THE

LIFE AND GLORIES

OF

ST. JOSEPH.

THE LIFE AND GLOBIES

OF

ST. JOSEPH

HUSBAND OF MART, FOSTER-FATHER A&F JESUS, AND PATRON OF THE UNIVERSA^KHURCH.

GROUNDED ON THE DissERTAgtftoari O^PANON ANTONIO VITALI, FATHER JOSE MORENOJ J/NDTOTHER WRITERS.

'BY

EDWAKD HEALY THOMPSON, M.A.

" ^tnm inbnme poteritnns talan birmn, rjtii <Spiriia "&ei ylenns sit ? . . . $nm- qtttb sapunttownt et con&imUem tut tnbenire patera? %•& etis svyet bomnm , <rt ab t«t otis impmtnn functus populus obcbiet." — GEN. XLI. 38-40.

LONDON AND NEW YORK :

BUENS & OATES, LIMITED.

M. H. GILL & SON, DUBLIN.

1888. r-\/ i » r r • •?

FX ST. BASIL'S SCHUuASTtCATt

OCT - 7 1953

" SPEND your life in honouring St. Joseph, and your love and homage will never equal the love and homage paid to him by Mary ; it will approach never so distantly to the obedience, the love, the homage paid to him for thirty years on earth by the Son of God. But in proportion as your heart grows towards him in the reverence and unbounded confidence of a son will you trace in your soul a more faithful copy of the Incarnate Word."— Letter on JUevotion to St. Joseph, by Herbert, Bishop of Salford, 1877.

PREFACE.

THIS is a composite work, constructed with mate- rials gathered from various quarters, principally from the dissertation of Don Antonio Vitali, Canon of

the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso at Home,

.*

entitled Vita e Glorie del Gran 'Fcftriarca S. Giuseppe, Sposo Purissimo di Maria, Padre Putativo di Gesu, e Patrono Potentissimo delta Cattolica Chiesa, 1883. To him, therefore, special acknowledgments are due, not only for the valuable contributions to the present work which his volume has supplied, but for the permission to make free use of the product of his labours. The early chapters, extending to the birth of Joseph, are, indeed, almost a literal translation of his work. Subsequently, his materials have been largely used, sometimes verbally, at other times only substantially, but with frequent omissions and re- trenchments.

Much use has also been made of a Spanish work by P. Josef Moreno, of the Minor Clergy of the House of the Holy Spirit at Seville," entitled Dis- cursos sobre las Virtudes y Privilegios de S. Josef, 1788. It professes *to be taken from the French ; but, if the idea or the groundwork of the compila-'

VI ST. JOSEPH.

tion be as represented-, its genius and spirit are indubitably Spanish ; being characterised throughout by that gravity, solidity, and depth which so espe- cially distinguishes the theologians of Spain. To this work, which is both highly instructive and emi- nently suggestive, the present writer is indebted, not only for large portions of several chapters of the book, but for eight of the more important among them, including those on the Subjection of Jesus, the Paternity and Offices of Joseph, his Interior Life, and the Glory of his Soul and Body in Heaven ; all which are especially calculated to deepen our conceptions of the dignity and sanctity of the great Patriarch. But here, as generally throughout the volume, he has not always adopted the author's language or the form in which he expresses himself, but has rather digested and developed the truths he has propounded.

Occasional recourse has likewise been had to the Vita di S. Giuseppe by the Kev. Vincenzo de Vit, 1868, which is valuable for the general justness and discrimination of its views.

Passages from the visions and revelations of saints and holy contemplatives — St. Bridget, Sister Maria de Agreda, and others — have been interwoven with the narrative, simply in the way of illustration, and not as being invested with authority, except in the sense in which, after due examination, they have been favoured with ecclesiastical approval : namely, as containing nothing contrary to faith and morals,

PBEFACE. Vii

and affording pious and profitable helps to medita- tion.

Finally, observations and reflections have been introduced as occasion offered which were suggested by various authors whose works have been consulted, or which occurred to the writer's own mind from consideration of the materials before him.

It is no uncommon idea, even among Catholics, that the devotion paid to St. Joseph and the lofty estimate of his prerogatives now prevailing in the Church are innovations of comparatively modern date, and that they have no precedent or sanction in antiquity. But this is far from being the case. In the writings of the ancient Fathers are to be found, not only what may be called prolific germs, but also positive and explicit statements of doc- trine, which sufficiently show how deep in the con- sciousness of the Church lay the belief of Joseph's exalted dignity and sanctity, and how definite a shape it had assumed even in the early ages. The devotion paid to him has, it is true, been much more distinctly formulated in later centuries, when his place in the celestial hierarchy came to be more fully recognised ; but from the first this great Saint had a peculiar attraction for many holy and gifted souls, who regarded him with singular veneration and affection, as the citations given abundantly testify.

The Church brings out of her treasury things

Vlll ST. JOSEPH.

both old and new, according as the exigencies of the time require ; and this is especially true of the devotions which have arisen from age to age and have received her ready sanction, or, rather, have been joyfully welcomed and embraced as the fulfil- ment of her heart's desire. <Thus, the devotion to our Blessed Lady, though dating from Apostolic times, received a powerful impulse at the Council of Ephesus, where the dogma of the Divine Maternity was proclaimed in opposition to the heresy of Nes- torius ; and, among other instances, may be men- tioned the ardent devotion to the Holy Places, which resulted in the Crusades ; the public and solemn adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which found its satisfaction in the Feast of Corpus Christi and the Bite of Benediction ; and, at later epochs, the devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the several mysteries of the Passion in all their pathetic details : the Five Wounds, the Precious Blood, &c. ; and, in our own days, renewed devotion to the Adorable Face of our Lord. But what is most remarkable about the devotion to St. Joseph is that, after cen- turies of obscurity and apparent oblivion, it received a sudden and mighty impulse, which carried it, as it were, at a bound into the hearts of the Christian populations and disseminated and planted it in every clime. Or, rather, we may say that the breath of God's Holy Spirit quickened into life and energy the devotion which lay, as it were, dormant and pas- sive in the hearts of the faithful, and rapidly stirred

PREFACE. ix

the smouldering fire into a blaze. Some account of this extraordinary movement and expansion is given in the concluding chapters of the work.

If to some it may be matter of surprise that saints and doctors should have written and discoursed so largely and so eloquently respecting one of whom it might appear scant notice is taken in the Gospels, and of whom no single word spoken by him has been recorded ; that a voluminous theology should have grouped itself around him ; and that he should have been proposed by the Holy See to the venera- tion and devotion of the faithful as Patron and Guar- dian of the Universal Church — this can only be because they have never sufficiently considered what was Joseph's position in the economy of redemption ; and it may safely be affirmed that the more they realise that position, and the more they study him in his several aspects, as presented in Holy Writ, the more will his grandeurs open upon them and the deeper and the higher will be their thoughts about him. For who, in fact, was St. Joseph? and what were the offices he filled, and the privileges he enjoyed ? He was predestined to be the virgin spouse of the Virgin Mother of the Son of God, and to be His and her guardian and protector; he was the chosen minister of the counsels of the Most High in the mystery of the Incarnation ; he was for years the habitual companion both of Mary and of Jesus ; he bore the Divine Child constantly in his arms, lovingly caressed Him, and received His

•x: ST. JOSEPH.

caresses in return ; to him, as to His Blessed Mother, Jesus was subject in the house and work- shop of Nazareth ; he was as a father and a tutor to Him ; he was the daily witness of His hidden life, and heard the sacred words that fell from His lips, all through His boyhood, youth, and early man- hood ; and he had the unspeakable blessedness of dying in His embrace. But further : with this sub- lime vocation and these incomparable privileges the graces and virtues of Joseph fully corresponded ; his merits were commensurate with his dignity ; and therefore it is that he ranks next to Mary in the Court of Heaven and is seated in glory so nigh unto the throne of the Incarnate Word.

But again : there is another and a fundamental Christian doctrine, the disregard or imperfect recog- nition of which lies at the root of the difficulty enter- tained respecting the position and power of Joseph in Heaven, as also respecting that of his Immaculate Spouse. It is this — that our Blessed Lord is as truly Man now that He is seated in Heaven at the right hand of the Father as He was when He trod the streets of Jerusalem and the ways of Galilee. The Incarnate God, enthroned in His majesty on high, is still our Brother-Man. Nothing, indeed, is more re- markable than our Lord's solicitude (so to say) after He had risen from the dead, not only to prove His identity to His disciples, but to convince them of His possession of the full attributes of man. " See My Hands and Feet," He said, " that it is I Myself" ;

PEEFACE. xj

nay more: "handle and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have " ; and then He took and ate before them.1 But not only so: it seemed as though He wished to impress upon them the fact that the relationship which He had assumed with men remained, not merely unbroken, but, as it were, sealed and enhanced, now that He was about to ascend into the Heaven of Heavens. The words He spoke to St. Mary Magdalen immediately after His Resurrection : " Go to My brethren, and say to them, I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and your God " 2 — words differing in their solemn emphasis and expression from any which He had heretofore used — seem to have been uttered to this end. Thus, being ever perfect Man as well as perfect God, as He had a mother and a foster-father on earth, so now in Heaven Mary is still His mother and Joseph retains the honoured name of father. The ties of their human relationship still endure, and will endure for ever. Hence the dignity of Joseph and the power of his intercession. His Foster-Child is the Almighty and Adorable God.

Many books of devotion to St. Joseph have been written in many languages ; indeed, the literature dedicated to him may be said to form a library of itself. The object of the present work is, not only to increase and stimulate that devotion, but to ex- hibit the theological basis on which it rests, and to show how great is the amount of authority and how

1 St. Luke xxiv. 39, 42, 43. 2 St. John xx. 17.

Xll ST. JOSEPH.

strong are the intrinsic reasons for holding that a profound and solid reality of heavenly origin under- lies the dignity and office to which the husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus was elected. The chapters on the -Paternity and Offices of Joseph, which are drawn (as has been said) from P. Moreno's work, may be particularly mentioned as having been composed with this intention.

And now, humbly kneeling at the feet of this great Patriarch and most powerful Saint, solitary in his grandeur as in his endowments, the writer implores his blessing on a work devoted to his honour ; not only for the exaltation of that honour among men, but for the glory of his Immaculate Spouse, and, supremely, for the glory of Him the companion and guardian of whose Childhood he was ordained to be, and to whom, indeed, he owes his incomparable dignity and his very being — the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father made Man for us and for our salvation.

For the satisfaction of the reader it is desirable to state that the work has been carefully revised by a most competent theologian in its progress through the press.

CHELTENHAM,

Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, 1888.

CONTENTS.

PREFACE ... ....... page v

CHAPTER I.

JOSEPH INCLUDED IN THE DECREE OF THE INCARNATION.

Joseph indissolubly associated with Jesus and Mary. The eternal decree. Its mode of accomplishment included therein. Joseph predestined to his office. The ground of all his greatness page 1

CHAPTER II.

JOSEPH INCLUDED IN THE ORDER OF THE HYPOSTATIC UNION.

Divers orders in the hierarchy of grace. The highest that of the Hypostatic Union. Joseph has place in this order. The doctrine no mere private opinion. Conclusions of theologians. Joseph's exalted honour. His pre-eminence over all saints. His superiority to the angels. Head of the Holy Family. Representative of the Eternal Father. His graces commensurate with his dignity. Our interest therein . pagu 5

CHAPTER III.

JOSEPH PREFIGURED IN HOLY SCRIPTURE AS TO HIS NAME, HIS LIFE, AND HIS GLORY.

Abundance of Scripture evidence. Joseph prefigured by the patriarch of the Old Testament. Patristic testimonies. Decree of the Holy See. Joseph prefigured in name. In parentage. In superiority of grace and merits. In the patriarch's government of Putiphar's house. In his exaltation at the court of Pharao. In the honours paid him • • pageU

XIV ST. JOSEPH.

CHAPTER IV.

JOSEPH PREFIGURED IN HIS VIRTUES, AND FORESHADOWED IN VARIOUS OTHER WAYS.

His clemency prefigured in the patriarch's provision for the people. In his treatment of his brethren. Pharao's injunction to obey his Viceroy. Like obedience required for obtaining Joseph's favour. He is prefigured by Eliezer and Mardochai. In many other persons and forms. St. Francis de Sales's application of a passage in the Canticles ...... page 21

CHAPTER V.

JOSEPH OF A MOST NOBLE AND ROYAL LINEAGE.

Nobility of birth a boon from God. Joseph no ignoble artisan. Great- ness of his ancestry. Last link in the Messianic genealogy. His genealogy that of Mary and Jesus .... page 29

CHAPTER VI.

JOSEPH THE SON OF JACOB AND THE SON OF HELI.

Contradiction between St. Matthew and St. Luke impossible. The two genealogies mutually reconcilable. One the natural, the other the legal genealogy. Two different opinions among theologians. The second the more eligible. Heli identified with Joachim. Junction of the two lines. Glory accruing to Joseph . . page 34

CHAPTER VII.

JOSEPH SANCTIFIED BEFORE HIS BIRTH.

Other saints sanctified before birth. Joseph entitled to priority. This privilege befitting his place and office. His sanctification a special object of the Divine Goodness. Two ways in which his sanctification before birth might be effected. Opinion of some pious writers that Joseph was preserved from the stain of original sin. The doctrine commonly approved by doctors of the Church, that he was sanctified from the first moments of his life. This grace befitting the reputed father of Jesus and the spouse of His Virgin Mother. The doctrine generally held and believed

page 41 CHAPTER VIII.

JOSEPH FREED FROM CONCUPISCENCE.

Concupiscence the penalty of sin. Joseph entitled to speedy libera- tion therefrom. This special grace befitted his sublime ministry,

CONTENTS. XV

as also his superiority over angels and saints. Declarations of theologians and doctors thereon. P. Segneri's panegyric of St. Joseph. Emphatic statements of Suarez and Cartagena. Con- clusion drawn by Benedict XIV. Our Lord's .words respecting St. John Baptist not opposed to Joseph's pre-eminence . page 48

CHAPTER IX.

JOSEPH THE HARBINGER OF REDEMPTION. HE BELONGS TO THE NEW MORE THAN TO THE OLD TESTAMENT.

Joseph compared to the white light of dawn. The precursor of Mary, the Aurora, and of Jesus, the Sun of Justice. In what sense he belonged to the Old Law and in what to the New. The Church has always regarded and venerated him as her own. He opened the gates of the Christian dispensation and closed those of the Mosaic . . page 58

CHAPTER X.

JOSEPH'S FAMILY AND PARENTAGE.

In Joseph all the virtues of his progenitors were combined and per- fected. In him all the promises made to the Patriarchs were fulfilled. Little before the world, he was great in the eyes of God. Mary's descent from David. Name of Joseph's mother not recorded. Question as to the month in which he was born. Wednesday honoured as his day. Four claimants for his birth- place. Bethlehem's claim indisputable. Visit in spirit to his cradle page 62

CHAPTER XL

THE BIRTH OF JOSEPH A JOY IN HEAVEN AND IN LIMBO.

The birth of saints a cause of rejoicing. The Blessed Trinity glorified in Joseph. His birth a source of gladness to the angels. Joseph inferior to them in nature, but superior in dignity. In what sense he needed their guardianship. Many angels appointed to attend upon him. These ministering spirits employed by Joseph in the service of mankind. His birth a joy to the souls in Limbo page 72

CHAPTER XII.

THE BIRTH OF JOSEPH A JOY ON EARTH.

His birth a joy to his parents. His name not accidental. Reasons for believing it was bestowed on him by God. Its deep significa- tion. A name of power and benediction . . . page 78 b

XVI ST. JOSEPH.

CHAPTER XIII.

JOSEPH'S CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

Joseph a first-born son. His presentation in the Temple. Jerusalem under Roman domination. Joseph brought to the Paschal solem- nity. Jerusalem the abode of Joachim and Anne. The sceptre departs from Juda. Fears inspired by Herod. His cruelties and crimes. Joseph brought up amidst anxieties and perils. His hidden life. His brother Cleophas. Joseph no illiterate mechanic. Learned in the science of the saints and in the mysteries of God

page 82

CHAPTER XIY. JOSEPH'S vow OF VIRGINITY.

His espousals with Mary a sufficient proof. Testimonies of the Fathers. The doctrine taught by St. Thomas and St. Francis de Sales. Asserted by the Bollandists. Argument drawn from the analogy of the Earthly to the Heavenly Trinity. From Joseph's place in the order of the Hypostatic Union. From his being the repre- sentative on earth of the Eternal Father. From his superiority to the angels. Joseph the first to make a vow of virginity. Its source in a special grace and in the Saint's humility. Joseph to be congratulated and invoked ..... page 89

CHAPTER XV.

JOSEPH A JUST MAN. HIS OCCUPATION.

Import of the term "just". Joseph faithful in his duty to God ; to his 'neighbour ; and to himself. Singularly and pre-eminently just. He precedes the Just One. False inferences from his exer- cising a trade. His state in life neither mean nor contemptible. Explanation of the language used by his fellow-townsmen. His employment that of Jesus Himself. His motive in embracing a life of toil. His love of poverty. His ' occupation that of a carpenter. Testimonies thereto. Joseph the patron and pro- tector of working-men. His profound humility . page 94

CHAPTER XVI.

BIRTH OF MARY. HER PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE.

Joseph's vow divinely rewarded. His residence in Jerusalem. His intimate association with Joachim and Anne. They are reproached for; their sterility. Mary's immaculate conception. Her use of reason before birth. Her nativity. She is offered to God in the Temple. Her presentation and abode therein. Testimonies thereto page 103

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII. MARY'S ABODE IN THE TEMPLE. HER MARRIAGE TO JOSEPH DECREED

IN HEAVEN.

Mary's vow of virginity. Its transcendent merit. Estimation of virginity among Hebrews and pagans. Mary's life in the Temple both active and contemplative. Marvels related of her. Mary a world in herself ; Joseph's consequent dignity and graces. Simi- larity between him and Mary. Testimonies to this. Joseph's perfection implied in his being chosen as husband of Mary

page 108

CHAPTER XVIII.

TESTIMONY OF THE SYNAGOGUE TO THE VIRTUES OF JOSEPH.

Joseph chosen by God to be the spouse of Mary. Their marriage the most perfect of unions. The Synagogue employed to effect it. Solicitude of the priests to provide Mary with a spouse worthy of her. Her silence concerning her vow of virginity. Many claim- ants of the alliance. Joseph not of the number ; he is selected for • his merits page 116

CHAPTER XIX.

BETROTHAL OF MARY AND JOSEPH.

The testimony of God to Joseph's merits. Blossoming of his rod. Traditions on the subject. Joseph's knowledge of Mary's vow. Her consent deliberate and free. Her choice of Joseph. The high encomium implied therein. Mary gave him her heart. The two one in spirit and life. Illustrations of this. Mary's fiat the seal of her consent. Period of two months between the betrothal and the espousals page 123

CHAPTER XX.

JOSEPH'S AGE AT THE TIME OF THE ESPOUSALS. HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

His advanced age neither credible nor fitting. Testimony of ancient sculptures and paintings opposed thereto. He was probably of mature age. The relative value of arguments drawn from monu- ments and those which rest on reasons of suitability. Motives for representing St. Joseph as an aged man. Representations of his extreme youth a protest against apocryphal fables. The testi- mony of St. Justin Martyr to Joseph's personal appearance. Private revelations on the subject. Description of the Blessed Virgin. Her nuptial robe and ring . . . • page 132

XVU1 ST. JOSEPH.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE ESPOUSALS OF MAIIY AND JOSEPH.

Mary's one scene of pomp upon earth. Mary and Joseph renew their vows of virginity. Remarks of St. Francis de Sales. Motive of the renewal. An example to all ages. The marriage of Mary and Joseph a true and valid marriage. Their previous vow of virginity 110 bar to their union. Their subsequent vow no derogation from its validity. Reasons why the Mother of Jesus should be married. The marriage no obscuration of the virginity either of Mary or of Joseph's true title to pre-eminence . . page 142

CHAPTER XXII.

LIFE AT NAZARETH.

Joseph's virtues henceforth destined to be known. He and Mary leave Jerusalem for Nazareth. Distribution of their goods. Joseph recognised by Mary as her head. The Holy House. Mary's domestic employments. Modesty and simplicity of the house- hold. What our Lady said to St. Bridget respecting Joseph. His reverence, love, and devotion to Mary. Her love and rever- ence for Joseph. St. Leonard's panegyric on the Spouse of Mary. The blessings derived by Joseph from her society. Extract from the Conference of St. Francis de Sales. Effects on Joseph of knowing himself to be the spouse of one so holy and exalted

page 152

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE ANNUNCIATION.

