cognac or vanilla. Cover the dough and let
it stand for 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400º F.
Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonsful on a buttered cookie sheet or
onto parchment-lined sheet (better!), leaving 2 inches between the
sfinge. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven
and cool.
Filling: Mix the ricotta, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, cinnamon,
chocolate, and pistachios. Just before serving (so they don't get
soggy!), cut off the tops of the sfinge and fill; place top back on
after filling. Arrange on platter, sprinkle with powdered sugar to make
them pretty, and garnish platter with lemon rind.
Fava Beans
1 lb. dried fava beans
1 bunch green onions
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cook dried fava beans in boiling water until tender, adding more water
as needed. Sauté seasonings in olive oil 'til tender, then add to
beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in soup bowls.
A most
fascinating and beautiful thing that happens today is the return of the
cliff swallows (Petrochelidon
pyrrhonota) to the Mission of San Juan
Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano, California. The mission -- one of
the oldest buildings in California, and a part of a string of 21
missions that line California's coast -- was founded on 1 November
1776, the Feast of All Saints, by the Franciscan priest, Bl. Junipero
Serra, in honor of
St. John Capistrano. It was begun the year before, with members of a
friendly Indian tribe helping to build, but when word came that the
Mission of San Diego was attacked by an unfriendly Indian tribe, the
bells were buried and everyone took shelter until building could
continue.
When the mission was finally completed, a small town grew up around it,
and this is where the legend of the swallows -- "las golondrinas"
-- begins. It is said that one of the priests noticed a storekeeper in
town angrily sweeping down the swallows’ nests and chasing away the
"dirty birds." The priest, being a Franciscan, of course invited the
poor little birds to the Mission where there was "room for all." The
birds, sensing the spirit of St. Francis around the place, followed,
and
have remained loyal to the Mission ever since. No matter the origins of
the story, the fact is that each year on 23 October -- the Feast of St.
John of Capistrano -- the swallows fly
south for 7,500 miles to Goya, Argentina. There they winter until the
end of February when they make their way home, arriving back at the
Mission of Capistrano on St. Joseph's Day, where they are greeted with
the ringing of church bells and great festivities. A love song was
written with this return of the
swallows as its focal point; it was recorded by the Ink Spots, Glenn
Miller, Pat Boone, and Elvis Presley. Below is the Ink Spots's version
of this lovely song:
When the swallows come back to Capistrano
That's the day you promised to come back to me.
When you whispered farewell in Capistrano
'Twas the day the swallows flew out to the sea.
All the mission bells will ring
The chapel choir will sing
The happiness you'll bring
Will live in my memory.
When the swallows come back to Capistrano
That's the day I pray that you'll come back to me.
While the altar candles burn
My heart is burning too
If you should not return
I'll still be waiting for you.
When the swallows come back to Capistrano
That's the day I pray that you'll come back to me,
That's the day I pray that you'll come back to me.
As to hymns for the day, try these two:
Hail St.
Joseph, Spouse of Mary
Dear St. Joseph, pure and gentle,
Guardian of the Saviour child,
Treading with the virgin mother,
Egypt's deserts rough and wild.
Chorus:
Hail, St. Joseph, spouse of Mary,
Blessed above all saints on high,
When the death-shades round us gather,
Teach, oh, teach us how to die.
He who rested on thy bosom
Is by countless saints adored;
Prostrate angels in His presence
Sing hosannas to their Lord.
Now to thee no gift refusing,
Jesus stoops to hear thy prayer;
Then, dear saint, from thy fair dwelling,
Give to us a father's care.
Dear St. Joseph, kind and loving,
Stretch to us a helping hand;
Guide us through life's toils and sorrows
Safely to the distant land.
In the strife of life be near us,
And in death, oh, hover nigh,
Let our souls on thy sweet bosom
To their home of gladness fly.
Thou hast known a pilgrim's sorrows,
But thy day of toil is o'er;
Help us while we journey onward
Lead us to the peaceful shore.
Hail St. Joseph, just and holy,
Loving children breathe thy name;
Here below, through toil and danger,
Love and care from thee we claim.
O Blessed St.
Joseph
O blessed St Joseph how great was your worth.
The one chosen shadow of God upon earth,
The father of Jesus —ah then you then be,
Sweet spouse of our Lady, a father to me.
For You to the pilgrim are Father and Guide,
And Jesus and Mary felt safe by Your side;
Ah, Blessed Saint Joseph, how safe I should be,
Sweet spouse of our Lady! if You were with me!
When the treasures of God were unsheltered on earth,
Safekeeping was found for Them both in Your worth:
O Father of Jesus, be father to me,
Sweet spouse of our Lady! and I will love Thee.
