☩ THE ASSUMPTION OF ST. JOSEPH ☩

Pope St. John XXIII: We name one of the most intimate persons in Christ's life: St. Joseph of Nazareth - His putative father and guardian. It corresponds to him - we may piously believe - the honor of Jesus allowing him to accompany Him on the path to Heaven and to sing the first notes of the never ending hymn, "Te Deum".

♔ CROWN OF ETERNAL LIFE: THE ASSUMPTION OF ST. JOSEPH ♔

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“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee the crown of life.” — Revelation 2:10

Of all the saints in Christendom, the only pair of whom we possess no first-class relics are the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. We attribute this lack of bodily relics to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven body and soul which is one of the great Marian Dogmas of the Church. This tradition has been popularly believed from the earliest days of the Church but was not officially defined as dogma until November 1, 1950 by Venerable Pope Pius XII.

The same reasoning is applied to lack of bodily relics of St. Joseph, Virgin-Father of Christ and Chaste Spouse of Mary. We can feel validated in the possible belief of the Assumption of St. Joseph by looking to the apparitions of the 20^th century. When St Joseph appeared at Fatima, Portugal, to bless the world on October 13, 1917 holding the Child Jesus and standing next to Our Lady, would he just have been some type of "ghost" holding the flesh and blood Jesus standing next to flesh and blood Blessed Virgin? It doesn't make sense that the Earthly Trinity: Jesus, Mary and Joseph - who were so closely united on Earth, would be hindered in their union in Heaven. That is just one small example.

It is believed that after St. Joseph's happy and holy passing, his body was entombed in the foothills of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem before it was assumed into Heaven on the day of Christ’s glorious ascension. While his body was in the tomb, his soul entered the Bosom of Abraham (Limbo) where he was to announce to the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Covenant the Good News of Christ and their forthcoming entry to Heaven (after the coming Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord.) When the time for Christ's Ascension came, St. Joseph's soul was united with his body and was assumed into Heaven. Many saints and mystics piously believe in the bodily assumption of St. Joseph into Heaven – just as Our Lord had done for his mother.  Here is just a sampling of them:

St. Francis de Sales: How could we doubt that Our Lord raised glorious St. Joseph up into Heaven, body and soul? For he had the honor and grace of carrying Him so often in his blessed arms, arms in which Our Lord took so much pleasure. St. Joseph is therefore in Heaven body and soul, without a doubt.     

St. Bernardino of Sienna:  In the same way that Mary was assumed into Heaven, it is thought that Jesus deigned to glorify Joseph. In this way, all of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph – who lived together on Earth, would reign together in Heaven.

Servant of God Mother Cecilia Baij:  When the Savior of the world gloriously and victoriously arose from the dead … he thereafter proceeded to deliver and to take with him from Limbo, those souls which had been confined there. Joseph’s glorified soul was, by the power of God, again reunited to his blessed body. … Joseph made his entry into heaven together with the Savior on the occasion of his remarkable Ascension. There the Saint now occupies, in virtue of his    virginity and great purity of soul, a most distinguished throne near to the unspotted Lamb of God.

Pope St. John XXIII:  We name two of the most intimate persons in Christ’s life: John the Baptist – the Precursor, and Joseph of Nazareth – his putative father and custodian. It corresponds to them – we may piously believe – the honor and the privilege of Jesus allowing them to admirably accompany him on the path to Heaven (on the day of his Ascension) and to sing the first notes of the never ending hymn, “Te Deum”. 

If ever a man existed who deserves the splendor of Heaven it is St. Joseph, the just man who lived such an honorable and holy life. He is united with his beloved spouse Mary and with Jesus the Eternal Son, whom he raised as his own flesh and blood. His trials reminiscent of the exile into Egypt have long faded, his anxieties have been calmed, and his rough hands, which supported his family, have been soothed by the Divine Healer, who crowns his achievements and tribulations with everlasting life.            

. . . when he has been tried, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.  — St. James 1:12

St Joseph: Intercessor & Exemplar

 

Revelation 8:3-4 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might give efficacy to the prayers of all saints at the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel.

St. Alphonsus Liguori: God, because of the great love He bears us, and His great desire to see us saved, has given us among other means of salvation the practice of devotion to the saints. It is His will that they, who are His friends, should intercede for us, and by their merits and prayers obtain graces for us which we ourselves do not deserve. But everyone must know that, after the Mother of God, St. Joseph is, of all the saints, the one dearest to God. He has, therefore, great power with Him and can obtain graces for His devout clients…

St. Teresa de Ávila: I took for my advocate and comforter the glorious Saint Joseph, and commended myself fervently to him; … His aid has brought me more good than I ever desired to receive from him. ... I am quite amazed at the great favors Our Lord has given me, and the many dangers, both of soul and body, from which He has delivered me through the intercession of this blessed saint!

Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam Pluries: Fathers of families find in Joseph the best personification of paternal solicitude and vigilance; spouses a perfect example of love, of peace, and of conjugal fidelity; virgins at the same time find in him the model and protector of virginal integrity. The noble of birth will earn of Joseph how to guard their dignity even in misfortune; the rich will understand, by his lessons, what are the goods most to be desired and won at the price of their labor. As to workmen, artisans, and persons of lesser degree, their recourse to Joseph is a special right, and his example is for their particular imitation.

St. André Bessette: When you invoke Saint Joseph, you don't have to speak much. You know your Father in heaven knows what you need; well, so does His friend Saint Joseph. Tell him, “If you were in my place, Saint Joseph, what would you do? Well, pray for this in my behalf.”