Mary and Joseph supremely rewarded for their love of virginity. Gabriel sent to the Virgin-Spouse of Joseph. The event an- nounced to the heavenly hosts. Mary rapt in prayer. Gabriel's glorious ingress. Mankind to be no longer under the rule of angels. Mary full of grace and truly blessed. Why she was . troubled at the angel's salutation. Two great truths included in Gabriel's words. The Incarnation dependent on Mary's consent. By her fiat the world is saved page 164

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE VISITATION.

Mary's prevision of the sufferings of Jesus. Her motives for not imparting her secret to Joseph. She communicates to him the angel's intimation respecting Elizabeth. The object of Mary's visit to her cousin. Reasons for concluding that Joseph accom-

CONTENTS. XIX

panied her. The contrary opinion inadmissible. Testimonies of saints and doctors. Question as to the city in which Zachary and Elizabeth abode page 176

CHAPTER XXV.

MARY AND JOSEPH'S ABODE IN ZACHARY's HOUSE.

How Elizabeth was Mary's cousin. Their mutual salutations.; their employments. Reasons for believing Joseph to have prolonged his stay in Zachary's house till Mary's departure ; and that Mary remained till after Elizabeth's delivery. Testimonies of saints and doctors thereto. Answers to two objections. The birth and circumcision of John. Return to Nazareth . . page 185

CHAPTER XXVI.

JOSEPH'S TRIAL.

Renewal of labours and charities. Increase of divine favours accorded to Mary. Secret influences experienced by Joseph. His discovery of Mary's pregnancy. Effects produced on his mind thereby. Different views entertained by the Fathers. The Espousals anterior to the angel's appearance to Joseph. Meaning of the term rendered "to put her away ". Import of the epithet " just " as applied to Joseph. His motives for leaving Mary. General agreement of Fathers and Doctors on the subject . page 192

CHAPTER XXVII.

JOSEPH'S VISION.

Mary's silence and patience. Joseph speedily delivered from his distress. The angel's address to him. His tranquillising words. Their true signification. Joseph's reflections on awaking. Analogy between Mary's election and that of Joseph. Renewal of their holy contest. Joseph's demeanour as head of the Holy Family . page 203

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE PATERNITY OF JOSEPH.

Concurrence of the Blessed Trinity in the angelic message to Joseph. He was, in a sense, true father of Jesus. The model on which the Sacred Humanity was formed. Adopted as His father by the Son of God. Treated as such by Him. His paternity the reward of his merits. Implied in his being the husband of Mary, and the son of David. Witness of the New Testament genealogies there-

XX ST. JOSEPH.

to. Implied further in Joseph's marital rights. Mary's conces- sion to him of a share in her rights. Joseph substituted by the Holy Ghost as her visible spouse. His paternity recognised and honoured in Heaven . . ... . . page 209

CHAPTER XXIX.

INTERIOR OF THE HOLY HOUSE. JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM.

Mary's desire to obey and serve her spouse. Joseph's grief thereat ; his acquiescence in the will of God". Revelations of the'life in the Holy House. Homage paid by angels and by the animal creation to its inmates. Their boundless charity and liberality. Their poverty and want. The prophecy of Micheas ; its fulfilment left by them to God. The edict of Augustus. Joseph's solicitude for Mary. Honour paid in Scripture to the ass. Journey to Bethle- hem ; trials of the way. Names enrolled. Shelter everywhere denied. Mary's serenity, Joseph's anguish . . page 223

CHAPTER XXX.

THE STABLE AT BETHLEHEM.

The cave in the rock. Outside the town. Its solitude and seclusion. Presence of angels. Joseph's supernatural trance. Mary ravished in ecstasy. Her delivery. Jesus shown to her in glorified form. Colloquy of Mother and Child, as symbolised in the Canticles. Joseph's first sight of Jesus. Homage paid by the ox and the ass. Traditions of other miraculous occurrences page 235

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. THE CIRCUMCISION.

Joseph's assumption of the prerogatives of paternity. The immensity of the dignity. His relation to the Universal Church. Construc- tion of the .cradle. Appearance of angels to shepherds. Why they were thus favoured. The heavenly light noticed only by them. Gabriel the Angel of the Incarnation. Visit of the shep- herds to the cave. Not their only visit. Traditions and memorials of them. Abode of the Holy Family in the cave. Tradition respecting the Probatic Pool. The Circumcision. Joseph the minister of the rite. He bestows the name of Jesus page 245

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.

The Epiphany always a joyous mystery to the descendants of the Gen- tiles. Question as to who the Magi were. Kings, and three

CONTENTS. XXi

in number. Their names. The motive of their journey. The star of prophecy. Their reception at Jerusalem. Guided by the star to Bethlehem. The stable the scene of their adoration. Joseph present thereat. Their stay probably prolonged. Their further history and relics page 258

CHAPTER XXXIII.

PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN AND PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.

Mary's submission to the Law. Departure from Bethlehem. Joseph's reliance 011 God's protection. Mary's rest under a terebinth. The journey to Jerusalem an august procession. Simeon enlightened by the Holy Ghost. His twofold prediction. Testimony of Anna the Prophetess. The purification of Mary. She makes the offer- ing of the poor. Jesus borne into the Court of the Priests. Un- worthiness of the Jewish priesthood. The Presentation. Departure from the Temple page 269

CHAPTER XXXIV.

A QUESTION OF DATES.

Reasons assigned for postponing the visit of the Magi. The reason drawn from the words of St. Luke creative of new difficulties. A simple explanation confirmed by St. Luke himself. Harmony of the Gospels. The reason drawn from the age of the children ordered to be slain convertible the other way. The Grotto of Milk. Return of the Holy Family to Bethlehem. The contrary opinion untenable. Motive for returning. Incidental confirma- tion derived from the words of St. Matthew. Jesus a Nazaritc

page 280

CHAPTER XXXV.

FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS.

Joseph warned to fly into Egypt with the Child and His Mother. This office most honourable to him. Ratifies his title of father. The warning given, not to Mary, but to Joseph, as head of the Holy Family. Reasons why Egypt was chosen as the place of refuge. Joseph's unquestioning obedience. The Holy Family guided by angels. They pass by Hebron. Slaughter of the babes. Its extent. The Innocents true martyrs. Relics of them collected by St. Helen page 287

ST. JOSEPH. CHAPTER XXXVI.

JOURNEY IF THE DESERT. DESTRUCTION OF IDOLS.

The road taken by the Holy Family. They are sheltered by robbers. Supported by angels. They visit various places. Destruction of temples and idols. Consternation among the Egyptians. Joseph an Apostle to them.. Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. Conver- sion of Aphrodisius the high priest. Abode at Matarieh. Tradi- tions respecting the Blessed Yirgin. Pious act of the Empress Eugenie page 298

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE OFFICES OF JOSEPH.

Reasons why he did not accept the hospitality of Aphrodisius. Three obligations imposed on him. First, that of providing Jesus with bodily sustenance.. Second, that of being His preceptor. Growth of Jesus in wisdom, and knowledge. Joseph's third office, that of guardian. These obligations personal . . . pageSQS

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

ABODE IN EGYPT. RECALL FROM EXILE.

The sorrows of exile. Deprivation of religious rites. The straits of poverty. The seamless tunic. Compassion for the babes of Bethlehem and their parents. Separation from relatives. Death

. . of Herod. Question as to the length of the abode in Egypt. Why prolonged. Mission of the Holy Family. Prophecy of Isaias. The divine Apostolate. Miracles ascribed to the Infant Jesus. Mary and her holy spouse Apostles to the heathen. Appearance of angel to Joseph in sleep ; import of his words. Departure from Egypt. Joseph's fears. He is again visited by an angel . . . ... . . . . page 318

CHAPTER XXXIX.

ABODE AT NAZARETH. EDUCATION OF JESUS.

Herod Antipas. Why Jesus was called a Nazarite. The grace in His Soul. St. Luke instructed by the Blessed Virgin. Import of his language respecting Joseph. Jesus educated by His parents. Observations of Vincenzo de Vit thereon. Imitation and curio- sity characteristic of children. Instance of Jesus asking questions

page 331

CONTENTS. xxiii

CHAPTER XL.

THE FINDING OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.

Obligation of visiting the Temple on the three great feasts. The Child Jesns accompanies His parents at the feast of the Pasch. Remains behind in Jerusalem. Why He was not missed. His loss dis- covered at Machmas. The sorrow of Joseph like that of Mary. Do Vit's mode of accounting for their conduct not admissible. Meaning of the term " three days ". Unwearying search on the part of Mary and Joseph. Jesus found. Subject of His discourse with the Doctors. His answer to Mary's remonstrance. The nature of His parents' ignorance regarding it. He returns with them to Nazareth page 339

CHAPTER XLI.

THE SUBJECTION OF JESUS.

Hidden life of Jesus. Eighteen years spent in obedience to His parents. This obedience His own free choice. Analogous to His obeying the Mosaic Law, and becoming man. He chose to be dependent on Joseph as His father. • This no derogation from the super- eminence of Mary. Joseph treated by angels as head of the Holy Family. His incomparable dignity. Not shared by -the highest angels. Employment of Jesus in the workshop of Nazareth. A real subjection. His docility to His parents' will. Joseph's consummate prudence and rectitude. His authority like that of God. Extract from the Pastoral Letter of the Bishop of Notting- ham . .... . . ... page 352

CHAPTER XLII.

JOSEPH'S INTERIOR LIFE OF PEAYER AND CONTEMPLATION.

The inner life the true life of man. Joseph's life like that of the saints in Heaven. Testimony of the Church. Life of the saints in Heaven a life of light, and love, and bliss. St. Joseph's state of ecstasy and union with God. Angelic visitations made to him in sleep ; the import of this. His continual contemplation of heavenly things. A single word all- comprehensive ; instances. Joseph's life one of habitual divine illumination. . page 366

CHAPTER XLIII.

JOSEPH'S SINGULAR FAITH AND SUPERNATURAL WISDOM.

Two special perfections in Joseph. His prompt and unquestioning faith. H<3ly Scripture affords no equal example. Instances of its c

XXIV ST. JOSEPH.

marvellous perfection. Joseph's supernatural wisdom. Mary's confidence in his lights and unhesitating obedience to his direc- tions. The value of her testimony . . . page 377

CHAPTER XLIV.

JOSEPH'S LOVE AND LIFE OF BLISS.

His silence. His largeness of hearrt. His ever-increasing love for Jesus. His intimate knowledge of dim. His toils and sufferings on His account. His service a service of the spirit. His life an anticipa- tion of the bliss of Heaven. Purity of soul necessary to its enjoy- ment. Participation of his senses in the joy of his soul. His bliss on earth meritorious. He is favoured with revelations of the glory of Jesus. His delight in the caresses of the Divine Infant. Pro- test against a false and hurtful idea of Joseph's character. His habitual state of contemplation no hindrance to his observance of all the humanities of life. His silence not repellent or morose. His interior life of bliss enhanced his natural attrac- tiveness page 384

CHAPTER XLV.

THE DEATH OF JOSEPH.

Probability of its occurrence before our Lord entered on. His public ministry. Reasons for this belief. In what sense Jesus advanced in grace with God. Joseph's participations of grace larger than that of other saints. Tradition as to his retaining his powers in old age. Instance of Moses. Joseph's martyrdom of love, and vision of the mysteries of the Passion, Opinions of St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus. Joseph's deathbed. He is God's am- bassador to the souls in Limbo. Jerusalem the place of his decease. His grave in the Valley of Josaphat .... page 398

CHAPTER XLVI.

THE GLORY OF JOSEPH IN HEAVEN.

His glory surpassing that of other saints. Testimonies thereto. Joseph one of the saints who arose after the Resurrection. His ascent with Christ into Heaven. Revelations of saints and opinions of theo- logians respecting this. Value of Joseph's testimony to the Resur- rection. His close union with Jesus a reason for sharing the bliss of His risen Body. The translation of the ancient patriarch's body a figure of Joseph's resurrection. Mary's desire of the full comple- tion of his bliss. Arguments drawn from the absence of his relics

CONTENTS. xxv

and the transportation of the Holy House. Miracle in confirmation of Joseph's resurrection. His glory enhanced by that of Jesus and Marv page til

CHAPTER XLVII.

THE PATRONAGE OF JOSEPH.

Devotion to Joseph an obligation because willed by Jesus and Mary. Our Lord's own example. His desire of Joseph's honour from a motive of justice to his merits. Joseph's co-operation in the salvation of men. Our Lord's desire of his honour from a motive of gratitude. Examples of His requital of services when on earth. Joseph's paternal love for us. Mary's desire of his honour. Her revelations to saints. She appears in his company. Bids her favoured clients take his name. Her zeal for his exaltation through her love of him as her spouse. Also from her gratitude and reverence for him. The desire of Jesus and Mary that Chris- tians should regard him as their father. His intercessory power grounded on his relationship with them. Joseph the patron of all classes ; especially of priests and missionaries .. . page 426

CHAPTER XLVIII.

THE CULTUS OF ST. JOSEPH IN THE EARLY CHURCH.

The Church the spouse of Christ and organ of the Holy Ghost. God works by His Providence. Apparent neglect of St. Joseph in primitive times. Reasons assigned by P. Segneri. Testimonies to the devotion paid him in the East. Memorials of him in the Latin Church. Testimonies to the devotion paid him therein. Greater honour apparently given by the Church to St. John the Baptist. Explanation why his feasts preceded those of St. Joseph. "Why his name is inserted in the Canon of the Mass. Why his name stands before that of St. Joseph in the Litanies of the Saints. St. Joseph's supereminent sanctity believed in the Church, though not ruled. Hopes as to its future action in the matter page 446

CHAPTER XLIX.

THE CULTUS OF ST. JOSEPH IN LATER TIMES.

Jacob's prophecy fulfilled in Joseph. The Spirit of God speaks in divers manners. Rapid development of the devotion to St. Joseph. Imported into the West by the Fathers of Carmel. Communicated to the Franciscans and Dominicans. Gerson's ardent promotion of it. His discourse before the Council of

XXVI ST. JOSEPH.

Constance. The devotion advocated by St. Bernardino of Siena and Isidore Isolano. Special impulse given thereto by Teresa of Jesus. Her testimony to Joseph's intercessory power. Confirmed by Echius, Bernardine de Bustis, Giovanni de Cartagena, and others. Extract from F. Faber's work on the Blessed Sacrament. Enumeration of the principal public honours decreed to St. Joseph by the Sovereign Pontiffs. Feast of his Patronage inaugurated by the Carmelite Order. The example widely followed. Ex- tended by Pius IX. to the whole Church. Joseph declared Patron of the Universal Church. The patronage of St. Michael distin- guished from that of St. Joseph. The spread of the devotion marvellous. Harmony between the devotions and the dogmas of the Church. Joseph's primacy over all angels and saints, Mary alone excepted. His honour inseparable from hers. Her solici- tude for its recognition. His superior glory no derogation to that of St. John Baptist and the angels. Our duty in his regard. Aspiration of the writer page 459

DECREE OF Pius IX. DECLARING ST. JOSEPH PATRON OF THE UNI- VERSAL CHURCH . . page 485

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH page 488

CHAPTER I.

JOSEPH INCLUDED IN THE DECREE OF THE INCARNATION.

TO describe the life and the glories of Joseph is to describe at the same time the life of Jesus and the glories of Mary ; for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are so intimately united, that it is impossible to speak of one without treating of the others. These three dear names — Jesus, Mary, Joseph — form that triple heavenly alliance which can never be broken. He, therefore, who undertakes to narrate the life of Joseph is under the happy necessity of narrating at the same time, in large measure, the life of Jesus and Mary. The reader will never object to this, since, after God, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are the sweetest and sublimest objects with which our minds and hearts can be filled ; they are the three powerful advocates of our cause, the three guid- ing stars of our salvation. But, in order clearly to understand the greatness of Joseph, we must look very far back ; for his greatness did not begin with his birth, neither did it begin with his espousals to Mary. Its origin is far more remote, and must be sought, not in time, but in eternity ; it began with his predestination.

Predestination, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is the divine preordination from eternity of those things which, by divine grace, are to be accomplished in time.1 Now, the most compassionate Lord God had, in the

1 P. iii. q. xxiv. a. 1.

2 ST. JOSEPH.

admirable dispositions of His Providence, from all eternity, preordained the ineffable mystery of the Divine Incarnation to repair the fall of Adam and save his descendants from eternal ruin. This mystery " hidden from ages," as the Apostle says,1 was to be revealed in the fulness of time. The Eternal Word was to assume human flesh, and, after a life full of sufferings, was to offer Himself as a voluntary victim to die upon a cross, in order, as an innocent Lamb, to expiate the sins of all mankind. This mystery, then, wras to be accomplished in Jesus ; and, therefore, Jesus, the Saviour of all, was, according to the Apostle Paul, " predestinated the Son of God in power " ; 2 and, as St. Augustine explains, it was predestined that Jesus, who according to the flesh was the Son of David, was in truth to be the Son of God, seeing that it was preordained that human nature was one day to subsist in the Eternal Person of the Word along with the Divine Nature, in order that the sufferings of Jesus might have an infinite value to satisfy worthily the Divine Justice. And this is what is called the eternal decree of the Divine Incarnation.

Now, in this decree is comprehended, not only the mystery itself of the Divine Incarnation, but also the mode and order in which this mystery was to be ac- complished, and, consequently, those persons who were principally and more immediately to have a part in it ; for, according to the doctrine of the Angelic Doctor, the eternal predestination includes, not only what is to be accomplished in time, but likewise the mode and order according to which it is to be so accomplished.3 And the mode and order predestined by God in the Incarnation of His Divine Son was this : that the Most Sacred Hu- manity of Jesus Christ was to be taken, but without sin, from that same human nature which had sinned in Adam ;

1 Coloss. i. 26. 2 Rom. i. 4. 3 Summa, p. iii. q. xxiv. a. 4.

INCLUDED IN THE DECREE OP THE INCARNATION. 3

that It was to descend from the blood of Abraham, to be of the tribe of Juda and the race of David, and that the Body of Jesus was to be formed by the power of the Holy Ghost in the pure womb of an immaculate virgin. This elect virgin is Mary ; and therefore Mary, after Jesus, was immediately comprised in the decree of the Divine Incarnation, and from eternity predestined to be the most august Mother of the Son of God. " The Virgin," says the great doctor Suarez, " could not be disjoined from her Son in the Divine election." The Church herself puts into the mouth of the Virgin these words of the Divine Wisdom : "I was preordained from eternity "^ Mary was truly a predetermined end of the eternal counsel, and St. Augustine calls her " the work of eternal counsel ".

But, in order to conceal this mystery of love from the world until the appointed time had come, and to safeguard at the same time the reputation of the Virgin Mother and the honour of the Divine Son, God willed that Mary by a marriage altogether heavenly should be espoused to the humblest, the purest, and the holiest of the royal race of David, one therefore expressly predestined for this end ; a virgin spouse for the Virgin Mother, who at the same time should be in the place of a father to the Divine Son. In the Divine mind Joseph was the one chosen from amongst all others. Joseph held the first place. Joseph was predestined to this office. True, from the tribe of Juda, from the family of David, great patriarchs were to arise, famous leaders of the people, most noble kings ; but God did not choose any of these. He chose Joseph alone. Joseph was the beloved one. Joseph was specially preordained to become one day the happy spouse of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. "As Mary," says Echius, the famous opponent of Luther, " was from eternity predestined to be the mother of the

1 Prov. viii. 23. "

4 ST. JOSEPH.

Son of God ; so also was Joseph elected to be the guardian and protector of Jesus and of Mary."1

Thus Joseph was, after Mary, comprehended in the very decree of the Incarnation, and, after Mary, was called to have an integral part, as it were, in this ineffable mystery. It is easy to perceive how much honour hence redounds to Joseph ; for if, next to the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, the mystery of the Divine Incarnation is the essential foundation of the Christian faith, who can fail to see that to be included in the eternal decree of so admirable a mystery, into which the angels themselves "desire to look,"2 is an incompar- able glory to this great saint ? We must always, there- fore, bear well in mind this singular destination of Joseph, because this is truly the ground of all his greatness. This is the basis upon which all his glories are raised. Whoever thoroughly realises the fact of this preordination will no longer marvel at God's predilection for Joseph, and at seeing him so highly privileged and exalted to be the guardian and patron of the Universal Church.