St. Joseph is
symbolized by carpenters' tools and the lily, and is usually
represented in art holding the Baby Jesus. He is the patron of the
Church, the dying, a holy death (because it is believed he died in the
company of Our Lord and Lady), happy family life, married people,
carpenters, workers, and the fight against Communism. Other devotions
and customs related to St. Joseph throughout the year includ the
following:
the celebration
of 1 May as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, a Feast instituted by
Pope Pius XII in 1956
it is an old
custom for some couples to abstain from the marital act on the first
night of their honeymoon, dedicating the first night of marriage to St. Joseph (making the night
"St. Joseph's Night"), and performing some devotion to the Saint. This
is in keeping with the spirit of Tobias who, with his wife, Sara, spent
the first three days and nights or their marriage in prayer (Tobit
6:16-22)
I took for my
patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself
earnestly to him. I saw clearly that both out of this my present
trouble, and out of others of greater importance, relating to my honour
and the loss of my soul, this my father and lord delivered me, and
rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call
to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he
has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the
great favours which God hath given me through this blessed Saint; the
dangers from which he hath delivered me, both of body and of soul. To
other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succour men in some
special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, to
help us in all: and our Lord would have us understand that as He was
Himself subject to him upon earth--for St. Joseph having the title of
father, and being His guardian, could command Him--so now in heaven He
performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves
to St. Joseph, and they too know this by experience; and there are many
who are now of late devout to him, having had experience of this
truth...
...Would that I could persuade all men to be devout to this
glorious Saint; for I know by long experience what blessings he can
obtain for us from God. I have never known any one who was really devout to
him, and who honoured him by particular services, who did not visibly
grow more and more in virtue; for he helps in a special way those souls
who commend themselves to him. It is now some years since I have always
on his feast asked him for something, and I always have it. If the
petition be in any way amiss, he directs it aright for my greater good.
If I were a person who had authority to write, it would be a
pleasure to me to be diffusive in speaking most minutely of the graces
which this glorious Saint has obtained for me and for others. But that
I may not go beyond the commandment that is laid upon me, I must in
many things be more brief than I could wish, and more diffusive than is
necessary in others; for, in short, I am a person who, in all that is
good, has but little discretion. But I ask, for the love of God, that
he who does not believe me will make the trial for himself--when he
will see by experience the great good that results from commending
oneself to this glorious patriarch, and being devout to him. Those who
give themselves to prayer should in a special manner have always a
devotion to St. Joseph; for I know not how any man can think of the
Queen of the angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the
Infant Jesus, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for the services he
rendered them then. He who cannot find any one to teach him how to
pray, let him take this glorious Saint for his master, and he will not
wander out of the way.
Sermon 2, On
St Joseph
By St. Bernardine of Siena
This is the
general rule that applies to all individual graces given to a rational
creature. Whenever divine grace selects someone to receive a particular
grace, or some especially favoured position, all the gifts for his
state are given to that person, and enrich him abundantly.
This is especially true of that holy man Joseph, the supposed father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and true husband of the queen of the world and
of the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father to be the faithful
foster-parent and guardian of the most precious treasures of God, his
Son and his spouse. This was the task which he so faithfully carried
out. For this, the Lord said to him, "Good and faithful servant, enter
into the joy of your Lord."
A comparison can be made between Joseph and the whole Church of Christ.
Joseph was the specially chosen man through whom and under whom Christ
entered the world fittingly and in an appropriate way. So, if the whole
Church is in the debt of the Virgin Mary, since, through her, it was
able to receive the Christ, surely after her, it also owes to Joseph
special thanks and veneration.
For he it is who marks the closing of the Old Testament. In him the
dignity of the prophets and patriarchs achieves its promised
fulfilment. Moreover; he alone possessed in the flesh what God in His
goodness promised to them over and again.
It is beyond doubt that Christ did not deny to Joseph in heaven that
intimacy, respect, and high honour which He showed to him as to a
father during His own human life, but rather completed and perfected
it. Justifiably the words of the Lord should be applied to him, "Enter
into the joy of your Lord." Although it is the joy of eternal happiness
that comes into the heart of man, the Lord prefers to say to him "enter
into joy". The mystical implication is that this joy is not just inside
man, but surrounds him everywhere and absorbs him, as if he were
plunged in an infinite abyss.
Therefore be mindful of us, blessed Joseph, and intercede for us with
Him Whom men thought to be your Son. Win for us the favour of the most
Blessed Virgin your spouse, the mother of Him Who lives and reigns with
the Holy Spirit through ages unending. Amen.
