♔ THE PREDESTINATION OF ST. JOSEPH ♔

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Text by Cardinal Lepicier (1863-1936) 

Inasmuch as St. Joseph’s election to the dignity of Spouse of Mary and Virgin-Father of Jesus would constitute the formal reason of his future glory, it follows that he was predestined to this dignity from all eternity, even as Jesus Christ Himself was predestined to be the Son of God and Mary to be the Mother of the Word Incarnate. St. Joseph will therefore occupy a preeminent place among the elect next to the Virgin Mother, and this place no one will take from him, for what is established in the divine counsels cannot be frustrated. The order of predestination suffers no change.

St. Joseph’s predestination to the dignity of the Spouse of the Mother of God was entirely subordinated to the decree of the Incarnation of the Word, not fortuitously, but precisely in view of the fact that the Incarnation was ordained to the salvation of mankind.

In point of fact, according to the teaching of St. Thomas, which agrees admirably with Sacred Scripture and the Liturgy, if man had not sinned, the Word would not have become incarnate. That is why the predestination of St. Joseph, like Christ’s and His Mother’s, had the redemption of the human race as its formal object.

Here, therefore, appears in all its beauty the radiant crown which was destined from all eternity to wreathe the head of the glorious patriarch.

Inasmuch as the Redemption was to be accomplished only by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, St. Joseph was predestined first of all to be the authentic witness of the Saviour’s supernatural birth and then to become the guardian of the Virgin Mother and her Son, watching over them with unswerving fidelity and providing their food and necessities by the work of his hands.

That is why it can be said that St. Joseph was predestined by God to cooperate in a special manner with the Saviour and His Mother in the work of Redemption; and there precisely lies the sublimity of the office which so enhances the holy patriarch’s dignity in our eyes.

We rejoice, o glorious Patriarch, in the choice which the Most High made of you for so sublime a dignity. For, sinners that we are, we dare to have confident recourse to you, in light of the fact that our very faults somehow supplied the motive for your predestination, inasmuch as you were chosen to be the “minister of our salvation.” Be our guide to Jesus, Prince of the predestined, and intercede for us with her who holds the key to all graces and whom in all truth you call your well-beloved Spouse.