1 Sermo de S. Joseph. 2 1 St. Peter i. 12.

(5)

CHAPTEE II.

JOSEPH INCLUDED IN THE ORDEE OF THE HYPOSTATIC UNION.

TYTHATEVEB God disposes is disposed in a marvellous » T and perfect order. Wherefore the Church which Jesus came to found on earth imitates the Heavenly Sion. As in Heaven there are angelical hierarchies, and in these hierarchies there are divers orders, so also on earth there is a hierarchy of grace, and in that hierarchy are included various orders, or ministries, which, according to the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, excel each other in proportion to their approximation to God.1 The highest of all these orders, whether angelic or human, is the order of the Hypostatic Union, in which is Christ Jesus, God and Man. By the Hypostatic Union is meant that the Eternal Son of God, in His Incarnation, assumed human nature, and united it to Himself in Personal unity ; in other words, that in the one Divine Person of Jesus Christ, the two Natures, the Divine Nature and the Human Nature, ever distinct in themselves, became inseparably and eternally united. If a wonderful order is displayed in all the works of nature, an order supremely perfect is displayed in all the works of grace, especially in the great work of the Incarnation. Among these orders of grace some precede the mystery of the Incar- nation, others follow it. Among those which precede it the most remote is the order of the Patriarchs, chosen to

1 Summa, p. i. q. cvii. a. 6.

t> ST. JOSEPH.

prepare the progenitors of Jesus down to St. Joachim and St. Anne. To some of these, as to Abraham and to David, it was expressly revealed that of their blood and of their family the Saviour of men should be born into the world. The next is the Levitical and sacerdotal order, which was preordained by God to figure in all its rites the Priesthood of Jesus,' His Church, His Sacra- ments^ the Bloody Sacrifice of the Cross, and the Un- bloody Sacrifice of the Altar. The third is that of the Prophets, destined to foretell and announce to the world, so many centuries before the coming of Jesus, His Birth of a Virgin, His country, the place of His Nativity, His flight into Egypt, His Apostles, His preaching, His miracles, His Passion, His Death, His Eesurrection, His glorious Ascension into Heaven. Greater than all these Prophets was John Baptist, because destined and preor- dained to be the immediate Precursor of Christ, and to point to Him as being actually present on the earth; whence Jesus Himself affirmed that among those who were born of woman there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.1 These are the orders which tinder the Old Law preceded Jesus.

Others succeeded Him; and these are the various orders or ministries of Holy Church, which form the ecclesiastical hierarchy, beginning with the Apostles. The Apostles were to render to the whole earth and to all ages their solemn testimony to the Divinity of Jesus Christ ; they were to announce to all His Doctrine, His Law, His Sacraments ; they were to found and to spread His Church throughout the world, so that all might attain to salvation. And, as. the Apostolic order was nearer than any other to Jesus, even so, says the Angelic Doctor, did the Apostles receive greater grace than any saints in the other orders2 of the Church. Of the inferior

1 St. Luke vii. 28. 2 In Epistolam ad Eplies. i. 8.

INCLUDED IN THE OEDEB OF THE HYPOSTATIC UNION. 7

orders we need not here speak. Now, above all these orders rises supreme the order of the Hypostatic Union. All the other orders, comprising even the angelic, are subordinate and subject to it ; for this reason, that Jesus is the beginning, the author, and the head of this order, and on Jesus, as Sovereign Prince, depends every hier- archy, every sacred princedom in Heaven and on earth, since Jesus, as the Apostle says, is the end of the whole law.1 Jesus is the chief corner-stone2 upon which rests the whole sacred edifice of the Church. Jesus, according to the Prophet Isaias, is set up as an ensign to the people/ the desire of all nations, the centre of universal hope. Jesus is the sole and true source of salvation to all men. By faith in Him who was to come all were saved who lived justly from Adam until His day ; and all those who have lived and shall live justly since His coming have been and shall be saved by Him alone. In Him alone, from Him alone, and through Him alone, is truth, salva- tion, and life ; so that, even as the planets in the firma- ment revolve round the sun, receiving from it light, heat, and power, so also around Jesus, the Eternal Sun of Justice, all the various orders of grace circle, from Him alone receiving light, virtue, and power to fulfil faithfully the holy offices to which they are ordained ; and so much the greater or the less grace and dignity do they receive as they are more or less approximated in their ministry to Jesus, the author of grace, just as one who is nearer to the fire participates more largely in its heat. It is clear, then, that the order of the Hypostatic Union transcends and surpasses the other subaltern orders, even as the sun transcends the inferior stars.

Now, Joseph by divine predestination -was placed in this sovereign order. Three only composed it — Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Jesus is true God and true Man ; Mary

1 Eom. x. 4. 2 Ephes. ii. 20. 3 Isaias xi. 10, 12.

8 ST. JOSEPH.

is true mother of God and mother of men; Joseph is true spouse of Mary and putative father of Jesus. Jesus is the principal subject of the Incarnation, and the author of the Eedemption of the world ; Mary is the immediate co-operatrix and, so to say, the executrix of the Incarna- tion itself ; Joseph, the faithful depositary of these two most precious pledges, was to provide that this sublime mystery of the Incarnation and Eedemption should be brought about wjth the greatest possible congruity, so that the honour of the mother and of the God-Man, her Son, should remain intact.

That Joseph should be comprised in this supreme order is not a mere devout opinion or the fruit of pious meditation; it is a sure decision of the soundest theology. Suarez, that eminent theologian, after having spoken of the order of the Apostles, upon which he said the greatest grace was conferred,, goes on to say : " There are other ministries appertaining to the order of the Hypostatic Union, which in its kind is more perfect, as we affirmed of the dignity of the Mother of God, and in this order is constituted the ministry of St. Joseph ; and, although it be in the lowest grade of it, nevertheless, in this respect, it surpasses all others, because it exists in a superior order".1 Thus spoke Suarez, the learned theo- logian of Granada, about three hundred years ago, when the opinion of the faithful respecting St. Joseph and the devotion due to him had not been so openly and generally displayed.

But the doctors who followed spoke still more clearly. Giovanni di Cartagena, contemporary of Bellarmine and Baronius, and very dear to Pope Pius V. for his piety and science, out of the numerous learned homilies which he wrote, devoted thirteen to the praises of Joseph. After having spoken of the Apostolic order, he passes on to

1 Tom. ii. disp. viii. sec. 1.

INCLUDED IN THE ORDER OF THE HYPOSTATIC UNION. 9

treat of the order of the Hypostatic Union, and says that in its kind it is more perfect than the other, and that in this order the first place is held by the Humanity of Christ, which is immediately united to the Person of the Word; the second place is held by the Blessed Virgin, who conceived and brought forth the Incarnate Word ; the third place is held by St. Joseph, to whom was committed by God the special care, never given to any other, of feeding, nursing, educating, and protecting a God- made-man I1 After Cartagena comes P. Giuseppe Antonio Patrignani, highly praised also by Benedict XIV., who, almost two centuries ago, wrote thus of St. Joseph : " He, as constituted head of the Family immediately belonging to the service of a God-Man, transcends in dignity all the other saints; wherefore he is happily established in an order which is superior to all the other orders in the Church ".2

We might adduce other doctors of high authority, but we will proceed to consider some of the legitimate conse- quences which flow from this doctrine.

1. It is an exceeding honour to Joseph to be comprised in the same order wherein are Jesus Himself, the Son pf God, the King of kings, and Mary, Mother of God and Queen of the universe, to be united with them in the closest relations, aud enjoy their most entire confidence. The nobles of the earth deem themselves to be highly honoured in being brought into near association with monarchs of renown, holding the foremost places in their courts, and being the most trusted in their councils. What, then, shall we say of Joseph, who, placed in the order of the Hypostatic Union, was destined by God, not only to be the first in His court and the closest in His confidence, but even to be the reputed father of the King

1 Lib. iv. Horn. viii. 2 II Divoto di S. Giuseppe, Novena, Gior. vi.

10 ST. JOSEPH.

of kings ; to be, not only the confidential friend, but the very spouse of the most exalted of all the empresses in the universe ? Next to the Divine Maternity, no honour in the world is comparable with this.

2. TJO be comprised in the order of the Hypostatic Union implies being, after Jesus and Mary, superior to all the other saints, both of the Old and the New Testa- ment ; and the reason is clear : for, this order being superior to all the other orders in the Church, it follows that whosoever has a place in this order, albeit in its lowest grade, as Joseph has, ranks before all who are even in the highest grade of a lower order, such as that of the Apostles, which is the most eminent among them.

3. It follows that Joseph is superior, not in nature, but in dignity, to the angels themselves, since the orders of angels are subject to the order of the Hypostatic Union, subject to Jesus, their King and th'eir Head, subject to Mary, their Queen ; hence, as the Apostle declares, when the Eternal Father sent His Divine Son upon earth He commanded all the angels to adore Him.1 And on ac- count of Jesus the angels became subject also to Mary and to Joseph : thus we find them hastening gladly to serve them, to warn them, to console them ; and were they not sent expressly from Heaven to act as attendants on Joseph, at one time to assure him that his Spouse has conceived the Son of God Himself ; at another to make known to him the plot of Herod, so that he might place the Virgin and her Divine Son in safety by flying into Egypt ; and, again, to announce to him that now he may joyfully return into the land of Israel ? 2

4. We conclude that Joseph was comprehended in this order because he was truly the head and guardian of this Divine Family. To rule and govern this august family belonged of right to Jesus, who was God. Mary and

1 Heb. i. 6. 2 St. Matthew i. 20, 21 ; ii. 13, 19, 20.

INCLUDED IN THE OEDEB OF THE HYPOSTATIC UNION. 11

Joseph, exalted as they were in dignity, were, neverthe- less, only creatures ; but Jesus willed to give an example of the most perfect humility. It was His will to mag- nify our saint, and to concede to him this high glory, making him the head and guardian of His family ; so that Joseph had rule and authority over the Son of God Himself and over the very Mother of the Son of God. And Joseph, being thus destined to be the head and guardian of Jesus, the head and guardian of Mary, became at the same time the patron and guardian of the Church, which is the spouse of Jesus and, in a manner, the daughter of Mary. Whence Pius IX., of blessed memory, in pro- claiming Joseph Patron of the Church, did not so much confer a new title of honour upon him as affirm and declare this his most ancient prerogative, which had not before been so expressly promulgated by Holy Church.

5. It follows that Joseph was comprised in that order and in that family by the highest representation which it is possible to conceive, inasmuch as he was made the very representative of the Divine Father, who alone has the right to call Jesus His Son, having begotten Him from all eternity ; and yet that same God, who by the mouth of Isaias1 protested that He would never give His glory to another, that God who, in communicating to the Word and to the Holy Spirit His Divine essence, does not in any wise communicate to them. His Divine paternity, was so generous to Joseph as to concede to him His glory, and communicate to him His name and His paternity ; not actually, for that was impossible, but so that he should be in His place and stead, and should be called the father of Him who was the Divine Word, and that the Word Himself should call Joseph by the sweet name of father, so that he might with true joy appropriate to himself that passage in Holy Scripture :

1 Chap. xlii. 8.

12 ST. JOSEPH.

" I will be to Him a father and He shall be to me a son".1 Herein we see manifested the great love of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity for our saint and the con- fidence They reposed in him; for the Eternal Father committed wholly into his charge His well-beloved Son ; the Divine Son delivered Himself entirely to his care and to his will ; the Holy Spirit consigned and committed to him His most immaculate Spouse ; so that this Holy Family, of which Joseph became the head, was another Triad on earth, a resplendent image of the Most Holy Triad in Heaven, the Ever-Blessed Trinity : Joseph repre- senting the Eternal Father, Jesus representing and being in very truth the Eternal Word, and Mary representing the Eternal Love, the Holy Spirit. This thought is bor- rowed from the new Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales. " We may say " — these are his words — " that the Holy Family was a Trinity on Earth, which in a certain way represented the Heavenly Trinity Itself."2

6. Finally, it follows that Joseph, in that he was comprised in that sublime order, superior to that of all the other saints, must as a natural consequence have been predestined to receive greater gifts and graces than all the other saints, that he might be made worthy to be so near to Jesus and Mary, and fitted to discharge most faithfully those high ministries to which he was elected. Hence the pious Bernardine de Bustis makes this bold assertion : " Since Joseph was to be the guardian, com- panion, and ruler of the Most Blessed Virgin and of the Child Jesus, is it possible to conceive that God could have made a mistake in the choice of him ? or that He could have permitted him to be deficient in any respect ? or could have failed to make him most perfect? The very idea would be the grossest of errors. When God selects any one to perform some great work He bestows upon him every virtue needful for its accomplishment."8 1 Heb. i. 5. 2 Entretien, xix. 3 Marialc, Sernio xii.

INCLUDED IN THE OBDER OF THE HYPOSTATIC UNION. 13

Let us rejoice, then, with our most loving Patriarch that he has been exalted to so sublime an order, and has obtained such grace, power, and dignity as none other, after Jesus and Mary, has ever received, to the glory of God, who made him so great, and for our profit and that of the whole Church.

CHAPTEE III.

JOSEPH PBEFIGURED IN HOLY SCRIPTURE AS TO HIS NAME, HIS LIFE, AND HIS GLOKY.

WE have undertaken to speak, not only of the life, but of the glories of St. Joseph ; it behoves us, there- fore, to exhibit the glory that accrued to him in having been prefigured in Holy Scripture. Nor is this a most signal glory only ; it is also a manifest sign of that great love and especial regard which God had for him from all eternity. They are greatly mistaken who suppose, and indeed complain, that, considering how great a personage Joseph was, so little is said of him in Holy Writ. For, even in the literal and historical sense, there is sufficient mention of him in the Holy Gospels to make us appre- hend his exalted dignity ; while, prophetically speaking, he is so clearly foreshadowed in the Old Testament as to make it abundantly evident that it pleased God to present him to the world many centuries before he was born.

In the first place, there can be no manner of doubt that God designed to give an exact and elaborate figure of our saint in the person of the ancient patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob. Nor let it be objected that, according to the Fathers, that ancient patriarch was a, true type and figure of our Divine Eedeemer, and there- fore that he cannot be at the same time a type and figure of our Isaint ; for in Holy Scripture, dictated as it was by the infinite wisdom of God and containing manifold meanings, it often happens that one and the same thing or person is a type or figure of several things

PEEFIGUBED IN HIS NAME AND OFFICE. 15

or persons; or the same individual may, under one aspect or in one action, represent one person, and, under another aspect and in another action, represent a dif- ferent person ; or, again, under the one literal sense of a passage are often contained various mystical and spiritual senses : thus, for instance, Jerusalem in the literal sense is the capital city of the Hebrew people, where was the Holy Temple ; allegorically it is the Holy Catholic Church; in a tropological and moral sense it is the soul of the Christian ; in an anagogical sense it is Paradise. So it is very true that the ancient Joseph was in many events of his life a type and figure of Jesus, especially when he was sent by his father in search of his brethren, and they plotted his death ; when he was sold for a sum of money to a band of barbarians ; when he was falsely accused and made no defence, but suffered the punishment due to the accuser ; when he was kept in bonds between two criminals, and foretold death to the one and glory to the other ; when he supplied food to those who had sought to compass his death ; and, finally, when he received the name of "saviour of the world".1 But it is also true that in other points this ancient patriarch most clearly pre- figured our saint.

For this opinion we have the express authority of St. John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Ber- nard, St. Bonaventura, St. Bernardine of Siena, and, to descend to more recent times, that of the two new Doctors of the Church, St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus Liguori ; and, again, of the solemn decree of the Holy See wherein Joseph was declared Patron of the Universal Church.2

1 Gen. xli. 45.

2 " Quemadmodum Deus Josephum ilium a Jacob Patriarcha progenitum praepositum constituerat universe terrae JEgypti . . . ita temporum plenitudine adventante, alium 'selegit Josephum, cujus ille primus typum gesserat." — Deer. S. Rit. die 8. Dec., 1870.

16 ST. JOSEPH.

The ancient Joseph, then, prefigured our Joseph in his very name. "Bemember," says St. Bernard, "the ancient patriarch who was sold into Egypt, and know that that man (Joseph) not only inherited his name but pos- sessed, moreover, his chastity, his innocency, and his grace ; " 1 nay, he inherited not only his name but the import and the substance of that name in a hundredfold greater measure. Joseph in the Hebrew language signifies increase ; hence the dying father of the ancient Joseph, when bestowing upon him the fulness of his bene- diction, said, "Joseph is a. growing son; a growing son " ; 2 meaning thereby, not only that his son Joseph himself increased in wisdom, in power, and glory, but that he increased for his brethren and his children, obtaining for them rich goods and possessions in the land of Gessen. But this double increase was far more verified in the second Joseph ; first, by his own daily increase in the fulness of grace and in the Divine favour, and then by augmenting for us, his children and his brethren, the means of salvation, obtaining for us from God a continual increase of graces and benefits towards the attainment of our eternal inheritance.

The first Joseph was son of the patriarch Jacob, and the second Joseph was the son of another holy patriarch, Jacob, so that he resembled our saint not only in his own name but in that of his father ; and the mother of the ancient Joseph, the beautiful Eachel, was buried near Bethlehem, whence sprang the second Joseph and where the Divine Eedeemer was to be born. And even as at the birth of the first Joseph the servitude of Jacob to Laban was about to cease, and the way began to be opened for his return to his country, so at the birth of the second Joseph began to appear, as it were, the dawn of that day when the slavery of sin would be removed and the way re-opened to the blessed home of Paradise.

1 Super Missus est. Horn ii. 2 Gen. xlix. 22.

PEEFIGUEED IN HIS NAME AND OFFICE. 17

As the ancient Joseph grew in years he was of all his brethren the most gracious in manners, the most inno- cent and pure in his conduct. His father loved him with a special affection in preference to all his other sons, and, as a proof of his love, caused to be made for him a beautiful garment richly embroidered in various colours ; by which it is signified that our Joseph should grow in grace and sanctity surpassing that of all the angels and saints, save Mary alone, and should be beloved above all by God, and by Him be clothed with habits of the most heroic virtues, so as to become an object of. singular veneration and pre-eminently glorious among all the blessed who have attained to glory. This was shown to the 'ancient patriarch in a marvellous vision, wherein it seemed to him that he and his brethren at harvest-time were binding their sheaves, and his sheaf stood erect, while those of his brethren which surrounded it bowed themselves down as if to adore it. In the literal sense -this vision was fulfilled when, during the seven years of famine, his brethren came to him for bread, signified by those sheaves of wheat, and did him homage as the Viceroy of Egypt ; but in the mystical sense it was accomplished in the second Joseph. The field in which he is found with his brethren is the Church ; the sheaves of wheat are the accumulated merits, the fruits of grace. The foremost in gathering and binding full sheaves of holy works and heroic virtues ,in this great field was, after Mary, to be Joseph. The first who should follow him would also collect their sheaves, but these would never equal Joseph's sheaf, which would stand rich and glorious above them all ; and, recognising therein his superiority in merits and greatness, all would bow before him, beholding in him the reputed father of Jesus, the husband of Mary, the exalted patron of the Universal Church.

His glory and dignity were still more manifested in 2

18 ST. JOSEPH.

another admirable vision which the ancient patriarch saw, when he seemed to behold the sun, the moon, and eleven stars descend to adore him. This vision was fulfilled according to the letter when his father and his eleven brethren with their families came into Egypt to do homage to him on his throne ; but more truly in a spiritual sense was it accomplished in our Joseph when, in Egypt, in Nazareth, in Jerusalem, he beheld Jesus, who is the Sun of Justice, " subject " 1 to him ; his im- maculate Spouse, Mary, who is fair as the moon, yielding him obedience ; and now in Heaven beholds the Apostles and Saints all doing him homage and paying him the profoundest veneration. Now, if such bright stars do reverence to Joseph, what homage, what veneration, do not we owe to him, miserable little lamps as we are !

As the ancient Joseph became the victim of his breth- ren's envy and was led as a slave into Egypt, so our Joseph, through Herod's envy, was forced to become an exile in Egypt, flying thither with his greatest treasure, Jesus, and his most holy Spouse. And, as the former found grace with Putiphar, chief captain of Pharao's army, even to being made steward of his household, and set as governor over his whole family to order all things at his pleasure, even so the latter found grace with Jesus, his Lord, was constituted His minister-general, and promoted to the government, tutelage, and patronage both of the the Holy Family and of the House of the Lord, which is His Church. The first Joseph in the house of Putiphar gave a signal proof of heroic chastity ; and yet he was consigned for some time to the obscurity of a dungeon and was almost forgotten. The second Joseph gave a far more sublime example of angelic virginity, espoused as he was to the purest of all virgins ; nevertheless, in order that the Divinity of Jesus and the Virginity of Mary

1 St. Luke ii. 51.

PBEFIGURED IN HIS NAME AND OFFICE. 19

might first be displayed in all their incomparable splen- dour, he chose to remain for some time hidden and almost forgotten in the Catholic Church.

