Saint Joseph

“ Joseph; such is the whole subject of this panegyric, and its object is to increase love and devotion to this saint in the minds of all.
This grace, St. Joseph (it is a matter that concerns thy honor!) , we beg of thee to obtain for us through Jesus and Mary by the hands of the holy angels,
He who is about to choose a patron and protector must look out for one who is able to fulfil all the duties of that office; one who by his high dignity can secure the respect and esteem of the people; one who by his power and influence can protect the land power. ”

“ Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord!. Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord!. Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. V. He made him the lord of his household. R. And prince over all his possessions. Let us pray. O God, in your ineffable providence you were pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother; grant, we beg you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector You who live and reign forever and ever. ”

“ On this day died at a good old age the righteous man Joseph, the carpenter, who was worthy to be called the father of Christ in the flesh, and concerning whom the Holy Gospel beareth witness that he was a righteous man, and that, because of this, our Lady Saint Mary was in safe keeping with him. And he finished his fight, and his course, and his toil, and his journey, together with our Lady Mary and our Lord Jesus Christ, in his coming to Bethlehem, and [his] flight to the country of Egypt. On his return from the country of Egypt there came [upon him] tribulation from the Jews. ”

“ Joseph, through thy intercession may the Blessed Virgin, thy Immaculate Spouse, be propitious to me now, and at the hour of my death. Amen.
HAIL! holy St. Joseph, who, chosen by God above all other men, wast enriched with grace and adorned with sanctity, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou amongst men, and blessed is He who condescended to be reputed thy son, Jesus. O glorious St. Joseph, most worthy Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary ! pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
O Jesus, have mercy on me. ”

“ Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary as thy wife: for she has conceived of the Holy Spirit; and she will bring forth a son, whose name shall be called Jesus. He it is who shall rule all nations with a rod of iron. Having thus spoken, the angel departed from him. And Joseph rose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord had said to him; and Mary abode with him. ”

“ The first thing that must strike every one on reading this mysterious language is, that Joseph was a type of the Lord Jesus; who is truly the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Jesus is He of whom every child learns to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me by the still waters: He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Jesus Himself said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." ”

“ We have, indeed, many and great advantages over those who lived in Joseph's times. Not only have we the Gospel, but we have the example, of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and we have Him present with us always, to strengthen and lead us to do as He Himself did. If, then, Joseph was willing and able to resist a strong temptation to commit a great sin, how much more should we resist who have the sword of the Spirit of Jesus, and the shield of His faith! ”

“ On coming in, Joseph threw himself down beside me, and exclaimed, "Father, mother, you do not know how happy I am: the Lord has now caused the plates to be shown to three more besides myself. They have seen an angel, who has testified to them, and they will have to bear witness to the truth of what I have said, for now they know for themselves, that I do not go about to deceive the people, and I feel as if I was relieved of a burden which was almost too heavy for me to bear, and it rejoices my soul, that I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world." ”

“ When the patriarch Jacob was dying, he blessed all his children, but his richest blessing was for Joseph. So God has blessed all the children of his hand, but you, Christian, are the Joseph whom He hath loved more than all his other sons. ”

“ The saints in all ages have chosen St. Joseph as their special advocate at the throne of grace , holding - with that most modern of the beatified, whose cause has been introduced at Rome, Father Eymard, Apostle of the Blessed Eucharist - that St. Joseph is the helper of all Christians. "Happy the soul," says he, "who is devout to St. Joseph. It is a certain pledge of a good death, of salvation, and of eternal happiness. St. Joseph is also the patron of afflicted souls; for he had many trials and troubles. In your griefs, therefore, always have recourse to St. Joseph." ”

“ And he took the rods of them all and went into the temple and prayed. And when he had finished the prayer he took the rods and went forth and gave them back to them: and there was no sign upon them. But Joseph received the last rod: and lo, a dove came forth of the rod and flew upon the head of Joseph. And the priest said unto Joseph: Unto thee hath it fallen to take the virgin of the Lord and keep her for thyself. 2 And Joseph refused, saying: I have sons, and I am an old man, but she is a girl: lest I became a laughing-stock to the children of Israel. ”

“ And when they entered in unto him they said, ‘O prince ! distress has touched both us and our families, and we have brought trifling chattels. So give us full measure and bestow upon us in charity; verily, God rewards the charitable.’
He said, ‘Do ye know what ye did with Joseph and his brother, while ye were ignorant ?’
90 They said, ‘Art thou then indeed Joseph ?’ He said, ‘I am Joseph, and this is my brother ; God has been gracious towards us. Verily, whoso fears God and is patient, — verily, God wastes not the hire of those who do good!’
They said, ‘By God ! God has chosen thee over us ”

“ Joseph, after repenting of his sins and humbling himself before God, was visited by an holy angel whose countenance was as lightning and whose garments were white above all whiteness, who gave unto him commandments which inspired him from on high; and who gave unto him, by the means of which was before prepared, that he should translate this book. And by reading this our eyes are opened that we can see the situation in which the world now stands; that the eyes of the whole world are blinded; that the churches have all become corrupted, yea every church upon the face of the earth ”

