ST. JOSEPH REVEALED
+ IMMACULATE or SANCTIFIED?
+ YOUNG VIRGIN or OLD WIDOWER?
+ ASSUMED or IN THE TOMB?
Showing posts with label Alphonsus Liguori. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alphonsus Liguori. Show all posts
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Friday, August 15, 2014
♔ ST. JOSEPH IS REUNITED WITH THE VIRGIN MARY ON HER ASSUMPTION ♔ St. Alphonsus Liguori
St. Alphonsus de Liguori (The Glories of Mary): Who can comprehend the affection with which the Blessed Virgin’s dear spouse
St. Joseph came to salute her? Who can describe the joy that the holy patriarch
experienced at seeing his spouse arrive in Heaven with so much triumph, made
Queen of all Paradise?
With what tenderness did he say to her: "Ah! my Lady and
spouse how shall I ever be able to thank our God as I ought for having made me
thy spouse, thou who art his true mother? Through thee I merited on earth to
attend upon the childhood of the incarnate Word, to bear him so often in my
arms, and receive from him so many special favors.
Blessed be the moments that
I spent in life serving Jesus and thee, my holy spouse. Behold our Jesus; let
us console ourselves that now he is no more lying in a stable upon hay, as we saw
him at his birth in Bethlehem; he does not now live poor and despised in a
shop, as once he lived with us in Nazareth; he is not now nailed to a shameful
cross, as when he died for the salvation of the world in Jerusalem; but he sits
at the right hand of the Father, as King and Lord of Heaven and of earth.
And
now, oh my queen, we shall never more depart from his holy feet, where we shall
bless and love him eternally."
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Saints Speak of St Joseph
When God, destines anyone for a particular office, He gives him the
graces that fit him for it. Therefore, since God chose St. Joseph to fill the
office of father over the person of the Incarnate Word, we must certainly
believe that he conferred upon him all the sanctity which belonged to such an
office.
Among other privileges, Joseph had three which were special to him.
Firstly, that he was sanctified in his mother's womb, as were Jeremias and St.
John the Baptist. Secondly, that he was at the same time confirmed in grace.
And thirdly, that he was always exempt from the inclinations of concupiscence—a
privilege with which St. Joseph by the merit of his purity, favors his devout
clients by delivering them from carnal appetites.
-St. Alphonsus Liguori
___________________
In profound adoration St. Joseph, united himself to the special grace of each
one of the events in the life of Jesus. He adored Our Lord in His hidden
life... He adored in advance the Eucharistic Christ in His tabernacles: there
was nothing that Our Lord could hide from Saint Joseph. Aside from the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph was the first and most perfect adorer of Our Lord.
- St. Peter Julian Eymard
___________________
I find nothing sweeter to my imagination than to see little Jesus in the arms
of great Saint Joseph calling him father in childlike words and with an
absolute filial and loving heart.
- St. Francis de Sales
___________________
Saint Joseph served the Incarnate Word with perfect fidelity. Think of the
lively faith which inspired his uninterrupted contemplation of the Divinity of
the Christ Child; think of the love and faith which he adored his God hidden in
this little Child Whom he held in his arms and carried about always with the
respect due to God. And when the Child had grown a little, notice how Joseph
follows attentively every one of His movements, His gestures, His acts, and His
works.
- St. Bernardino of Siena
___________________
There are many good reasons to honor Saint Joseph, and to learn from his life.
He was a man of strong faith. He earned a living for his family - Jesus and
Mary - with his own hard work... He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin,
who was his Spouse. And he respected - he loved! - God’s freedom, when God made
His choice: not only His choice of Our Lady the Virgin as His Mother, but also
His choice of Saint Joseph as the Husband of Holy Mary.
- St. Josemaria Escrivá
___________________
-St. Alphonsus Liguori
___________________
In profound adoration St. Joseph, united himself to the special grace of each one of the events in the life of Jesus. He adored Our Lord in His hidden life... He adored in advance the Eucharistic Christ in His tabernacles: there was nothing that Our Lord could hide from Saint Joseph. Aside from the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph was the first and most perfect adorer of Our Lord.
- St. Peter Julian Eymard
___________________
I find nothing sweeter to my imagination than to see little Jesus in the arms of great Saint Joseph calling him father in childlike words and with an absolute filial and loving heart.
- St. Francis de Sales
___________________
Saint Joseph served the Incarnate Word with perfect fidelity. Think of the lively faith which inspired his uninterrupted contemplation of the Divinity of the Christ Child; think of the love and faith which he adored his God hidden in this little Child Whom he held in his arms and carried about always with the respect due to God. And when the Child had grown a little, notice how Joseph follows attentively every one of His movements, His gestures, His acts, and His works.
- St. Bernardino of Siena
___________________
There are many good reasons to honor Saint Joseph, and to learn from his life. He was a man of strong faith. He earned a living for his family - Jesus and Mary - with his own hard work... He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin, who was his Spouse. And he respected - he loved! - God’s freedom, when God made His choice: not only His choice of Our Lady the Virgin as His Mother, but also His choice of Saint Joseph as the Husband of Holy Mary.
- St. Josemaria Escrivá
___________________
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