While the first (says St. Bernard) receives from God intelligence in the interpretation of dreams, to the second He gives both the knowledge and the participation of heavenly mysteries. The former passed from the obscurity of a prison to the splendours of a court ; the latter passed from the sorrows of exile to the celestial mansions, with the truly regal dignity of reputed father of the King of kings, spouse of the Queen of Heaven, and most power- ful patron of the Universal Church. The exaltation of the ancient Joseph to the highest rank in the court of the king of Egypt could not more perfectly figure the eleva- tion of our Joseph to the loftiest seats in the House of the Lord and the Court of Heaven. See how Pharao, having recognised the wisdom of Joseph in the true in- terpretation of his dreams, joyfully exclaims : " Can I find one wiser and one like unto thee? Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey. Behold I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt." l Then he took hfs ring from his own hand and placed it on Joseph's, and arrayed him in a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made him go up into his second chariot, while a crier proclaimed that all should bow the knee before him, and acknowledge him as Governor of Egypt. Here, then, is an express figure of the second Joseph, when he was" con- stituted by God head of the Holy Family and Patron of the Catholic Church. To our saint God in like manner said : ' ' Whom shall I find wiser and more fitting than thou art to preside over My Family, and to be the Patron and Protector of My Church ? Behold I set thee as the master and governor of My house, and all My children

1 Gen. xli. 39-41.

20 ST. JOSEPH.

must do thy bidding." So it is : as the ancient Joseph, according to the saying of- holy king David,1 was made by Pharao lord of all his house and ruler over all his possessions, so, as Holy Church teaches us, the second Joseph was appointed by God lord of all His House and ruler over all His possessions; and so much the more powerful, the richer, and the more exalted as the House of Nazareth and the Catholic Church are more noble and more sublime than the perishable palace of Memphis, and his sway the more extensive in as much as the pos- sessions of God in the whole earth are vaster than were those of the first Joseph in the land of Egypt.

So also the ring placed by Pharao on Joseph's finger was the sign of the great authority conferred on our Joseph by God ; the silken robe typified the glorious gifts with which his pure soul would one day be invested ; the chain of gold was the symbol of that intense charity with which his heart was ever burning. And thus, again, was Joseph elevated above the other saints, and raised, as it were, on a glorious chariot, to receive, especially in these our days, the praises of the whole earth ; the supreme lawgiver of the Vatican, the immortal Pius IX., having proclaimed to the world that all are to bow down to Joseph, for that God has exalted him to the patronage and guardianship of the Universal Church.

1 Psalm civ. 21.

CHAPTEE IV.

JOSEPH PREFIGURED IN HIS GOODNESS, CLEMENCY, AND GENEEOSITY TOWARDS HIS DEVOUT CLIENTS, AND FORESHADOWED IN VARIOUS OTHER WAYS.

OUK compassionate Lord was pleased to ordain that the ancient Joseph should prefigure our glorious Patriarch not only in greatness and power, but also in his goodness, the gentleness of his soul, and the tenderness and magnanimity of his paternal heart. As long as the seven predicted years of plenty lasted few thought about Joseph ; and possibly some may have scoffed at seeing him so intent on laying up so large a quantity of corn in the great storehouses of Egypt. But as soon as the years of terrible dearth had begun, then all remembered Joseph, and from all quarters men came to Egypt to buy for themselves their necessary food. And when the people cried out to Pharao for bread, the king told them to go to Joseph, and to do all that he should say to them ; and Joseph opened in their behalf the vast granaries of Egypt.1 Here we recognise the great facility and benignity of our saint in assisting those who in prosperous times ungratefully forget him. As the ancient Joseph laid up such store of grain that he might hereafter provide for the famishing people, so also did our Joseph during his lifetime accumulate such great store of merit that he might hereafter powerfully aid his clients. For, in consideration of his great merits, when the people,

1 Gen. xli. 55, 56.

22 ST. JOSEPH.

afflicted by private or public calamities, raise their sup- pliant voices to Heaven for aid, God replies : " Go to Joseph, and do whatever he enjoins you ". Thus Joseph, after Mary, is appointed the perpetual dispenser of all heavenly favours ; and, more generous in his gifts than the ancient Joseph, he opens to all the treasures of divine graces, not merely such as are earthly and tem- poral, but, what is much more, those which are spiritual and eternal. None need starve, knowing that Joseph holds open to them all the riches of Divine beneficence. And this would seem to be indicated in Holy Scripture, where it is said that in Egypt, that is, where Joseph was, there was bread ; but everywhere else, that is, where he was not, universal death prevailed. How greatly, then, are the world and the Church indebted to St. Joseph ; far more than was Egypt to the ancient patriarch ! since, as St. Bernardine of Siena says, our saint has not merely provided for the Egyptians the bread which sustains the natural life, but has with the utmost solicitude nourished the elect with the Bread of Heaven ; to wit, the most sweet Jesus, who infuses into us eternal life.1 This, indeed, is distinctly stated and set forth in the solemn decree wherein St. Joseph was declared by our late holy Pontiff, Pius IX., Patron of the Universal Church.

Further, we may notice how the ancient Joseph treated his brethren, whom he recognised although they knew him not ; how he filled their sacks with corn, and restored to them the price of it, besides giving them abundance of provision for their journey. They return, by his desire, with their youngest brother, Benjamin, in whom we see a figure of every innocent and dear client of St. Joseph. At the very sight of his young brother the patriarch is inwardly moved to tears, and says to him : " God be gracious to thee, my son ". But for all

1 Sermo i. cle S. Joseph.

PREFIGURED IN HIS VIRTUES. 23

he orders a rich banquet to be prepared in his apart- ments, and finally, unable any longer to restrain the swelling tide of his love, he makes himself known to his brethren, saying : "I am Joseph, your brother. Fear not ; it was God who sent me before you for your preser- vation ; it was God who made me as it were a father to the king ; it was God who constituted me lord over all his house, and governor over the whole land of Egypt." l So saying, he presses them to his bosom, he sends im- mediately for his father, Jacob, that he may come and share in his joys and partake of his goods. He presents to Pharao the good old man, his father, together with his brethren and their families, and it is at Joseph's recom- mendation that the king right willingly concedes to them the fairest and richest lands of Gessen. Who does not herein behold a picture of our Joseph's conduct to those who are devout to him? He grants largely to them what they ask ; nor does he need to be long entreated ; he does not sell his benefits, . but bountifully adds more than he is asked. As he receives with singular affection the innocent and implores for them a copious measure of Divine mercy, so also he does not drive away the guilty who, repentant, have recourse to him, but, after ingeniously causing them to recognise the ruin brought about by sin, he prepares for them a banquet of graces ; and some- times in the midst of their afflictions makes himself known to his clients by such an abundance of heavenly consolations as to move them to tears of tenderness. " Gome," he says, " come to my arms ; I am Joseph, your brother ; I will protect you ; I will defend you. It is God who placed your salvation in my hands ; He made me, as it were, father to the King of kings ; He made me the reputed father of Jesus ; He constituted me the patron of His whole House, that is, of the Universal

1 GeB. xliv. 4-8.

24 ST. JOSEPH.

Church, the sustaining arm of all the earth." Thus, fulfilling his great office of loving protector, he presses all to his bosom ; he presents them before the throne of God ; he desires to save their entire families, and obtains for all by his powerful mediation the blessed land of saints, Paradise.

To obtain all these immense advantages by means of Joseph, the same condition must be observed which the king of Egypt required of those who came to ask for corn ; namely, that they should strictly do what Joseph enjoins : " Go to Joseph ; and do all that he shall say to you".1 God imposes the same condition on those who would obtain graces from St. Joseph; they must promptly and faithfully do what he bids them. And what else does Joseph tell us, both by word and example, but that we should fulfil the Divine law, even as he fulfilled it ? Without the fulfilment of God's commandments it is vain to hope for favours. But whosoever fulfils them per- fectly, to him appertain, no doubt, all those heavenly and earthly blessings which the good old man, Jacob, at the close of his days called down on his son Joseph : " The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers : until the desire of the ever- lasting hills should come ; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren".2 This prediction of Jacob was only partially fulfilled in the ancient Joseph, because he was not present, nor could he be present, at the coming of the Desire of the everlasting hills, the expected Messias. It was fully accomplished only in our Joseph, since in him alone, according to the Fathers, were summed up and epito- mised all the blessings and all the virtues of the patriarchs who had preceded him ; and Joseph alone had the ex- ceptional privilege of being the first, after Mary, at the

1 Gen. xli. 55. n- Ibid. xlix. 26.

PREFIGURED IN HIS VIRTUES. 25

birth of the Desire of the everlasting hills, the first to see Him, to receive Him into, his arms, to embrace Him, nurture Him, and possess Him as his dearest son. This is the reason why Jacob foretold that our Joseph would be blessed in preference to all his brethren ; that is, that he would be privileged above all the other saints on earth and in Heaven. And it is, indeed, most consoling for us to behold this heavenly advocate of ours so clearly prefigured, not only in his wisdom, in his power, and in the high honour and esteem he enjoys in the presence of God, but also in the readiness and solicitude of the great charity he has for us, qualities which all combine to render his patronage most valuable and efficacious. Wherefore, if he undertakes to plead our cause with the Eternal Judge, we are safe, we have won our suit.

But it was not alone in the person of the ancient patriarch Joseph that our saint was prefigured. We may see him also in Abraham's trusted servant, Eliezer, whom he sent to fetch a wife for his son Isaac from among his own kindred, and who escorted her in safety to her new and distant home.1 As Eebecca was a type of the Blessed Virgin, so was Eliezer a type of St. Joseph, whose office it was to watch over 'and protect his immaculate spouse during a large proportion of her stay on earth. Again, in Mardochai, the uncle and guardian of Queen Esther, herself also a figure of Mary, we cannot fail to recognise a typical resemblance to the holy Joseph, guardian and protector of the Queen of Saints and Virgin Mother of the Incarnate Son of God.2 Indeed the Fathers of the Church and other spiritual writers have seen him mys'tically represented under many forms and in many passages of

1 Gen. xxiv.

2 For the last two illustrations we are indebted to F. Coleridge's admirable chapter on "The Spouse of Mary" in his Preparation of the Incarnation, a work of which we cannot speak in too high terms of commendation.

26 ST. JOSEPH.

Scripture. Thus, in the Canticles it is said, " My Beloved " — that is, Jesus— " feedeth among the lilies " j1 and what are these lilies ? asks the Abbot Eupert. Cer- tainly, after Jesus, there are none purer than Mary and Joseph, nor will there ever be. In Genesis2 we read that the patriarch Jacob beheld in a dream a ladder which reached from earth to Heaven ; and on the last step of this ladder the Lord Himself was leaning. This ladder is Mary, and the last step of this ladder, says the same spiritual writer, is Joseph, on whom Jesus Himself in His childhood leaned.8 In Abraham, Sara, arid Isaac the Fathers recognise the Holy Family ; that is, in Abraham they see Joseph, in Sara Mary, in Isaac Jesus. Again, God willed that a veil of violet, purple, and scarlet, wrought with embroidery and goodly variety, should conceal the sacred ark from the profane, and divide the sanctuary from the holy of holies. This mysterious. veil was a figure of Joseph, who was to hide from the profane the heavenly virginity of Mary and the Divine origin of Jesus. So also God commanded Moses to construct over the ark the propitiatory of purest gold, and to place two cherubim of gold at the sides, which, extending their wings, should guard and cover the propi- tiatory.4 This propitiatory is Jesus, and the cherubim of gold are Mary and Joseph, who guard, protect, and have the care of Jesus. If we are to credit the writer on Jewish antiquities, Arias Mentanus, one of these cheru- bim had the form of a beautiful young man, and the other of a lovely maiden. The prophet Isaias speaks of a sealed book placed in the hands of one who is learned, who, being bidden to read it, should answer, " I cannot, for it is sealed ".5 St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, says : " What can this sealed book be save

1 Chap. ii. 16. 2 Chap, xxviii. 12, 13. 3 In Matthceum, cap. i. 4 Exod. xxv. 18-20 ; xxvi. 31-34 ; xxxvii. 6-9. 5 Isaias xxix. 11.

PREFIGURED IN HIS VIRTUES. 27

the most immaculate Virgin ? and into whose care should it be consigned? Certainly into that of the priests. And to whom should it be given ? To the artisan Joseph." Isaias, then, prophesied of Joseph. Further on also he points to Joseph, where he says : " The young man shall dwell with the virgin ; and the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride" i1 with reference to which Gerson and others say, " This is Joseph with Mary ".2

1 will conclude this chapter with a beautiful explana- tion which St. Francis de Sales has left us in his Spiri- tual Conferences of a passage in the Canticles which gives great honour to St. Joseph. In the said book3 the August Trinity, gathered, as it were, in council for the execution of the great mystery of the Incarnation, speak thus : " Our sister,. that is, Mary, is little, that is to say, most humble, and she is an immaculate virgin. What shall We do to our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to for marriage ? If she be a wall, let Us build upon it bulwarks of silver; if she be a door, let Us join it together with boards of cedar." Thus the Mother of God, according to the Divine council, was to be a virgin and a spouse ; and her spouse, supereminently chaste, so far from being in the least degree an impediment to her virginity, was to guard and protect it, rendering it freer and more secure, and sheltered from every external con- tradiction. So that, if Mary by her vow of virginity should have raised, as it were, before her a golden wall of defence, God, to tranquillise her still further, gave her as her spouse St. Joseph, who was to be to her on all oc- casions as a bulwark of silver ; and, though this House of Gold was closed with an adamantine door, God, in giving her Joseph, strengthened it with an incorruptible defence. Hence St. Francis de Sales says : " What is the glorious

1 Chap. Ixii. 5.

2 Quoted by Trombelli, Vita e Culto di S. Giuseppe, p. i. c. viii. n. 5.

3 Chap. viii. 8, 9.

28 ST. JOSEPH.

St. Joseph but a strong bulwark for our Blessed Lady ? Joseph was given to her as a companion in order that her' purity might be more marvellously protected in its in- tegrity under the veil and shadow of holy matrimony. If the Virgin be a door, said the Eternal Father, We do not choose that the door should be open, because it is the eastern door through which no one can enter or pass ; 1 therefore is it needful to fortify it with incorruptible wood, that is, give her a companion in purity, even the great Patriarch St. Joseph, who for this reason was to surpass all the saints and angels, and the very cherubim themselves, in that eminent virtue of virginity." 2

1 Ezek. xliv. 1, 2. 2 Entretien, xix.

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CHAPTEE V. JOSEPH OF A MOST NOBLE AND EOYAL LINEAGE.

IT is certainly a great glory to come of an ancient and a noble race, particularly when to this high lineage is united the memory of great deeds and integrity of life ; and, although there is no virtue in being born great, yet may it greatly conduce to virtue. Nobility of birth is a boon from the Supreme Giver of all good not conceded to all, in which, nevertheless, its recipients must not take pride, but of which they must strive to profit, if they wish to become themselves worthy of honour and veneration. Hence we find Holy Scripture exciting us to praise these .noble and holy personages who in their generation were truly glorious.1 Now, among all who deserve to be eulo- gised for their noble and exalted ancestry, the first in rank, after Jesus and Mary, is, no doubt, our great Patriarch St. Joseph. It is necessary, therefore, to ex- hibit his high genealogy with all possible clearness, solving all the doubts connected with it which might occur to the mind, that we may thus perceive how egre- giously those err who regard St. Joseph as a poor plebeian, and hold him to have been a rough and ignoble artisan.

Joseph an ignoble plebeian ! There is not in the whole world a more splendid genealogy than was his ; among all the monarchs of the earth there is none to compare with him. God Himself desired that he should be thus privileged amongst the kings and patriarchs of the old

1 Ecclus. xliv. 1-8.

30 ST. JOSEPH.

covenant, because the glory and splendour of his genea- logy was to be wholly reflected upon Jesus and upon His Blessed Mother. The documents which record it are irrefragable, and its proofs unquestionable ; for they rest, not on the testimony of men, but on that of God. God Himself, by means of His Evangelists, has been pleased accurately to enumerate all the generations which led in a direct line from Abraham to Joseph. The antiquity of a family is estimated by the uninterrupted number of ancestors it can reckon up to the remote stem from which it traces its origin. But what scion of a noble family can in this respect compete with Joseph? St. Matthew, descending from Abraham, through David, to Joseph, registers forty generations ; and St. Luke, ascending from Joseph to Adam, counts as many as seventy-four.

It would, however, be of little value that a pedigree should be ancient, unless it were rendered illustrious by persons of noble rank and exalted dignity. Now, in the lineage of Joseph we find the most celebrated patriarchs, as Abraham ; the greatest legislators and leaders of the people, as Zorobabel ; the wisest and most renowned- monarchs, as David and Solomon. And, if the great- ness and the power of his ancestors went on diminish- ing after the return from the Babylonian captivity even to the time when the sceptre of Juda was usurped by an idolatrous and foreign king, as was Herod of As- calon, nevertheless Joseph still remained the rightful successor and heir of the kings of Juda, as being de- scended from the family of David. On the other hand, the sceptre of Juda, according, to the famous prophecy of Jacob,1 was to be taken away, and to have ceased to be at the coming of the Messias ; its failure, indeed, was to be the manifest sign of the coming of the Redeemer. Now, this removal of authority from God's chosen people

1 Gen. xlix. 10.

OF NOBLE AND EOYAL LINEAGE. 31

occurred precisely at the period when Joseph appeared in the world, to be, as it were, the forerunner and the herald of the great Messias, who was to found a new kingdom, to wit, the Catholic Church, which was to " stand for ever".1

But Joseph was not glorious solely because the pure blood of the kings of Juda circulated in his veins, since others of the same stock could claim a like honour, but he was specially glorious in being, so to say, the last link of the regal genealogy which through his spouse united him to the King of kings ; he closed the line of the ancestors of the great Messias, and beheld under his roof Him who was the Desired of all nations, the end and consummation of the law, born of his race and the Child of his Virgin Spouse.

Thus the genealogy of Joseph was to comprise the genealogy of Mary, his spouse, and also that of Jesus. For whence do we learn the genealogy of Jesus and Mary but from that of Joseph? He may be said to be its guardian, its depositary, its vindicator, its juridical wit- ness. The Eternal Father had decreed that Jesus should l>e born of the tribe of Juda, of the race of David, and that He should have no earthly father, but be born of a most pure Virgin. In order, then, to fulfil this great counsel, He ordained that Joseph, the descendant of Juda and of David, should be espoused to Mary ; and that of Mary, through the operation of the Holy Ghost, should be born Jesus. The Evangelists, following the custom of the Hebrews, who were not wont to give the genealogies of women, have not expressly left us the genealogy of Mary ; and, as they could not give the direct genealogy of Jesus on the paternal side, since He had no earthly father, how were they to make it known save through the genealogy of Joseph ? The Old Law provided that men

1 Dan. ii. 44.

32 ST. JOSEPH.

were to intermarry with their own tribe and kin, and the women also, particularly if they had possessions, in order that their inheritance might not pass out of the family.1 So that by the fact of knowing that Mary was the spouse of Joseph, we know also that she was of the tribe of Juda and of the race of David ; and thus that Jesus, her Divine Son, was also of the same tribe and race. It is a great glory to St. Joseph that his genealogy should serve to make known to us those of Jesus and Mary, and should be, in fact, so identified with them as to be even called by the Evangelist the genealogy of Jesus : " The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David ".2 St. Bernardine of Siena, then, justly observes that the nobility of St. Joseph was so great that, if we may be allowed to say so, he, in a certain sense, conferred temporal nobility on God Himself in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.3

Although Mary's genealogy is not expressly mentioned, but has been sheltered under that of her holy spouse, it is really given ; and, were this fact not recognised, serious difficulties would arise from the difference between the two genealogies, as recorded by the Evangelists St. Matthew and St. Luke. St. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel, about eight years after the death of Jesus, for the benefit of the first Christian converts from Judaism, enu- merates in direct descent the generations between Abra- ham and Joseph, that is, from Abraham to Juda, from Juda to David, and from David, through Solomon, Eo- boam, Jechonias, down to the transmigration of Babylon ; and then from Jechonias to Mathan, who was the father of Jacob, "who begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ ''. On the other hand, St. Luke, the associate of St. Paul's travels, who wrote his Gospel about twenty years after our Lord's

1 Numb, xxxvi 6-9. 2 St. Matthew i. 1. 3 Sermo de St. Joseph.

OF NOBLE AND ROYAL LINEAGE. 33

Ascension, traced the genealogy of Joseph in an upward line, giving different names to his father and many of his ancestors from those assigned by St. Matthew. This is the form in which he casts it : he says that Jesus was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, who was of Heli, and Heli of Mathat, and so on up to Nathan, the son of David. From him he mounts up to Juda, and from Juda to Abra- ham ; but he does not stop there : he continues to ascend to Noe, and from him, through the antediluvian patriarchs, until he reaches Seth, " who was of Adam, who was of God".1 Now, how is it possible that the Evangelists should contradict each other ? Or, again, how would it be possible that Joseph should have two genealogies, and be at the same time the son of Jacob, according to St. Matthew, and the son of Heli, according to St. Luke? We proceed to solve this difficulty.