“ As thou shalt grow in age thou shalt grow in wisdom and understanding, keep the commandments of God and nothing shall be wanting. Yea, God will give thee the things of heaven and earth; thou shalt have all the righteous desires of thy heart thou art of the blood of Jacob and thy seed shall be blest and gathered with the house of Joseph. God will give thee thy friends they shall stand with thee in the covenant. This is thy blessing in the name of Jesus christ I seal it on thy head by the power of the holy priesthood I seal thee up unto eternal life even so amen. ”

“ Joseph. All the saints take an interest in all of us, however weak and imperfect, or even sinful, we may be; they all love us and care for us far more than our friends in this world. Still, they have perhaps a particular care for some, as we have, or should have, a particular devotion to some of them as our patrons.
But St. Joseph is everybody's patron. That is what holy church means by inviting us all to celebrate this feast of his Patronage, and by giving him the title, as she did only a few years ago, of patron of the universal church. ”

“ Joseph, and a boundless confidence in him; I have often thought that he must have known a multitude of things about our Lord which no one has ever known.” O St. Joseph! remember those who invoke you in exile. What an admirable existence! What a long poem from the day when the rod of the carpenter blossomed in the Temple to that when Joseph expires in the arms of Jesus and Mary, the two whom every Christian would wish to have by him when on his death-bed! Never did any man receive a mission more divine than was entrusted by the Almighty to St. Joseph. ”

“ It is Joseph's nearness to Jesus and Mary during his life that leads us now, when he reigns with them in heaven, to confidently call upon him for succor in our needs, and especially do we go to him because to his patronage the whole church has been commended, that by his intercession he may do for her and each of her members what he did for Jesus and his Mother when he was in the flesh. ”

“ Assuming it to have been soon after the Restoration that William Turner returned to York, his daughter Edith was then just entering into womanhood, so that for nearly twenty years of the bloom of her life she was domesticated with her family within the walls of our venerable city. Their residence stood under the very shadow of the towers of our cathedral, the parish of Saint John del Pike being usually regarded as forming part of the Minster-close. ”

“ Joseph, under whose patronage the greater part of Lent almost always comes, will help us, and we shall have joy enough in our souls to fully make up for all that is unpleasant or tiresome. And all the while we shall, by penance, be shortening the road that lies between us and our true home in heaven, where our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is waiting to have us come and be happy with Him for all eternity. ”

“ For behold, you should not have feared man more than God, although men set at nought the counsels of God, and despise his words; yet you should have been faithful and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble. Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware, thou wilt fall. ”

“ I may first mention the general impression which the history of Joseph leaves on the mind,—that the providence of God had a great work for him to do; that the Lord led him through great tribulation as the means of perfecting his character, and finally exalted him to be a prince and a saviour; in which we cannot fail to see a resemblance to our blessed Lord himself, of whom he was so eminent a type. It is true the elevation to which Joseph was raised was only a temporal one. Like our Lord, he saved men's lives ”

“ Chapter 12 It came to pass, after these things, that the death of that old man, the pious Joseph, and his departure from this world, were approaching, as happens to other men who owe their origin to this earth. And as his body was verging on dissolution, an angel of the Lord informed him that his death was now close at hand. Therefore fear and great perplexity came upon him. So he rose up and went to Jerusalem; and going into the temple of the Lord, he poured out his prayers there before the sanctuary, and said:
Chapter 13 O God! ”

“ My first impression of Joseph nearly sixty years ago was that he was a true prophet, and I formed a love for him which increased with our acquaintance. I was with him in the state of Missouri during those trying scenes until his imprisonment in Liberty jail, and subsequently in Illinois, and with the bereaved family and thousands of Latter-day Saints shed a tear over his remains as he lay silently in death’s embrace. ”

“ Indeed Thou art in my heart, but I go out and look for Thee in distractions where Thou shalt not be found.
Prayer.
Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.
[pg 123]
Twenty-eighth Day. St. Joseph, as we have seen, earned his livelihood by the sweat of his brow. When Jesus grew up and was stronger, He helped His father, and tradition tells us that the Blessed Virgin was not idle. She sewed and embroidered in order that they might live. The lot of the laborer is always hard, and St. Joseph's life, beyond the consolations of religion, was no exception. ”

“ The utmost bound of the everlasting hills is where charity rises into mutual love,—that brotherly love of which Joseph was so eminent an example, that love of one another by which the disciples of Jesus are to be known of all men, which has its dwelling place in the Lord's church on earth and its eternal home in heaven. ”

“ As I looked upon their peaceful, smiling countenances, I seemed almost to hear them say,—"Mother, weep not for us, we have overcome the world by love; we carried to them the gospel, that their souls might be saved; they slew us for our testimony, and thus placed us beyond their power; their ascendency is for a moment, ours is an eternal triumph."
I then thought upon the promise which I had received in Missouri, that in five years Joseph should have power over all his enemies. The time had elapsed and the promise was fulfilled. ”

“ Joseph has gone to the spirit-world: he is on his way to his glory and exaltation, and all his sayings, from first to last, lead us to the fountain of light, where we can understand for ourselves and walk in the light. ”

“ The brethren and sisters came across the Plains because they could not stay; that is the secret of the movement. But let the devil have his will, and do you suppose that any of them could have crossed the Plains? No, not a person ever would have started. But they did start, and they performed the journey.
We are doing a great many things, and Joseph did a great many things, because the Spirit of the Lord prompts us to do them, as it prompted him. Joseph could not do anything else than what he did; it is the same with us all the time. ”