20 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

The Patronage of St. Joseph

1. St. Joseph has been proclaimed Patron of the Universal Church, as he was Patron and Head of the Holy Family from which the Church developed. Devotion to St. Joseph has increased greatly in recent centuries, so much so that nowadays his name is always linked with the names of Jesus and Mary. St. John Chrysostom had already spoken of St. Joseph with the utmost veneration. He interpreted the expression "just," applied to Joseph in the Gospel (Mt. 1:19), as indicating the synthesis of all the virtues. At a later date St. Bernardine of Siena wrote in praise of the power and holiness of St. Joseph and roused the faithful to an increased devotion to the Holy Patriarch. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus had great devotion to him and claimed that she invariably received any favour for which she asked through his intercession. Many other Saints had the same experience. We also should have recourse to Saint Joseph in our spiritual and bodily necessities. St. Joseph had to endure a great deal in order to provide for the wants of the Holy Family and to protect them from the many dangers which threatened them. For this reason he is especially attentive to requests of any kind, as long as they are made with a lively faith and submission to the Will of God.

2. St. Joseph is the universal Patron of the Church. We who are loyal children of the Church should invoke his special intercession, therefore, for the triumph and expansion of the Kingdom of God upon earth. It is a sad but certain fact that in every age the Church is subject to persecution in some part of the globe. There is always some nation, and often many of them, where the Church is obstructed in her mission for the salvation of souls and for the true welfare of society. Sometimes She is compelled to fight hard for her existence with the weapons of the spirit. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful before God …” (2 Cor. 10:4) Sometimes the Church is in bonds and the blood of her martyrs is poured forth to become the seed from which new Christians will spring. There is no reason for surprise at all this, for Christ Himself foretold it quite clearly. “If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also…” (John 15:20) but “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt. 16:18) If we are loyal sons of the Church we should pray that She may triumph. We should ask for the special intercession of St. Joseph, Her heavenly patron.

3. We shall have particular need of the protection of St. Joseph at the hour of death. He had the most beautiful of deaths, for Jesus and Mary were by his side. All his life he had lived only for them. He had worked for them, worried about them, and loved them. In the end he was able to see them near him, his own sweet Jesus and his beloved Spouse. His must have been a very peaceful death. He had fulfilled his mission and Jesus and Mary were there to console him in his last agony. We shall come to the end of our lives as well, perhaps sooner than we imagine. Let us ask the Holy Patriarch for the favour of a happy death. Let us ask him to ensure that Jesus and Mary will help us also when we are leaving this world.