1 St. Luke iii. 23-38.

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CHAPTEE VI. JOSEPH THE SON OF JACOB AND ALSO THE SON OF HELI.

THE Emperor Julian, the Apostate, blasphemously declared that in tracing the genealogy of Joseph the Evangelists had shown themselves either dolts or liars. Kather it is he who was both dolt and liar, who denied the faith, turned back to an inane idolatry, and persecuted the Church of Christ. The Evangelists, in- spired by the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of wisdom, of truth, and of unity, could neither err, nor lie, nor contradict each other. It is, therefore, impossible that there should be a shadow of disagreement between them. Moreover, since St. Luke wrote considerably later than St. Matthew, and had therefore seen his Gospel, which was already circulated among the Christian converts, how is it conceivable that he should make contradictory statements in his own Gospel ? The contradiction can only be apparent ; it is impossible that it should be real, and equally impossible that Joseph could have had two genealogies and two natural fathers, Jacob and Heli. It remains to see in what sense each of the Evangelists wrote.

By generation, of course, Joseph could have but one true and natural father, and this father, according to St. Matthew, was Jacob : " Mathan," he says, " begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph," thus asserting that Jacob was his father in the strict sense of the term. But St. Luke expresses himself in a different manner ; he says, " Joseph was of Heli," not that Heli begat Joseph,

SON OF JACOB AND SON OF HELI. 35

even as at the close of the genealogy he says, " Adam was of God " ; and we know that, although God was the father of Adam, it was not by generation. We conclude, then, that when the Evangelist places Heli in the position of Joseph's progenitor, he is understanding the parentage in a wider sense, and must mean that Heli was his legal father, his father by appellation, by affinity, by affection, as we shall see that he really was. Thus there is no contradiction between the two Evangelists : the true and legitimate father of St. Joseph was Jacob, according to St. Matthew's Gospel, and his father legally and by affinity was Heli, according to St. Luke. And in this all the Fathers and Doctors of the Church are agreed. But what was the object of bringing Heli forward? What was St. Luke's purpose in informing us that Joseph had, besides his true father, a father according to law, particularly as the Evangelist does not explain the nature of this legal relationship ? God does nothing without a purpose, and whatever we find in Holy Scrip- ture has its just object and aim, and is written for our instruction. If, therefore, God inspired St. Luke to state the genealogy of Joseph in this wise, we may rest assured that it was with a view to His own glory and to our profit. As it was needful that St. Matthew should give us the natural genealogy of Joseph, so it was also needful, perhaps more needful, that St. Luke should give us his legal genealogy ; and if he has not explained in what manner Joseph was legally the son of Heli, this was because the principal object of the Evangelists was, not to write the life of Joseph, but to manifest the Life and Character of the Messias ; and of Him, indeed, they did not write everything, and what they did write was very brief, omitting much ; for, as St. John says, if all had been written, the whole world, he thought, could not have contained the books which must have been written.1 1 St. John xxi. 25.

36 ST. JOSEPH.

The remainder was left to tradition, that is, to the teaching of those Churches where the Gospel was preached, and to the Fathers and Doctors, who should explain, according to the sense of the Church, what is wanting in Holy Scripture.

To understand, therefore, in what manner Joseph is the son of Heli let us refer to the Doctors of Holy Church. We find them expressing two chief opinions on this subject. The first is that of Julius Africanus, ac- cording to whom Heli, of whom St. Luke speaks, took a wife and died, leaving no children. Now, the law pro- vided that in such a case the widow could oblige the brother of her deceased husband to marry her, in order to raise up children to him. The widow of Heli, there- fore, according to those who maintain this opinion, would have appealed to Jacob, whom they suppose to be Heli's brother, to take her in marriage, and thus Joseph, their child, was naturally the son of Jacob, but legally the son of Heli. This opinion had followers even among the Fathers ; and it cannot be denied that it was the most commonly adopted.1 Nevertheless, be it said with all respect for those who professed it, this opinion, while on the one hand it involves no slight difficulties, on the other appears to add nothing of importance to the genea- logy of Joseph, or to that of Mary and Jesus.

As regards the difficulties, it is well to quote the words of Scripture upon which this view is grounded. " When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another : but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother : and the first son he shall have of her he shall call by his [brother's] name, that his name be not abolished out of Israel."2 It is question, then, of

1 It is the one adopted in the Douai Version of the Bible. 2 Deut. xxv. 5, 6.

SON OF JACOB AND SON OP HELI. 37

brethren dwelling together ; and it is prescribed that the first son that shall be born shall receive the name of the deceased brother. But nothing of all this do we meet with in the case before us. Jacob and Heli could not be brethren by birth, seeing that, according to the Gospel, they had neither the same father nor the same grand- father ; for we learn from St. Matthew that the father of Jacob was Mathan, the son of Eleazar, and from St. Luke that Heli was of Mathat, who was of Levi. Neither are we told that they lived together ; on the contrary, it appears that, although they were of the same tribe and race, their families were distinct, since Jacob descended from David by Solomon, and Heli by Nathan. What possible obligation, therefore, could bind Jacob to marry Heli's widow ?

However, setting aside this difficulty and supposing that he had married her, he was bound, according to the law, to give his first-born son the name of his deceased brother. But we find, on the contrary, that Jacob called his son Joseph, not Heli. For these reasons, the above- mentioned opinion seems to want a sufficiently solid basis.

Let us now consider what importance it would add to the genealogy of Mary and Jesus, which is precisely what the Evangelists desired to place in a clear light by tracing the genealogy of Joseph. As it was known that women could not, ordinarily, be married to any save men of their own tribe and race, it was sufficient that St. Matthew alone should have informed us that Joseph, born of Jacob, was of the tribe of Juda and house of David for us to have drawn the conclusion that Mary, his wife, was also of the same tribe and race. What need was there that St. Luke should afterwards tell us that he was also legally the son of Heli ? Of what interest was this fact as regarded Mary's genealogy, or what fresh light did it throw on the genealogy of Jesus ? If Heli had no rela- 1 tionship with Mary, and was not in a direct line of

38 ST. JOSEPH.

descent with her, of whom alone was to be born Jesus of the tribe of Juda and race of David, what did it matter to us to know that he was legally Joseph's father ? This being the case, we readily adhere to the second opinion, which confers a new and great importance on the genea- logy of Joseph as traced by St. Luke.1

Now, according to this second view, the Heli men- tioned by St. Luke is no other than the glorious St. Joachim, the happy father of the august Queen of Heaven and earth, Mary. This opinion is alluded to by St. Au- gustine ; 2 it was held by the author of the Sermon on the Nativity of the Virgin attributed to St. Jerome ; and it was entertained and discussed by the celebrated Mel- chior Cano,8 by Calmet, by Cornelius a Lapide, and various others. The reasons alleged in favour of this view are the following. All interpreters are agreed in reckoning the three names Heli, Eliachim, and Joachim as synonymous, and as being so used in Scripture. Thus in the fourth Book of Kings we read that the king of

1 Leaving in the text the arguments adduced by the Canon Antonio Vitali against the solidity of the earliest opinions held on this subject, and without pretending to choose between them and those of more recent date, it is only fair to state that among the doctors who embraced the opinion of Julius Africanus are to be found some who, to obviate the difficulty suggested by the Canon that St. Luke's genealogy would, according to this view, add nothing of interest to that of Mary, say that Jacob and Heli were brothers on the maternal, but not on the paternal, side, the former of whom by his first wife was father of Joachim, the father of Mary, and of Cleophas, called also Alpheus, who was the father of James the Less, Simon, Joseph, and Judas named Thaddeus. Jacob's brother Heli having died without children, he, in accordance with legal custom, married his widow, of whom he had a third son, called Joseph. Joachim and Joseph, therefore, according to this view, were brethren on the father's side, and Joseph was uncle to Mary ; so that both the Evangelists, the one giving Joseph's descent through Jacob, his true father, from Solomon, and the other through his father-in-law Heli, from Nathan, trace substantially the genealogy of both Mary and Joseph, and consequently of the Saviour, according to the flesh.

2 Qucest. Evangel, ii. q. v. Vet et Nov. Testam. q. Ivi. 3 Loc. Theol. lib. ii. cap. v.

SON OF JACOB AND SON OF HELI. 39

Egypt changed the name of Eliachim, the son of Josias, into Joakim ; and we find the same statement in the second Book of Paralipomenon.1 Philo Anianus also (quoted by Melchior Cano) informs us that with the Syrians and Egyptians the names Joachim, Eliachim, and Heli were synonymous. Heli was but an abbreviation of Eliachim. If, then, the Heli of St. Luke be in fact Joachim, the father of Mary, the Evangelist had every right to say that Joseph was of Heli, that is, not his son by nature, but his son by affinity, his son-in-law, being the husband of Joachim's daughter, since it is usual thus to express this relationship, and in this way he would have traced for us Mary's genealogy without departing from the custom of the Hebrews, which was never to give genealogies on the woman's side. Melchior Cano observes, indeed, that those words, " who was of Heli," may refer rather to Jesus than to Joseph, and then the sense would run thus : Jesus, who was reputed the son of Joseph, was not of him, but of Heli, since, being born, without man's intervention, of His Virgin Mother alone, there was no one on earth of whom He could naturally be said to be the son except Heli, or Joachim, who was His grandfather according to the flesh. And, in order to create no surprise by passing straight from the grandson to the grandfather, the Evangelist at once assigns the reason, in that Joseph was not truly the father of Jesus, but only his putative father.

Thus, then, we learn that Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Heli or Joachim, was truly of the tribe of Juda and descended in a direct line from David through his son Nathan, as Joseph, his reputed father, had the same descent through Solomon, Moreover, we have reason to believe that it was not through Joseph's genealogy alone that Jesus was the descendant of Solomon, for Benedict XIII., in one of his Sermons on 1 4 Kings xxiii. 34 ; 2 Paralip. xxxvi. 4.

40 ST. JOSEPH.

the Life of Mary,1 following in this opinion Cornelius a Lapide, Menochius, and others, maintains that St. Anne, wife of St. Joachim and the happy mother of Mary, was sister to Jacob, the father of St. Joseph : whence it follows that Mary was Joseph's cousin, and on her maternal side had the same regal descent from David through Solomon as Joseph had.

From all that has been said we must conclude that Joseph's genealogy is singularly glorious, not merely as illustrated by an uninterrupted series of patriarchs, kings, and renowned princes, but because it served to form and include the genealogy of the Mother of God and of the Divine Redeemer Himself. Well may the crowned monarchs of earth bow their heads before St. Joseph, who for nobility of birth and ancestral glory far surpasses them all. His hand is more than worthy to grasp a regal sceptre and his head to be encircled with an imperial diadem. Call him no longer a plebeian, a common artisan. In him God has been pleased both to exalt nobility and to ennoble the labour of the artisan. St. Joseph is the glory of nobles and the consolation of workmen ; he is the condemnation of those modern sectaries who, born of ignoble blood, desire to reduce all to one vulgar level, destroying every distinction of name, rank, or property, by which process society itself would soon be entirely destroyed. Let us fervently beg our exalted Patron, St. Joseph, by his powerful intercession to save the Church, the family, and society from such pernicious foes.

1 Sermo ii.

X.

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CHAPTEE VII. JOSEPH SANCTIFIED BEFOEE HIS BIRTH.

Fis now an article of our faith that the Blessed Virgin by a singular privilege was prevented by grace and preserved in entire immunity from original sin. From Holy Scripture we also learn that some souls through the divine predilection, as those of Jeremias and of the Bap- tist, were sanctified before they saw the light of day. Now, what shall we say of Joseph ? Since in dignity and holiness he is inferior to Mary, we cannot assume with any certainty that God granted to him the same privilege as to her ; and the Church has never made any utterance on the subject. Still, Joseph surpasses all the other saints in dignity and sanctity ; we are, therefore, free to conjecture that, although this is not signified in Scripture, he must have been sanctified before his birth earlier than any of them, for all the holy doctors agree in saying that there was no grace conceded to any other saint, except Mary, which was not granted to Joseph. As Mary, above all, was nearest to Jesus, so Joseph was nearest to Mary; and for the sake of Jesus, and also for Mary's sake, we may justly conclude that to Joseph must have been conceded a privilege second only to hers.

We have shown what a great end God had in view in the creation of St. Joseph, who was to be associated with the mystery of the Incarnation, and was thus comprised in the decree of man's redemption. Hence it is that he was pre-announced in Holy Scripture, and ennobled with so high a genealogy. Now, in order to correspond to so

42 ST. JOSEPH.

lofty a vocation, which, after that of the Virgin Mother, was superior to all others, whether of angels or saints, Joseph must needs have been sanctified in a most eminent degree, that he might be worthy to take his place in this most sublime order of the Hypostatic Union, in which Jesus held the first place and Mary the second. And, indeed, we find it to be the constant doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as of all the Fathers, that those whom God elects and designs for some great work, He also prepares and disposes so as to fit them for its performance ; and the Angelic Doctor adds that God gives to each grace proportioned to the office which he is chosen to fill.1 St. Bernardine of Siena lays down the same doctrine, and he then proceeds to say that this was veri- fied in the person of St. Joseph, who was the reputed father of Jesus, the true spouse of the Queen of the world and Lady of angels, and was elected by the Eternal Father to be the faithful guardian of His two greatest treasures.2 If, then, Joseph was elected to such an office, which, after the divine maternity, has none to equal it in Heaven or on earth, he must have received of God for its discharge a fulness of corresponding grace, superior to that vouchsafed to any other saint.

The election of God is from eternity, but sanctification takes place in time ; and this sanctification is not accom- plished in all at the same hour. With some it has been late, as with St. Paul. Some have been sanctified at the sixth hour, some at the third, some at the first hour, and some even before birth, as in the cases just mentioned of Jeremias and the Baptist. This is a marvellous effect of the Divine Goodness, loving to communicate Itself to a soul as early as possible and with the greatest abundance of Its gifts. But to whom more than to St. Joseph can It have loved thus to communicate Itself ? In his case truly may we apply the words of the Psalmist : " Thou 1 Summa, p. iii. q. xxvii. a. 4. 2 Scrmo i. de St. Joseph.

SANCTIFIED BEFORE BIRTH. 43

hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness; Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones".1 The grace of the Holy Spirit can have tolerated no delay in him, and, since God had prepared for Joseph the greatest grace of sanctification after Mary, He would not have awaited his birth to take possession of his soul, but in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, who was to be his reputed son, would have diffused into his heart such a flood of grace even from his mother's womb as to efface every stain of original sin and array it with the most splendid gifts, fitting it to be the abode of the Divine Majesty.

There are two ways in which this sanctification might be effected. His beautiful soul at the moment of its infusion into the body might have been guarded from contracting the stain of original sin; or at the second moment, that is, when the stain was scarcely contracted, it might have been instantaneously cancelled and purged by the grace of the future Saviour.

With regard to the first of these opinions, there have not been wanting pious writers who have held that Joseph was entirely exempt from original sin. The seraphic Bernardine de Bustis, a most devout doctor, who nourished about the middle of the 15th century, and therefore previous to the Council of Trent, says that among the fervent clients of St. Joseph some did not hesitate to affirm that solely for the sake of Jesus, of whom he was to be the putative father, and of Mary, of whom he was to be the most pure spouse, he was not only sanctified in his mother's womb but, moreover, preserved from contracting original sin.2 The said doctor neither approves nor condemns this opinion, adding that it was known only to God, who from all men chose Joseph for His reputed father and for the spouse of His most holy Mother. A century later, Giacomo Lobbezio,

1 Psalm xx. 4. 2 Mariale, p. iv. Serin, xii. de Despons. Virg.

44 ST. JOSEPH.

of the Company of Jesus, also relates how some from their devotion to St. Joseph would maintain that the privilege conceded to his Blessed Spouse was also ac- corded to himself. This accomplished theologian adds that he, too, would willingly subscribe to such a belief in honour of this most holy Patriarch, but that he could not venture to do so unless he had the authority and witness of the holy Fathers and an intimation from the Church and its Sovereign Pontiffs, which as yet we have not had.1 In the meantime the immediate rule of our faith is the Church, the infallible mistress of truth ; and, however desirous we may be to see all the singular merits and privileges of our saint exalted, we must not extend the range of even pious opinion beyond what tradition or reason warrants.

Coming now to the other way in which Joseph's sanctification in his mother's womb may have been effected, namely, at the second moment after his con- ception, as theologians would say — the Blessed Virgin having been sanctified at the first — it seems reasonable to believe it ; because it was not becoming that the putative father of Him who came to take away the sins of the world should remain for any considerable space of time with the stain of sin upon him ; it was not becoming that he who was to bear in his arms, to tend, and feed Him who came to vanquish Hell, should have himself remained long under the yoke and slavery of Satan. It seems only reasonable to believe that the Divine Saviour prevented him with His grace. The mind of the Doctors of the Church has been so freely expressed on this point that it may be reckoned as a common opinion. Gerson, who was most devout to St. Joseph, and who exerted himself so vigorously for the extinction of the schism which afflicted the Church during his time, used loudly to assert that in order to remove this tribulation it was 1 Qiuest. Theolog. torn. iii.

SANCTIFIED BEFORE BIRTH. 45

above all things necessary to honour and glorify in the highest possible degree the great Patriarch, St. Joseph. In the beautiful discourse which he delivered before the Council of Constance on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin,1 he made the most splendid eulogium of her holy spouse, Joseph. In this sermon he openly professed that the Blessed Virgin was by a singular privilege prevented by divine grace in such wise as to preserve her from the least stain of original sin, so that she thus crushed the head of the old serpent, without having ever been trodden under foot by him. Then, referring to Joseph, he uses these words : " As Mary before her birth was sanctified in her mother's womb, so may we believe was also her virginal spouse, Joseph " ; from which ob- servation it might have been concluded that he claimed the same immunity from original sin for St. Joseph as for the Blessed Virgin, except for the qualification which he subjoined : " although not in an altogether similar man- ner— quamvie non omnino similiter ". The similarity and the difference may be noted in this — that Joseph after the contraction of original sin was sanctified in the womb by the baptism of charity, baptismo flaminis, as was the Baptist and as others have been ; for so we read in the Jerusalem Office of St. Joseph. From these expressions we may gather that the learned preacher was persuaded that, if Joseph was not, like the Blessed Virgin, entirely preserved from the original stain, he must nevertheless have been speedily withdrawn from the hard slavery of Satan, so that his beautiful soul, enriched with every gift, shone resplendently before God from the first moments of his life. This doctrine was preached by Gerson at the Council of Constance, in presence of the very Fathers who had deputed him to place on record the conciliar decrees ; and not only had these Fathers not a word to say in opposition, but they greatly applauded 1 Serm. de Nativ. B. V. Marice, Consid, ii.

46 ST. JOSEPH.

his discourse and ordered it to be published, accompanied by a notice that it had been delivered before them. This commendation served to promote the support of the doctrine by the most learned theologians.