St. Alphonsus Liguori: There is no doubt about it: just as Jesus Christ wanted to be subject to Joseph on earth, so he does everything the saint asks of him in heaven. When Egypt was laid waste by the great famine, Pharaoh told his people, Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph! So if we are in trouble, let us listen to the word of the Lord and take Pharaoh's advice; let us go to Joseph if we wish to be consoled...Above all, I most strongly urge you to ask him for three special graces: forgiveness of sins, love of Jesus Christ, and a happy death.

Pope St. John XXIII, Allocution, 19 March 1959: All the saints in glory assuredly merit honor and particular respect, but it is evident that, next to the Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph possesses a just title to a more sweet, more intimate and penetrating place in our hearts, belonging to him alone… We are able to see all the greatness of Saint Joseph, not only by reason of the fact that he was close to Jesus and Mary, but also by the shining example he has given of all virtues…

Pope Francis, Inaugural Homily, 19 March 2013: Caring and protecting demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!

St. Josemaria Escrivá: St. Joseph protects those who revere him and accompanies them on their journey through this life - just as he protected and accompanied Jesus when he was growing up. As you get to know him, you discover that the holy patriarch is also a master of the interior life - for he teaches us to know Jesus and share our life with him, and to realize that we are part of God's family. St. Joseph can teach us these lessons, because he is an ordinary man, a family man, a worker who earned his living by manual labor - all of which has great significance and is a source of happiness for us.

St. Teresa de Ávila: To other saints Our Lord seems to have given the power to succor us in some special necessity — but to this glorious saint, I know by experience, He has given the power to help us in all. Our Lord would have us understand that as He was subject to St. Joseph on earth — for St. Joseph, bearing the title of father and being His guardian, could command Him — so now in Heaven Our Lord grants all his petitions.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina: St. Joseph, with the love and generosity with which he guarded Jesus, so too will he guard your soul, and as he defended him from Herod, so will he defend your soul by the fiercest Herod: the devil! All the care that the Patriarch St. Joseph has for Jesus, he has for you and will always help you with his patronage. He will free you from the persecution of the wicked and proud Herod, and will not allow your heart to be estranged from Jesus. Ite ad Ioseph! Go to Joseph with extreme confidence, because I, like St. Teresa of Avila, do not remember having asked anything from St. Joseph, without having obtained it readily.

St. Alphonsus Liguori: We should, indeed, honor St. Joseph, since the Son of God Himself was graciously pleased to honor him by calling him father. The Holy Scriptures speak of him as the father of Jesus. "His father and mother were marveling at the things spoken concerning Him" (Luke 2:33). Mary also used this name: "in sorrow thy father and I have been seeking thee" (Luke 2:48). If, then, the King of Kings was pleased to raise Joseph to so high a dignity, it is right and obligatory on our part to endeavor to honor him as much as we can.

Pope St. John XXIII, Le Voci, 19 March 1961: As a new spring breaks into view and we stand on the threshold of the Sacred Easter Liturgy, we find ourselves face to face with the kind and gentle St. Joseph, stately spouse of Mary, a figure so dear to the minds and hearts of those who are most responsive to the appeal of Christian asceticism and the forms of religious devotion that are quiet and unobtrusive, but all the sweeter and more pleasing for being so. …For long centuries St Joseph remained in the background that was so typical of him, like a kind of ornamental detail in the overall picture of the Saviour’s life. It took time for devotion to him to go beyond those passing glances and take root in the hearts of the faithful, and then surge forth in the form of special prayers and of a profound sense of trust and confidence. The fervent joy of pouring forth these deepest feelings of the heart in so many impressive ways has been saved for modern times; and it gives Us special pleasure to draw upon these treasures now for something quite pertinent and meaningful.

St. Josemaria Escrivá: To be just is not simply a matter of obeying rules. Goodness should grow from the inside; it should be deep and vital — for "the just man lives by faith." These words, which later became a frequent subject of St Paul's meditation, really did apply in the case of St Joseph. He didn't fulfill the will of God in a routine or perfunctory way; he did it spontaneously and wholeheartedly. For him the law which every practicing Jew lived by was not a code or a cold list of precepts, but an expression of the will of the living God. So he knew how to recognize the Lord's voice when it came to him so unexpectedly and so surprisingly.

Venerable Pope Pius XII, Address, 1 May 1955: St Joseph is the best protector to help you in your life, to penetrate the spirit of the Gospel. Indeed, from the Heart of the God-Man, Savior of the world, this spirit is infused in you and in all men, but it is certain that there was no worker’s spirit so perfectly and deeply penetrated as the putative father of Jesus, who lived with him in the closest intimacy and community of family and work. So, if you want to be close to Christ, I repeat to you "Ite ad Ioseph”: Go to Joseph!

Pope St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Custos: The patronage of St. Joseph must be invoked, and it is always necessary for the Church, not only to defend it against dangers ceaselessly cropping up, but also and above all to support it in those fearful efforts at evangelizing the world, and spreading the new evangelization among nations where the Christian religion and life were formerly the most flourishing, but are now put to a difficult test…. May St. Joseph become for all a singular master in the service of the saving mission of Christ that is incumbent on each and every one of us in the Church: To spouses, to parents, to those who live by the work of their hands or by any other work, to persons called to the contemplative life as well as to those called to the apostolate.