In 1522 Isidore Isolano, a Milanese Dominican Father, who had a very great devotion to the Saint, published his Summary of the Gifts of St. Joseph, dedicating it to the Sovereign Pontiff, Adrian VI. In the 9th chapter of this work he demonstrates that the opinion that St. Joseph was sanctified in his mother's womb may be held and piously believed.1 Every sanctification of this nature, he says, either is accorded on account of the future exalted dignity of the sanctified, or is ordained with a special reference to the Saint of Saints. Now, both causes eminently existed in St. Joseph, who was to be perfeptly just, and was ordained, above all men, to be nearest to the Saint of Saints, Jesus. If Jeremias was sanctified before his birth because he was to prophesy expressly of Jesus, and the Baptist also because he was to point Him out present among men, who can suppose that Joseph, on account of the close knowledge he had of Jesus above all others, Mary alone excepted, and his paternal education of Him, was not also similarly

1 In this work of the Milanese Dominican we find (p. iii. cap. iii. ) the following passage, which is very striking, partaking as it does of the nature of a prophecy, or, at least, furnishing an instance of prescience bearing a close resemblance to prophecy. " The myste- rious action of the Holy Spirit will not cease to move and inflame the hearts of the faithful, until the whole army of the Church militant shall pay fresh homage to Joseph, raising monasteries, temples, and altars dedicated to his name. Yes, new and magnifi- cent feasts will be celebrated in his honour, vows will be offered under his invocation, and those whose petitions have been granted will gladly fulfil them at his altar. God will give deeper penetra- tion to human intellects ; and learned men, meditating on the interior and hidden gifts in Joseph, will be fain to acknowledge that no one ever possessed similar superheavenly riches. Others are called the friends of Christ, but Joseph is called His father. The saints invoke Mary by the title of Queen, and this Queen is the spouse of St. Joseph."

SANCTIFIED BEFORE BIRTH. 47

privileged ? If God was pleased thus to sanctify His servants, how much more His putative father, in order that he might be so reputed, and be worthy of the name ! Isolano adds that, if all the world believes that the Mother of Jesus was raised to the highest degree of sanctity in the womb on account of the dignity of her Divine Son (and it is now an article of faith that she was preserved from the stain of original sin from the very first moment of her conception), why may we not believe that Joseph was likewise raised to a certain degree*of sanctity in his mother's womb, since he was chosen by God to be called His father ? This, he adds, was also befitting the parity of the marriage between the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph.

Cornelius & Lapide treats of the same question, and after having noticed that several of the Fathers were of opinion that this privilege was accorded, not only to our saint, but to others whom he names, he comes to this conclusion — that God might concede this privilege to more than one, if He were so pleased, but, if to any of those specified He did in fact grant it, then, assuredly, it would seem that He would not have denied it to St. Joseph, the spouse of His Blessed Mother.1

St. Joseph, then, we see, is always, in the opinion of the Doctors of the Church, held to be, next to the Blessed Virgin, the purest and the most holy among creatures, and worthy, for the sake of the Divine Son and His Mother, to be liberated and purged from original sin immediately after his conception. And this doctrine, professed by great doctors, and tacitly approved by the Church — a doctrine become familiar to preachers in their pulpits, to theologians in their academies, and to sacred writers in their works — may be considered as generally held and believed by devout Christians.

1 Comment, in Matthceum, i. 16.

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CHAPTEE VIII.

CONCUPISCENCE SUBDUED IN THE FIKST SANCTIFICATION OF JOSEPH BY THE SUPERABUNDANCE OF GEACE, WHICH WAS GREATER IN HlM THAN IN ANY OTHER SAINT EXCEPT MARY.

ONE of the penalties of original sin is that rebellion of the flesh against the spirit which, according to the Council of Trent, proceeds from sin and inclines to sin.1 Hence the Apostle said: "I see another' law in my mem- bers fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin that is in my members ".2

If it was fitting that Joseph should be speedily cleansed from the original stain, it was also fitting that he should by a special privilege be freed from this rebellion of the flesh which is its consequence. All in him was to be pure and holy ; that conflict between the flesh and the spirit, that propensity to evil and difficulty respecting good could find no place in him, but there; must be per- fect subjection of the inferior powers to reason, perfect tranquillity and order in all his affections and in all the movements of his heart ; which is equivalent to saying that the incentive to sin — -fames, as it is called by theo- logians8— was to be, as it were, extinguished in Joseph or, at any rate, vanquished and bound in such wise that it could not revolt against reason. Since Joseph was to be a pure virgin, in order to make him the worthy com- panion of the purest among all virgins, so also was it

1 Sessio v. Decretum de Peccato Originali. 2 Rom. vii. 23. 3 St. Thomas, Summa, p. iii. q. xxvii. a. 3.

FBEED FBOM CONCUPISCENCE. 49

needful that he should be exempt from any movement of concupiscence which might cast a shadow on the white lily of his purity. God, certainly, did not fail to prevent and protect with this singular grace the heart of Joseph, so that the very slightest thought which was not per- fectly chaste should never arise to trouble the serenity of his stainless soul.

Gerson, after having asserted Joseph's liberation from original sin, goes on to claim this privilege for him also. If, he says, the Lord would not confide His Mother, then a matron in age, to any but His virgin disciple, the Evangelist St. John, how much more when that Mother was in her tender youth ! In like manner, since Jesus would not be born save of perfect virginal purity, that is, of Mary, so also He would not be nurtured save by one whose purity was spotless, that is, by Joseph.1

Echius, that eminent and learned doctor, follows and confirms this statement of Gerson in two Sermons which he composed in praise of St. Joseph, and which he dedi- cated to Pope Clement VII. " Christ," he says, "when hanging on the Cross and about to die, commended His Mother to the Apostle John. Doctors, enquiring why He did not rather commend her to St. Peter, or to some other of His disciples, give this reason: that He, a Virgin, commended His Virgin Mother to a virgin. It is also," he says, " to be considered, not only that Joseph was a virgin, but that God by a special grace had extin- guished in him all the carnal fire of concupiscence, so that, free from all temptation, he could dwell with the most holy and most beautiful Virgin Mary." Whence it is just to infer that he was sanctified in his mother's womb, and that the rebellion of concupiscence was either extinguished or repressed in him. Nor should this sur- prise us, since, next to Mary, he was destined by God for the sublimest ministry, a ministry superior to that of all 1 Serm. de Nativ. B. V. Marice.

50 ST. JOSEPH.

the angels and saints ; and the holy Doctors are unani- ^ 2 mous in concluding that there was no grace, gift, or privilege conferred on angel or saint which was not conr ceded in a much higher degree to Joseph ; otherwise he would, doubtless, appear to be in some respect inferior to one or other among them.

Giovanni di Cartagena, who for his doctrine and piety was so dear to Paul V., devoted thirteen of his beautiful Homilies on the mysteries of Christ and of Mary to the praises of our saint. Having set himself to prove that, with the exception of the Blessed Mother of God, Joseph was superior to all the saints, he proceeds to demonstrate the same with respect to the angels. . " The office of the angels," he says, "is the guardianship of men; but to Joseph was committed a far higher and more excellent office, since he was chosen to be the guardian, not of a simple man, but of Christ the Lord, God and Man, and to be the most faithful spouse of His Mother." 1 St. Francis de Sales, the new doctor of the Church, enlarg- ing on the praises of St. Joseph in his Spiritual Con- ferences, exclaims, " Oh, what a saint is the glorious St. Joseph ! Not only is he a patriarch, but he is the cory- pheus of all the patriarchs ; not only is he a confessor, but he is more than a confessor, because in his confession is contained the dignity of bishop, the generosity of martyrs and of all other saints ;" and, later on, he says that the Patriarch St. Joseph surpassed all the saints and angels, and the very cherubim themselves, in the eminent virtue of virginity.2 The great doctor, Alfonso Maria de' Liguori, pondering those words of the holy Evangelist : " And He was subject to them,"3 says : " This humility of Jesus in obeying causes us to know that the dignity of St. Joseph is superior to that of all the saints, saving only that of the Virgin Mother".4

1 Lib. iv. Horn. ix. 2 Entreticn, xix.

3 St. Luke ii. 51. 4 Esort. alia Divoz. di S. Giuseppe.

FREED FEOM CONCUPISCENCE. 51

*,,. If, then, it be now the common opinion of doctors that Joseph in his dignity, in his ministry, and in holiness surpassed all the angels and saints, we are led to the legitimate conclusion that from his conception he was immediately enriched with gifts superior to theirs, in order that he might be a fitting spouse for Mary, and worthy to be the reputed father of Jesus. Therefore, if of the angels St. Augustine writes, that " God, in creating the angelic nature, infused grace into it,"1 so likewise it must be true to say the same of St. Joseph ; otherwise the angels would be his superiors, not only in their nature, but in the priority and abundance of their grace. And what it is true to say of St. Joseph, as compared to the angels, with still more reason may be affirmed in re- spect to all the saints. If St. Joseph had not been sanctified more speedily and with a fuller amount of grace, in what respect would he have been more highly favoured than Jeremias or John the Baptist,2 both of whom were sanctified previous to their birth: of the Baptist it being declared that he was "filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb " ? If, there- fore, Joseph was superior to the other saints, he must, not only have enjoyed like privileges, but have had them in a much higher degree. We have reason, then, to con- clude that not only was he freed without delay from original sin, but that his beautiful soul was also delivered from concupiscence, filled with the Holy Spirit and with the plenitude of His gifts ; nay, that he was even con- firmed in grace, and endued with the use of reason while yet in his mother's womb, as we believe was the case with Mary from the first moment of her conception.3

P. Paolo Segneri, a prince among sacred orators and a profound theologian, in a splendid panegyric which he pronounced on St. Joseph, after having demonstrated how

1 De Civitate Dei, c. is. 2 Jeremias i. 5 ; St. Luke i. 15.

3 St. Bernardine of Siena, torn. i. cap. i. serm. li.

52 ST. JOSEPH.

distinguished doctors have agreed in affirming that this privilege of sanctification before birth had been granted to our saint, goes on to say how St. Thomas teaches that the nearer anything approaches to its principle the greater and more perfect is its participation in the prerogatives or singular properties of that principle. Thus the bright- ness of the sun is more resplendent in its vicinity, and heat in proximity of the fire is more fervent ; so also, if you draw water from a spring, you will -find that it is clearer, more limpid, and more pure in proportion to its nearness to the source. "But, if this be so," he says, "how can any one suspect that Joseph, who by affinity and by office was so closely united to the universal source of all sanctity, was made participant thereof in a lower degree and in less perfection than those who were much further removed from it ? For this reason, then, we may well conclude, with very solid grounds of probability, that he was, not only sanctified in his mother's womb, but also confirmed in grace and exempted from all malice, so that no man on earth — let us boldly affirm it — was ever holier than was Joseph." And further on he says : " Have I erred in saying that no one ever exceeded Joseph in sanctity, always, of course, excepting, as she ever must be excepted, his Spouse ? If such an assertion is to be esteemed temerity, then call Gerson, the famous Parisian Chancellor, temerarious, temerarious a Bernar- dine de Bustis, a Giovanni di Cartagena, an Isidore surnamed Isolano, and, finally, a Suarez, whose judgment is equivalent to that of an entire university. And is it in ambiguous or obscure terms that Suarez expresses him- self ? Listen to his words : ' I do not see how it is a temerarious or improbable but, rather, a pious and pro- bable opinion should any hold that St. Joseph in grace and glory surpassed all the other saints, for there is nothing in Holy Scripture repugnant to such a belief'."1 1 Suarez, torn. ii. disp. viii. sec. i.

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If the venerable P. Segneri could thus speak in praise of St. Joseph two hundred years ago, and that eminent doctor and great theologian, Suarez, a hundred years before him, what would they not have said, what would they not have written, in this our time, when the glories of Joseph are more and more manifesting themselves in the whole world, and when from the sublime throne of the Vatican he has been declared the Patron of the Uni- versal Church !

But Suarez goes further still. After having enume- rated the various ministries in the order of grace, and said that the' Apostolic ministry occupies the first rank, he adds, " There are other ministries which belong to the order of the Hypostatic Union, which in its kind is more perfect, as is apparent from the divine maternity of Mary ; and in this order is the ministry of St. Joseph, which, therefore, surpasses the former, that of the Apostles ".-1 If, then, according to Suarez, the ministry of St. Joseph belongs to the order of the Hypostatic Union, and this order is superior to the Apostolic, which is the first of all the rest, clearly Joseph, although he holds the third rank in the order of the Hypostatic Union, is superior even to Peter, who is first in the Apostolic hierarchy. Between the ministry of the Apostles and that of Joseph there exists this difference : the former is immediately for men, to conduct them to Christ ; that of Joseph is immediately directed to Christ Himself, in order to preserve Him for men, and is there- fore so much the more noble and sublime. " The ministry of Joseph," says Giovanni di Cartagena, " both as spouse of the Blessed Virgin and as adopted father of Jesus, was closely conjoined with the very Person of Jesus Christ, in such wise that its dignity appears, more than any other whatsoever, to approach the most sublime dignity of the Mother of God. " 2 Benedict XIV. himself thus concludes : 1 P. iii. q. xxix. sec. i 2 Lib. iv. Horn. viii.

54: ST. JOSEPH.

" These graces, these spiritual prerogatives, of Joseph are great, are eminent, are most certain, and are so ex- clusively his that they have not been given to any other saint".1

Upon the authority, then, of such celebrated doctors, we may safely hold that Joseph, being, next to Mary, superior in dignity and holiness to all the other saints, must therefore have received from God privileges propor- tionately greater, and was consequently speedily cleansed from original sin, filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and even confirmed in grace, with concupiscence subdued, if not extinguished, from the -first moments of his existence, that thus he might be worthy of being associated with Jesus and Mary, and form with them that august Triad upon earth which is the joy of the whole universe.

Some, however, would allege as an objection the declaration of Christ, who said, " There hath not arisen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist";2 whence they infer that Joseph might, indeed, be equal to the Baptist, but could not surpass him. Nevertheless, we have the secure authority of Benedict XIV. for considering that this praise of John detracts nothing from the pre-eminent glories of Joseph, since Jesus, in asserting that none had arisen greater than John the Baptist, was not speaking absolutely, but comparatively. He was speaking of him as compared to the saints and prophets of the Old Testament, and, more- over, was excluding from His general assertion those who ought to be excluded, and excepting those who ought to be excepted, as is the case in all general assertions* Thus from this declaration Jesus naturally excluded Himself and excluded Mary ; and so also He excluded Joseph, as belonging to an order much superior to that

1 De Servorum Dei Beatificatione et Beatorum Canonisatione, lib. iv. p. ii. c. xx. n. 38.

2 St. Matthew xi. 11.

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of the Baptist. Hence Maldonatus, a very learned commentator, speaking of this declaration of Christ, wrote, " I answer briefly and easily that here the Baptist, as St. Jerome affirms, is compared by Jesus, not to all the saints, but only to those of the Old Testament".1 Now, Joseph certainly belongs to the New Testament, and is the first after Mary. Therefore he is excluded. More- over, St. Jerome, commenting on the words of Christ, observes that Jesus did not in this declaration prefer John to all the prophets and patriarchs, but only made him equal to them.

Others, indeed, and with much reason, maintain that John is not here compared by Jesus with all the saints, but only with the prophets, he being, in fact, the Pre- cursor Prophet ; and that it is clearly in this sense that He must be understood would appear from the context in St. Matthew's Gospel, where, speaking of John to the multitude, Jesus asked, "What went you out into the desert to see ? A prophet ? Yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet ; " adding afterwards, " And if you will receive it, he is Elias that is to come".2 The meaning, therefore, of what Jesus proceeded to say was that among those who were born of women there had not risen a greater prophet than John the Baptist; and he was greater in this respect, that the other prophets beheld the Messias in spirit and announced Him long before, but John saw Him and announced Him as present. The words of our Lord, as given in St. Luke's. Gospel, confirm this view : " Amongst those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist ".s Zachary had foretold that his child should be called " the prophet of the Highest" ;4 and Holy Church herself styles him the greatest of the prophets, and in her hymns de-

1 In Matthceum, cap. xi. 2 St. Matthew xi. 14.

3 St. Luke vii. 20. 4 Chap. i. 76.

56 ST. JOSEPH.

clares the reason, namely, that the prophets who preceded him prophesied of Jesus from afar, but John pointed him out with his finger as present, and as the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world.1 Besides, in the very declaration which Jesus made He expresses a limitation of John's superiority, adding, " Yet he that is the lesser in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he" ; by which we may understand he that is most profoundly humble ; Jesus in these words alluding in a special sense to Himself, next to Mary, and then to St. Joseph, who for the greatness of his humility was, with the exception of the Blessed Virgin, unsurpassed by any saint. So, too, when His disciples asked our Lord who was the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven He called unto Him a little child and, setting him in the midst of them, He said, " Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven ".2 Therefore, since Joseph next to Mary excels in humility, it follows that he is greater than all the other saints, including the Baptist. Thus the superiority of St. Joseph is confirmed also by these words of Christ.8

Nothing in what has been said can be viewed as any derogation of the high titles and sublime sanctity of John

1 St. John i. 29, 36. 2 st Matthew xviii. 1-4.

3 We have given Vitali's comment in his own words; but it may be well to cite a contrary opinion.. F. Coleridge writes : " This mode of explanation does not fully meet the difficulty ; for our Lord says, not the lesser simply, but the lesser in the Kingdom of Heaven. The words which presently follow upon these serve to confirm the supposition that our Lord is here drawing a contrast between the greatest of the Prophets of the Old Law and the lowest offices of the New Kingdom ; and that this is the true explanation of these words about St. John. Great, indeed, he was, as compared to the very greatest of the old Prophets, and yet he belonged, with them, to_the Old, and therefore greatly inferior, Dispensation, and thus it is that his greatness is almost as nothing in comparison to the powers and dignities of the ministers of that New Dispensation to which, indeed, he opened the door, but to which he nevertheless did not by his office belong." — Tlic, Training of the Apostles, part ii. p. 271.

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the Baptist, who attained even to meriting the praises of a God ; the sole object being to remove all doubt of the pre-eminence of Joseph, and to prove that in his great- ness and glory he must be reckoned, after Jesus and Mary, as excelling all the saints and angels.

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CHAPTER IX. JOSEPH THE HARBINGER OF REDEMPTION — HE BELONGS

TO THE NEW MORE THAN TO THE OLD TESTAMENT.

AS after a long and deep night we first discern the white light of dawn, to which the rosy aurora succeeds, ushering in the resplendent sun, even so, after the long and dismal night of error and corruption in the Gentile world, Joseph appeared, like the early dawn, and after Joseph came Mary, who is the celestial aurora, of whom was born Jesus, the true and eternal Sun of Justice. Thus, as the dawn precedes the aurora, and the aurora the sun, so Joseph preceded Mary, and Mary Jesus.

And truly Jesus, the eternal refulgent Sun of Justice, came to illuminate the world, immersed in the thick darkness of false belief and sin, with the light of His doctrines, His examples, and His miracles. " That was the true light," says the Evangelist, " which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world."1 But before He arose, appeared the glowing and pure aurora, whose roseate light rejoiced heaven and .earth, that .is, Mary, who in Scripture is compared thereto: "quasi aurora surgens — as the morning rising"2- — and this beautiful aurora was to be preceded by the white light of dawn, giving presage to men that the joyful day was at hand ; and this was Joseph. Wherefore it was with reason said that this blessed Triad on earth marks the confines between the ancient law and the beginning of the new, even as the dawn, the aurora, and the sunrise mark the

1 St. John i. 9. 2 Canticles vi. 9.

THE HABBINGEB OF BEDEMPTION. 59

passage from night to day. Of the Blessed Virgin St. Thomas Aquinas says that she formed the transition from the Old to the New Law, as the aurora forms the confine between night and day ; and of St. Joseph Isolano writes that he stood midway between the Syna- gogue and the Church, announcing the close of the one and the commencement of the other.1 Whence we may argue that Joseph in point of time was the first sign of light, the first ray which shone upon the earth to give notice that the aurora was about to arise, from which was to emanate that longed-for Sun which was to dispel all darkness and bring in eternal day. Thus Joseph was the herald of Mary and Jesus ; and he may be regarded as standing between the Old and the New Covenant. But to which does he belong? Does he belong to the Synagogue or does he belong to the Church ?

The question is not a new one, but it may be con- sidered as now resolved. Some doctors were of opinion that Joseph belonged to the Old Law, simply because when he departed this life there as yet existed neither Church, nor priests, nor sacraments, but this is not altogether true ; for, if the Church did not exist in its completed form, it existed in its commencement. The Catholic Church, according to St. Athanasius and other Fathers, began to have a visible existence even in the cave of Bethlehem ; and Bethlehem, the House of Bread, received Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and then the shepherds and the Magi, who were the first-fruits of the true believers. Jesus was the Author, the Head of the Church, its corner-stone and its foundation-stone ; Jesus was the High Priest by excellence ; Jesus was the Giver and the Fountain of that grace which He afterwards lodged in the sacraments. Mary was the first in this Church, nay, its Queen ; after Mary, Joseph was the

1 St. Thomas, Sent, iv. List. xxx. q. ii. a. 1 ; Isolano, Summa de Donis S. Joseph, p. iii. c. xvi.

60 ST. JOSEPH.

first and the most fervent of all the faithful, its first persecuted just one. It is, therefore, generally held by doctors that St. Joseph undoubtedly belongs more to the Catholic Church than to the Synagogue ; and Benedict XIV. himself favours this opinion, where, in answer to the doubt proposed, he says that where it is question of origin, -birth, and education in youth, Joseph belongs to the Old Testament, but where it is question of faith, spirit, profession, works, ministry, and co-operation in laying the first foundation of the Church itself, he belongs, with- out doubt, to the New Law.1 For who, indeed, next to Mary, had more faith in the Divine Eedeemer and more love for Him ? Who had more knowledge of His spirit, and who was more imbued with it from his close and continual association with Him and with His Blessed Mother for thirty years? Who better observed His precepts and counsels? Who better discharged the ministry confided to him? Who, next to Mary, was enabled so immediately and so faithfully to co-operate in the mystery of the Incarnation, and thus, indirectly, in the foundation of the Catholic Church? Indeed, we may well think that, since Joseph saved Jesus from the anger of Herod, in Jesus he saved the whole Church, and from that time- therefore merited the title and acquired the right to be the Patron of the same Church. Moreover, the whole Church has always regarded and venerated him as her own, and now more than ever in her sacred rites and feasts she exalts him as her incomparable Pro- tector, her glory, and her defence.2

Another reply, both shorter and more simple, is that Joseph up to the time of his espousals with the Blessed Virgin belonged to the Synagogue, but that after his espousals and the most sacred day of the Incarnation of the Word he belonged incontestably to the Catholic

1 De Canonizationc, lib. iv. p. ii. c. xx. a. 14. 2 Hymn, ad Matut. in Festo S. Joseph.

THE HARBINGER OF REDEMPTION. 61

Church ; so much so as to be comprised with Jesus and Mary in the order of the Hypostatic Union, which is the highest order in the hierarchy of grace. Thus the seraphic St. Bernardine of Siena tells us that Joseph had in his hands the keys to open the gates of the New Lav/ and to close those of the Law of Moses.1

1 Sermo de S. Joseph.

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CHAPTER X. JOSEPH'S FAMILY AND PARENTAGE.

WE will now speak of the family .from which Joseph sprang. The history of his ancestors is that of the kings of Juda. No more ancient, noble, or glorious race could be found in the whole world, but this is to say little ; for the genealogy of Joseph is that of the King of kings Himself. St. Matthew, as we. have seen, gives as His genealogy that of Joseph, calling it " the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham 'V On this doctors of the Church have observed that the Evangelist enumerates all the ancestors of Joseph, not so much in order to trace Mary's descent and, consequently, that of her Divine Son as to make us understand that in Joseph were accomplished all the glories of his forefathers, all their hopes, all their prayers; that in Joseph all their virtues were combined, but in far greater fulness and perfection ; that in Joseph was closed and terminated that line of great patriarchs who were the glory of Israel, but whom Joseph greatly surpassed from his incomparable election to be the destined husband of. her of whom, by the operation of Divine power, Jesus was born. Thus, if Abraham was faithful and obedient, Joseph was still more faithful and obedient ; if Isaac was solicitous and pious, much more solicitous and pious was Joseph ; if Jacob was suffering and laborious, much more suffering and laborious was Joseph. Our saint was more patient than Job, more chaste than the first Joseph, more

1 St. Matthew i. 1.

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zealous than Moses ; he was meeker than David, more fervent than Elias, more trustful than Ezechias, more courageous and intrepid than Mathathias.1

The Abbot Eupert observes that among the promises of the Messias made by God the fullest was that made to Joseph. God promised Abraham that of his race the Eedeemer should be born, and that in him all the nations of the earth should be blessed. To David God promised that the Divine Saviour should spring from his family and inherit his throne for ever. To Joseph, finally, who was of the house and lineage of David and a descendant of Abraham, God promised that His Divine Son, who was to be born of his Virgin Spouse, should " save His people from their sins ".2 Thus in Joseph alone were the promises of God accomplished ; whence the Abbot concludes that he was the last in time of the order of the Patriarchs, and that in him all the ancient promises were summed up and completed. Abraham, David, and the rest beheld them and saluted them from afar ; Joseph saw them near to him, verified and fulfilled. The last promise was made to Joseph, but it was the best, the most desired, the fullest, the most complete.8 Thus Joseph was the happiest, the most highly privileged, the most exalted, and the last of the patriarchs ; last in time, but first in dignity.

In one sole respect did the other patriarchs surpass him ; that is, in abundance of the comforts of life, of riches, of titles, of honours. The others were, for the most part, born in the enjoyment of wealth, or amidst

1 P. Patrignani, quoted with such high praise by Benedict XIV., says : "Joseph is the crown of the Patriarchs and progenitors of the

i promised Divine Messias. He inherited all their benedictions, and j beheld their fulfilment. He was the original figured by Joseph, the governor and saviour of Egypt. He was the crown of the saints of the Old Testament ; in him all their virtues were combined and perfected ; and he was the crown of the saints.of the New Testa- ment."— Novena di S. Giuseppe, Gior. vi.

2 St. Matthew i. 21. 3 De Div. Off. lib. iii. c. xix.

64 ST. JOSEPH.

the splendour of a court, or even with the regal sceptre in their hands ; but not so Joseph. Joseph was born poor, though not a mendicant, in a humble but not an abject condition. A small house and scanty goods con- stituted the whole of his earthly possessions. He had a title to the throne of his ancestors, but the regal power had fallen into the hands of greedy procurators and foreign tetrarchs. He had, therefore, neither a royal palace, nor a long train of attendants ; he had neither courtiers, nor treasure, nor domains, nor tribute, nor the homage of subject nations. Through the vicissitudes of the Babylonian captivity, the violent deeds of Antiochus, and the avidity of domineering potentates, the legitimate patrimony of his ancestors had been seized and dissipated. But, if Joseph was not born great in the eyes of the world, he was great before God for the abundance of graces with which He had liberally endowed and enriched him above all the kings and patriarchs his progenitors. Jesus, who came into the world to condemn luxury, pride, and the insatiate desire of self-exaltation, was preparing for Himself a father, albeit only putative, who, if, on the one hand, he came of royal blood, so that the great ones of the earth could not be offended in him, was, on the other hand, humble, poor, lowly, that He might raise the miserable from their abjection, and thus ful- fil the great end of His- divine mission. Of the poor but most holy Joseph Jesus desired to form, as it were, a type, a perfect example, of every Christian virtue, to be afterwards proposed as a model to all the faithful, that they might imitate his piety, his religiousness, his patience, his obedience, his submission to the Divine Will, his fraternal charity, his unwearied activity in the fulfilment of his duties and in the exercise of every private and domestic virtue. God was preparing in Joseph a true friend, a protector, and a patron for those unthinking men of the people who become so often the

HIS FAMILY AND PARENTAGE. 65

sport and the prey of designing agitators. Jesus chose Joseph poor, as He subsequently chose His Apostles from among the poor, that the world might understand that He came to convert the whole earth, not by gold or by force, not by the pomp of secular power, "but by the humility of the Gospel, by the poverty of the Cross, and by the admirable virtue of His example, of His word, and of the prodigies which He wrought, in order that the divine mission and divine origin of His Church might be the more manifest.

Having seen how Joseph was. descended from Abraham and from the kings of Juda, and how, in particular, he was of the house and family of King David, we will now speak of his own parents. We are, as already observed, expressly told by the Evangelist St. Matthew the name of his father, for in closing his genealogy he says, " Mathan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ "-1 On this point, therefore, no doubt could arise. The difficulty suggested by the text of St. Luke has been already considered. Heli, there is the strongest reason to believe, is the same with Joachim, the father of Mary, and he became, therefore, the father-in-law, or legal father, of Joseph, his father by affinity, and whom, like his Blessed Spouse, he would call by that name. We owe much, therefore, to St. Luke, who, without departing from the custom of the Hebrews, has given in fact the direct genealogy of Mary. And this opinion acquires higher value if we admit — and we have no reason not to admit — the truth of what Menochius, Benedict XIII., and other doctors assert, namely, that St. Anne, the mother of our Ble'ssed Lady and the wife of Joachim, was sister to Jacob, the father of Joseph ; whence it would follow that Joseph and Mary were first cousins, and that Mary, as also her Divine Son, was descended from King 1 Chap. i. 15, 16.

5

66 ST. JOSEPH.

David by the double line of Solomon and Nathan ; from Nathan on the paternal side and from Solomon on the maternal. •

While, however, we know with certainty from Holy Scripture itself the names both of the actual and the adopted father of Joseph, it contains no notice of his mother. Tradition ha's been equally silent on the subject ; yet we naturally conceive that she must have been a woman of singular virtue, to be selected by God to be the mother of a saint so highly privileged as was Joseph, who was destined for so exalted a dignity as the reputed father of His Eternal Son. Scripture and tradi- tion are equally silent as to whether any supernatural signs preceded his birth, to foretell, as in the Baptist's .case, the high mission for which he was designed, or, as under the Old Law, to announce the appearance of some great deliverer. It has pleased God that, if any such were vouchsafed to his parents, they should, like so much else that concerns the humble Joseph, be veiled in obscurity ; one reason of which may be that his mission, although surpassingly great, was not to be of a public character. He did not come to speak to the world, and, in fact, we do not possess one recorded syllable from his lips. Be this as it may, we are left to our devout imaginations as to the character and even the name of the fortunate mother of our glorious saint.

But when did he first see the light of day? What was the date of his birth.? What was the year, the month, the day? Waiving the difficulties which have arisen respecting the precise date of the Nativity, and accepting the common opinion of the learned Natalis Alexander1 that Jesus was born in the year 4,000 of the creation of the world, there would still remain an un- certainty as to the year of St. Joseph's birth, unless we possessed some assured record of his age at the time of 1 Seec. i. diss. ii. q. 1.

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his espousals with the Blessed Virgin, of which more anon. As respects the month, the month of March being through- out the Church dedicated to his honour, and, indeed, commonly called the Month of St. Joseph, some would have it that he was born in this month, and allege as proof that in the most ancient martyrologies the 19th of March, which we keep as his feast, is entered as his birth-day ; while the Christians of the East, particularly the Copts, Syrians, and Egyptians, commemorated the glorious death of the saint on the 20th of July. This feast, we are told by Isolano, in his Summary of the Gifts of St. Joseph, the Oriental Christians were in the habit of celebrating with great veneration ; whence it would follow that on the 19th of' March his birth-day alone was kept. The same opinion has been held in more recent times. Nevertheless, the reasons given would seem insufficient to establish this point ; for the Church has always been in the habit of regarding the day when a saint departs from this life as his natal day, since it is then that he is born to glory ; and when it desires to signify that the feast celebrates his birth into this world the word nativity is expressly used, as in the case of the Blessed Virgin and of St. John the Baptist. Moreover, it is a question whether there be not a confusion, in respect to this custom of the Orientals, between our patriarch, who in the Gospel of St. Matthew is character- ised as "just,"1 with another St. Joseph who had also the cognomen of Just and, along with St. Matthias, was proposed by the Apostles as successor to Judas the traitor, the lot falling on Matthias.2 Now, the martyr- dom of this St. Joseph, or Barsabas, surnamed Justus, is in the Epman martyrology on the 20th of July with these words : " The natal day of St. Joseph, surnamed the Just ". Hence it seems more probable, and morej in conformity with the tradition of the Church, that it is St. 1 St. Matthew i. 19. 2 Acts i. 23.

68 ST. JOSEPH.

Joseph's happy death and passage to glory which we commemorate on the 19th of March. But, as the Church celebrates another festival in his honour, that of his Patronage, on the third Sunday after Easter, we may well feel that in this feast a memorial of his nativity, which may have occurred about this season of the year, is included ; for in the first vespers Holy Church com- mences her prayers and canticles with these words : " Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ,"1 and then proceeds to congratulate St. Joseph on being constituted as lord over His house and ruler over all His possessions ; just as on the Nativity of Mary she says, " To-day is born the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the race of David, through whom has appeared to believers the Salvation of the World".2

As to the day of the week on which Joseph was born, we have nothing to guide us but the piety of the faithful, by the common consent of whom, and with the Church's approval, all the Wednesdays of the year have been dedi- cated to St. Joseph ; the Eoman Pontiffs having, more- over, enriched with indulgences the devout practice of honouring him specially on that day. We may, therefore, piously believe that it was on Wednesday our great patron was either born or died.

Four cities of Judea and of Galilee have disputed the honour of being this great saint's birth-place : Jerusalem, Capharnaum, Nazareth, and Bethlehem. It is urged in favour of the claims of Jerusalem, that his ancestors of the house of David dwelt on the hill of Sion, the city of the Great King, and, even in their depressed fortunes, continued to make it their place of refuge ; so that it was here that Joseph was born, and not Joseph only, but Mary herself, the house which St. Joachim and St. Anne

1 Antiph. in I. Vesp. Patron. St. Joseph. 2 Resp. pri. Noct. in Off. Nativ. B. Marice Virginls.

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inhabited being pointed out to pilgrims and travellers. St. John Damascene, confirms this opinion, saying that the Blessed Virgin was born in the house of Joachim near the Probatic Pool. Nevertheless, Jerusalem has not been able to establish its title to be the birth-place of either Joseph or Mary.

The pretensions of Capharnaum, standing on the shores of the Lake of Tiberias, were, according to Calmet, grounded on the familiar acquaintance which, as we learn in St. John's Gospel, the inhabitants claimed to have with Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus. '"Is not this Jesus, they said, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? How, then, saith He, I • came down from heaven?"1 But it does riot necessarily follow that, because the people of Capharnaum knew Joseph well, therefore he was born in their city. He may have had frequent intercourse with them, as had Jesus Himself, of whom, as we know, it was not the birth-place. " Bethlehem," says St. John Chrysostom, "gave to Jesus His place of nativity, Nazareth brought Him up, Capharnaum was His continued abode."2

In favour of Nazareth higher probabilities may be alleged. St. Luke in his Gospel says that, after the flight into Egypt, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returned to "their city Nazareth";3 and St. John relates how Philip, having seen Jesus, said to Nathaniel that they had found the Messias foretold by Moses and the prophets, Jesus " the son of Joseph of Nazareth".4 But, as regards the first text, it would appear that Nazareth was rather Mary's native place than Joseph's, and, if called his city also, it was but as the city of his domicile, where, after his espousals with Mary-, he had his fixed abode. From the other text of St. John it is also clear that nothing further can be concluded. We know well that our Lord was

1 St. John vi. 42. 2 Horn. xiii. in Mattficeum.

3 St. Luke ii. 39 ; conf. St. Matthew ii. 23. 4 St. John i. 45.

70 ST. JOSEPH.

born at Bethlehem, and yet He is called " Jesus of Na- zareth," and continued to be so called. The same may well apply to St. Joseph. Nazareth was, indeed, the birth-place of the Blessed Virgin, and became the per- manent abode of the Holy Family ; wherefore Jesus, as well as Joseph, was said to be of Nazareth, although it ' was the native place of neither.

In this contest Bethlehem must carry off the palm for the following reasons. The descendants of David through Solomon are said to have continued to abide in Bethle- hem, where David was born, and to have returned thither after the Babylonian captivity, the site of the house of Isai, his father, and the cisterns belonging to it being still traditionally pointed out. The Fathers accordingly called Joseph a Bethlehemite, meaning, not only that he was of the house and family of David, but that there also he was born ; and Isolano repeats an ancient Oriental legend in which it is expressly said that Joseph was a carpenter, born at Bethlehem, of the house of David. But the most substantial and conclusive reason is the following: that in the census which Caesar Augustus commanded to be made all were to go for registration to their own native place, and Joseph, prompt in his obedience to every law, even human, so as it was not opposed to the divine law, immediately repaired with his holy spouse Mary, not to Jerusalem, nor to Capharnaum, but to Bethlehem. In Bethlehem Christ was to be born, and from little it was to become great, because, as the Pro- phet Micheas foretold, out of it was to come forth He who was to be the ruler of Israel.1 But previous to this honour of giving birth to the Messias, the Lord of the universe, it was also to be the native place of His reputed father, constituted by God to be the protector and patron of the Universal Church.

Let us in spirit betake ourselves to the dwelling-place 1 Micheas v. 2.

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of Jacob, and bend before the cradle of this blessed infant, upon whose serene brow repose the choicest graces of Heaven. Let us bend before him and venerate him, and present to him the devout affections of our hearts. He is already for us our star, our hope, and he will be our guide, our shield, our defence, our tutelary angel. Let us offer to him our congratulations, and, kissing his feet, bless our compassionate God for having been pleased to bestow on the human family, on the Catholic Church, next to Mary, the sweetest, the most holy, the most powerful Patron.

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CHAPTEE XL THE BIETH OF JOSEPH A JOY IN HEAVEN AND IN LIMBO.

birth of the saints is, as St. Ambrose observes, the J_ cause of joy to many. Thus, before John the Bap- tist came into the world the angel announced to Zachary that many should rejoice at his birth.1 Now, Joseph was, next to Mary, the most eminent among the saints, and was to be born for the profit of all, since he was destined by God to be the Patron of all Christians. How, then, could it be possible that his nativity should pass un- noticed and not be the cause of joy in Heaven ?

The Blessed Trinity rejoiced at the birth of him who by his wisdom and prudence, his virginity and his charity, should veil the admirable mystery of the Incarnation from the eyes of the profane until the day fixed for its revelation ; him to whom the Eternal Father was wholly to confide His Only-Begotten Son for well-nigh thirty years; to whom this Only-Begotten Son was to make Himself subject,2 regarding him in the place of a father ; to whom the Holy Ghost was in full confidence to en- trust His Immaculate Spouse; and through whom the Most Holy Trinity would be eternally blessed, as It was afterwards to be in a yet higher degree by the birth of Mary, of whom St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote, " Through her the Trinity was glorified, Heaven exulted, and the angels were made glad".8 Moreover, as a sign of predilec- tion, the Blessed Trinity was pleased immediately to confirm our saint in grace, so that by a special privilege

1 St. Luke i. 14. 2 St. Luke ii. 51. 3 Horn. vi. in Nestor.

HIS BIKTH A JOY IN HEAVEN. 73

he should never commit even a venial sin, a privilege which was most fitting in him who was to be in the place of a father to the Son of God and the true spouse of His immaculate and holy Mother. Scripture itself tells us that the glory of fathers rests upon their children ; l and so, too, the honour of a husband is reflected on his wife; wherefore the Blessed Trinity multiplied Its gifts and graces in Joseph, sanctifying him (as we have shown) in his mother's womb. The holy doctor, Alfonso de' Liguori, preaching on the heart of St. Joseph, says, " God having destined Joseph to fill the office of father to the Incarnate Word, it must be held as certain that He conferred upon him all the gifts of wisdom and sanctity befitting such an office ". And then he adduces in particular the three- fold privilege which Gerson and Suarez attribute to him : that of being sanctified in the womb, confirmed in grace, exempted from the rebellion of concupiscence . "0 blesssed for ever,'' he exclaims, "be the adorable goodness of God who so nobly exalted Joseph, for our advantage also and that of the whole Church ! "

All the angelic hierarchies rejoiced at the birth of Joseph, because they beheld the time arrived when Heaven should be re-opened and the seats which were left vacant by the rebel angels should again be filled. On seeing him raised -to an order superior even to the highest angelic choirs, seized with a holy wonder, they sang Glory to God, and joyfully honoured him as the foster-father of their King and the spouse of their glorious Queen. But especially did those heavenly spirits rejoice who were chosen by God to guard him with loving reverence. To every human being, as we know, God appoints at his birth a guardian- angel, who shall faithfully accompany, defend, and protect him in all the necessities and perils of life ; and to one who is to hold high offices committed to him by God for the benefit of others, a second angel 1 Prov. xvii. 6.

74 ST. JOSEPH.

of a superior order is assigned, that he may be enabled more efficaciously to fulfil the mission with which he has been charged.1 " Oh, how high," exclaims the great doctor, St. Jerome, "is the dignity of souls, which from the moment of their birth have each of them an angel appointed by God as guardian! "2 But if a soul is glorious which has a single tutelary angel given it, how much more glorious must that soul be which is surrounded by many sublime spirits of Paradise ! And such we must fain believe was the case with our great saint.

But it may be asked, if Joseph was confirmed in grace and freed from tfce solicitations of concupiscence, what need had he of angelic guardianship? If he was thus specially protected by God, nay, was himself appointed to be the faithful guardian of Jesus and Mary, if he was placed in an order superior to that of the angels, does it not seem that these spirits should be given to him rather as attendants than as guardians ? In reply to this ob- jection we must repeat that if Joseph, as Doctors of the Church affirm, excelled the angels in dignity, he was not their superior in nature, since the angelic nature is un- doubtedly higher than the human ; and, indeed, in this was manifest the surpassing goodness of the Son of God towards us, that, when He would redeem the world from the bondage of sin, He humbled Himself to assume our human nature and not that of the angels.

Now, let us see if it was needful that Joseph should have the guardianship of angels, and in what sense it was needful. The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, speaking of man in his state of innocence, says that, although, through his possession of original justice, all within him

1 A remarkable instance of this is recorded in the Life of M. Olier, the venerable founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, who himself relates the singular circumstance under which he was given an angel of his office in addition to his own angel-guardian. — Chap. iii. pp. 43, 44.

2 Comment, in Matthceum, cap. xviii.

HIS BIRTH A JOY IN HEAVEN. 75

-was well regulated, nevertheless, as he was exposed to dangers from without, he needed the guardianship of angels. .And the same great doctor says, speaking of the Blessed Virgin, that, as she was not in statu comprehenso- rum, but was still in via,1 she required while on earth to have angelic guardians. From all which we may infer that Joseph, albeit innocent and confirmed in grace, needed the same loving tutelage. For if it behoved the Blessed Virgin to have this guardianship, who was Mother of God and herself the Queen of Angels, how much more must Joseph, who was far inferior, have required it, both on account of perils from without, and also because he was in the state of viator ; for it is precisely to such as are in the way that God appoints the angels as guardians ; a with this difference, however, that, whereas to other men the angels are given as veritable guides, directors, and tutors, as superiors for the government of inferiors, who have actual need of being assisted and ruled in all things, to Mary and to Joseph they were assigned as guards of honour, who, clearing the way before them and removing every external peril, should bring them high messages from Heaven, and form their glorious retinue. A learned doctor, Tostatus Abulensis, thus sums up the purposes for which guardian- angels were assigned to Joseph from his birth. 1. For his solace and comfort in life. 2. To guide him externally, and warn .him of impending dangers. 3. To remove every impediment which men or devils should cast in his way. 4. For the fuller enlightenment of his mind. 5. For the increase of his merit. 6. To com- municate to him the will of God. 7. To pay him honour as the spouse of Mary and the reputed father of Jesus. And that not one angel alone but many were assigned

1 Summa, p. i. q. cxiii. a. 4 ; p. iii. q. xxx. a. 2. By in statu comprekensorum is meant the state of those who have attained to their end, the beatific vision of God in Heaven ; by in via, the state of those who are still traversing the way of this life. 2 Psalm xc. 11.

76 ST. JOSEPH.

to Joseph may be inferred from the fact that, when Divine Goodness elects any individual for a sublime position in- volving most important offices, It never fails to furnish him with the necessary means of fulfilling his obligations, among which, in addition to interior gifts and graces, must be reckoned the consolations and external advan- tages which the guardianship of angels affords. St. Bernardine of Siena, quoting the opinion of St. John Chrysostom, St. George of Nicomedia, and St. Bonaven- tura, affirms that to the Blessed Virgin, already so specially protected by God Himself, many legions of angels were assigned as guardians. How, then, could it be that to Joseph, the spouse of Mary, to him who was honoured by God not, indeed, as highly as was Mary, but, next to her, above all others, only one angel should be given, con- sidering, moreover, the various exalted offices for which he was chosen, for each of which we may believe he had a special angel appointed to assist him ? Some would have to serve as a guard to his person, others to pay due honour to his dignity, as the reputed father of Jesus and the spouse of Mary. Whence a pious writer, P. Patrig- nani, says that "St. Joseph was the most highly favoured of men, being assisted and honoured by angels. He received from them consolation in sufferings, light in perplexities, service and aid in toils and labours ". Then, turning to the saint, he exclaims*, " I marvel not, 0 most glorious St. Joseph, that thou wast so favoured by the angels, since thou wast so like to them in thy own angelic purity. Neither do I marvel that they should be, so to say, ambitious of serving thee, seeing that they regarded thee as superior in dignity to themselves." 1 And these very angels, belonging even to the highest among the angelic hierarchies, who afterwards consoled him, accom- panied him, and strengthened him in the numerous painful vicissitudes of his life, these same glorious spirits 1 II Divoto di S. Giuseppe, Novena, Gior. vii.

HIS BIETH A JOY IN LIMBO. 77

does Joseph now employ to succour so many who mourn, so many afflicted families, and, in fine, the whole Church Catholic placed under his protection ; saying to them, in the language of the prophet Isaias, " Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and torn in pieces ... to a nation ex- pecting and trodden under foot ",l These angels, not only joyfully fulfil his behests, but vie with each other in forestalling his holy desires ; and no wonder, since, seeing that Jesus, their King, the King of angels and of men, made Himself subject and obedient to Joseph, they know not how better to honour so great a saint than by paying him the highest reverence and homage, the humblest and most entire subjection. Here, then, we perceive the reason why at his happy birth they sur- rounded him with such festal joy.

The joy they felt must have had its echo among the tristful inhabitants of Limbo, to whom angels, doubtless, reported the blessed tidings that the hour of their deliver- ance was approaching. The birth of Joseph was the first signal of the coming of Christ. Joseph was the morning star announcing the aurora which precedes the day. The rays of this star must have filled that gloomy abode with light. And, oh, with what exceeding complacency the holy Fathers, turning their eyes to Bethlehem, must have •contemplated the infant Joseph, seeing how in him all their patriarchal and prophetic dignity was about to bear its promised fruit ! How they must have blessed the birth of this child, whose appearance in the world brought with it the assurance that soon their bonds would be broken, their prison opened, their banishment ended, and that they would behold their long-desired Eedeemer ! The very thought must have caused them unutterable

joy-

1 Chap, xviii. 2.

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CHAPTEE XII. THE BIRTH OF JOSEPH A JOY ON EARTH.

WHEN Heaven smiles, there must be responsive joy on earth, at least in some chosen hearts; and among these foremost must have been Joseph's fortunate parents. He was their first-born son, and as such, ac- cording to the custom of the Jews, a subject of much rejoicing. But although a veil is cast over his infancy and early years, and no reliable tradition has reached us on the subject, we can scarcely imagine that no wonder- ful signs preceded it, such as have announced the birth of saints much inferior to him both in office and in sanctity. If so many prodigies ushered in the birth of John the Baptist, who was a great prophet and the precursor of Christ, is it conceivable that no divine intimation pre- ceded that of Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus,. whom he brought up, and by whom he was so tenderly loved? But since nothing of the kind is recorded the matter must be left to the pious - conjectures of his de- voted clients.

One surmise, however, may be hazarded. On the eighth day the babe must have been circumcised; accord- ing to the command given to Abraham and confirmed by the law of Moses. On that occasion a name was always conferred on the child, and it was the father's place to pronounce what it should be ; for we find that when the Baptist received that rite reference was made to Zachary as to how he would have him called, and he wrote "His.

HIS BIRTH A JOY ON EARTH. 79

name is John".1 Jesus Himself received His Name on the eighth day, the day of His circumcision. The name of Joseph must, therefore, have been given to our saint on the day of his circumcision ; and by whom was it given ? Assuredly by Jacob, his father, in virtue of his paternal authority. But whence did the father derive this name ? Who suggested it to him ? Did he receive it from Heaven? We can hardly imagine that it was bestowed on this elect babe, as we might say, by chance, for in that case Joseph would have been inferior in this respect to many saints both of the Old and New Testa- ment, who by a special favour received their names from God : as Abraham, Jacob, the Baptist, St. Peter, and others.

Now, since it is the common opinion of % the Doctors of the Church that no gift or prerogative bestowed on the other saints, Mary always excepted, was denied to St. Joseph, it has been held by many writers to be most probable that the name of Joseph was revealed by an angel from God to his father Jacob, as was that of John to Zachary. Three reasons, according to Isolano, ought to persuade us that this name was given to Joseph by God Himself. Fir^t, its identity with that of the ancient patriarch Joseph, who on account of the wonderful things narrated of him has always been regarded as the type and figure of our saint. Secondly, the very fact that he was truly the spouse of the Mother of God and the foster-father of Jesus; for, if God gave their names to Abraham, Jacob, and Peter, with how -much greater reason would He bestow a name on him who was to be brought into such close relations with His Divine Son ! Thirdly, the signification of the name itself, which is interpreted as increase, a name most suitable to him in every way.2

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, says that the names 1 St. Luke i. 63. 2 Summa de Donis 8. Joseph, p. i. c. i.

80 ST. JOSEPH.

imposed by God on certain individuals are always signi- ficant of some gratuitous gift divinely conceded to them.1 Thus the name given by God to Joseph, not only denotes the various gifts bestowed upon him for the fulfilment of the great offices for which he was designed, but points also to the continual increase of these gifts through his co-operation and perfect correspondence with divine grace. If the name of Mary, according to St. Bonaven- .tura, was extracted from the treasures and jewel-caskets of the Lord, from the same treasures and jewel-caskets was drawn the beautiful name of Joseph. It could not have been selected or imposed by men, because it was to be closely and inseparably associated with the Divine Name of Jesus and the holy name of Mary. It was to be frequently pronounced by the august lips of Jesus and to issue sweetly from the pure lips of His Virgin Mother. It was often to be registered in the Gospel, finding its place sometimes before, sometimes between, sometimes after the blessed Names of Jesus and of Mary. The angels were often to repeat it in their messages, and men often to invoke it in their needs. Many, indeed, of God's people have borne this name, but in them it was a simple appellation, void of special significance*, but not so in our saint. In him it is full of meaning, a name of great authority, of singular efficacy, of inestimable value. By interpretation it signifies, as has been said, increase ; and so the ancient Jacob said, prophesying, "Joseph is a growing son,"2 or, according to the Hebrew, "growing by a well". And what is this life-giving fount near to which Joseph grows and increases? First, it is Jesus the well-spring of eternal life ; secondly, it is Mary, who is the fountain conveying all the benedictions of Heaven. Close to these two inexhaustible fountains Joseph grew, he increased in all good ; and not for himself alone, but also for us. He not only grew, but flourished and bore 1 Stcmma, p. iii. q. xxxvii. a. 2. 2 Gen. xlix. 22.

HIS BIRTH A JOY ON EARTH. 81

fruit.1 Hence this name of Joseph imports for us like- wise continual increase, being so efficacious and powerful both with Jesus and with Mary.

Joseph, sweet name, name sublime and powerful, name which imparts gladness to the just, consolation to the afflicted, solace to those in tribulation, support to the feeble, courage to the timid, constancy to the wavering, confidence to sinners, and to the penitent the assurance of pardon ! Name which is a deliverance in perils, a harbour in tempests, food in hunger, relief in destitution, peace in discords, victory in combats, health in sickness, and refuge in persecutions, a joy amidst tears, a shield, a defence, and a salvation in the last agonies ! This name defeats every plot of the infernal foe, dissipates every bale- ful temptation, puts the devils to flight, and makes Hell itself tremble. Blessed is he who often in life invokes it ; blessed he who is able to invoke it devoutly at death. He who has this holy name engraven on his brow and on his heart has a sure pledge of his salvation. St. Bona- ventura, speaking of those who are devout to Mary, says that he who is stamped with her character, that is, with the love of her and of her virtues, and with the properties of a true devotion to her, will be registered in the Book of Life. And the same may be said of those who have the character, the love, the virtues of Joseph, and a true devotion to him. Blessed, then, is he who reposes under the safe shadow of the name and patronage of Joseph.

1 " Joseph est eritque filius fructificationis ; id 'est, fcecundus instar arboris sites et fructificantis juxta fonteni." — Corn, a Lapide (in loc.).

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CHAPTER XIII. JOSEPH'S CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

THE rite of Circumcision being accomplished and the name bestowed, the offering of the first-born in the Temple would next succeed. That Joseph was a first- born son there can be no doubt. This opinion will hold good whichever of the two views that have been stated concerning his genealogy be the correct one. For if, ac- cording to the view with which we do not agree, Jacob married the widow of Heli, who had died without chil- dren, Joseph would still be the first-born of this marriage. But we must own to a disinclination to believe that Joseph was the son of a mother who had been the wife of more than one husband. Such a mother scarcely seemed to befit him. who was to be the pure spouse of a heavenly virgin and the reputed father of the Son of God Himself. Wherefore, we abide by the opinion that Joseph was the first-born of Jacob and of a young and holy spouse who had never been wedded to any other husband.

That Joseph was a first-born son we desire to establish, because under the ancient law it was esteemed an honour and a privilege to be so ; and many advantages were attached to primogeniture. We can, therefore, well understand how when Esau recognised the great loss he had incurred by selling his birthright for such a trifle to his brother, he was filled with consternation and cried aloud for grief.1 Seeing, then, that primogeniture was an 1 Gen. xxvii. 34.

HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 83

important prerogative, and that Joseph was to sum up in himself all the gifts and privileges of the patriarchs, he must needs have possessed the rights and advantages of a first-born son. This being so, Joseph, as we have said, was taken to Jerusalem to be presented in the Temple, and redeemed according to the prescriptions of the Law.

Jerusalem at that period had already begun to decline. After the profanations, the outrages, and the cruelties perpetrated by the monarchs who inherited the conquests of Alexander the Great in Syria, especially by Antiochus Epiphanes, the heroic resistance of the Machabees had obtained a temporary deliverance, but the Holy City had now virtually fallen under the domination of the Romans, who had appointed as procurator of Judea Antipater, the father of Herod. All who were of the race and family of David would court obscurity and concealment through the fear inspired by their jealous rulers. Nevertheless we may be certain that, although avoiding pomp and display, the pious Jacob and his spouse must have care- fully fulfilled all the obligations of the law with respect to the infant Joseph, and have also brought him yearly with them to Jerusalem, as soon as his tender age per- mitted, for the Paschal solemnity. And with what ecstasy, may we well believe, would this favoured child, when kneeling in the Temple, have joined in the exclama- tion of the Psalmist : " How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts ! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord " ; l and with what difficulty he would have torn himself away from the House of God, where willingly, like the young Samuel, he would have remained to spend his childhood and adolescence in the service and under the instruction of God's priests !

As time wore on, we may easily suppose that, when the parents of Joseph came up with their son to keep the 1 Psalm Ixxxiii. 1.

84 ST. JOSEPH.

feasts at Jerusalem, it would be to the house of Joachim they would repair, who at that period must have been already married to Anne, the sister, as we have already stated there is good reason to believe, of Jacob, and therefore the aunt of Joseph. According to the testimony of St. John Damascene, and of a still living tradition, the house of St. Joachim and St. Anne was near the Probatic Pool.1 Here they dwelt for many years, until civil dis- turbances, probably, compelled their removal to Nazareth, where they had a small patrimony. Antipater had been succeeded in the post of procurator of Judea by Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, but Herod his son, artful and ambitious, by ingratiating himself with the Eomans, had himself named Tetr'arch by the Senate, and two years later obtained the title of King of Judea, though some time elapsed before he was able to assume his authority. This Herod was (as we have said) the son of Antipater, an Ascalonite by nation, and an idolater. Although Judea had for some time been dependent on Borne and ruled, in fact, by her representatives, nevertheless the sceptre had not as yet departed from her. • No stranger had been set up as king of the chosen people. Now, this was to be the sign of the approaching advent of the Messias, a thought which, under this new calamity, must have a,fforded consolation to those souls who were looking for the redemption of Israel ; and they could not have been few in number, since the near accomplishment of the prophetic term of weeks, announced in vision to Daniel 2 as to elapse before the coming of Christ, furnished an additional token that the great Deliverer was at hand. And, indeed, we find that this expectation had reached the ears of the Gentiles and prevailed throughout the East, where it was generally known that the Hebrew

1 Here was erected in the 6th century a church in honour of St. Anne, which remains to this day.

8 Chap. ix. 24, 25.

HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 85

people were looking for a King who would restore the glories of their nation.

Great consternation seized on the Jews at the news of the elevation of this foreign and idolatrous usurper to the throne of David. Had they not reason to dread the pro- fanation of their temple, as in the days of Antiochus Bpiphanes, the cessation of their sacrifices, the destruc- tion of their altars, the dispersion of their priests, besides all the miseries which the conflict of this new ruler with Antigonus was certain to involve? Prayer was their only resource ; and we may be sure that among the most fervent suppliants were Jacob and his young son, Joseph ; nay, may we not piously believe that when, contrary to expectation, Herod subsequently, not only did not destroy the Temple, but largely reconstructed and adorned it, it was to the intercession of this holy child, who of all the dwellers upon earth at that time was dearest and most pleasing to God, that this happy result was mainly due ? Two years after Herod's exaltation to the king- ship of Judea he, with the assistance of the Eomans, whose friendship he had bought, marched against Jerusa- lem, which during five months had to endure all the horrors of a siege ; added to which, when its capture was effected, there ensued a fearful slaughter of the inhabi- tants by the Eoman soldiery, enraged at the resistance they had encountered, and by the partisans of Herod within the walls.

Amidst all these dangers and calamities, Providence threw the shield of Its protection over the family of Joseph. But the early life of this great saint is so com- pletely hidden in God that we must be contented to know that so it was, deprived as we are of details which would have possessed so high an interest for us. All we know for certain is that Joseph had to' pass all his childhood and youth under the tyrannical rule of a proud, cruel, and jealous king; and hence always in peril, anxiety, and

86 ST. JOSEPH.

fear of fresh sufferings. History, so often unjust, has accorded to Herod the appellation of Great, simply be- cause he was fortunate in his vices and in the success which his arrogance, his adroit cunning, and his cruelty won for him. Such an epithet ought to be reserved for those who have excelled in noble and signal virtues, whereas Herod was great only in his follies and in his crimes. The massacre of so many innocent babes in Bethlehem after our Lord's nativity would alone suffice to blacken his memory and render it for ever infamous. But besides this, he was continually staining his hands in blood ; priests and laymen • alike, princes and high officers in his army, he would order to be executed, sometimes thirty at a time. He murdered his wife, Mariamne, and Alexandra, his sister-in-law, nay, even his own sons Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipater, the last of whom he condemned to death only five days before he himself expired. To conciliate the people, however, he gave liberally when the country was deso- lated by plague and famine ; he embellished Jerusalem, and enlarged the -Temple ; but this did not prevent the Jews from hating him as a tyrant, so that he had to fortify his regal abode and make to himself a citadel of the tower Antonia, which he built and named after his patron, Marcus Antonius. He was frequently accused at Rome both to Antonius and to Augustus, but he knew how to defend himself so dextrously that fce returned triumphant to Jerusalem, where he put to death all whom he suspected of having been his accusers.

Under this impious and sanguinary king, then, Joseph had to pass his youth. As a descendant of the royal family of David, he had reason (as we have said) to live in con- tinual apprehension. Jealousy and the fierce thirst of rule stimulated Herod to rid himself of any one who he could so much as suppose might entertain the thought of depriving him of his usurped dominion. But that Divine

HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 87

Providence which had destined Joseph to co-operate in the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God preserved and brought him safe through all the dangers which beset him. His meekness, humility, contempt for all the empty honours of the world, his peaceful temper, his submission to all the requirements of law, and the hidden and obscure life which he led, must have contributed to turn away all suspicion from this scion of the house of David. Accordingly, we do not hear of Herod's persecut- ing the family of Jacob, as he did all the partisans of Aristobulus and Hyrcanus. Jacob had one other son besides Joseph, the same, according to the historian Eusebius and others, who is frequently mentioned in the Gospel as Cleophas, or Alpheus, and whose sons are called the brethren of our Lord,1 that is, His cousins. So, too, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, who is also called in the first three Gospels the mother of James and Joseph, is styled by St. John the sister of the Mother of Jesus ; 2 not that she was her sister in the literal sense of the term, but her sister-in-law and, indeed (as it is believed), otherwise nearly related to her.

An ancient Oriental tradition, which Isolano has in- serted in his work on the Gifts of St. Joseph, records how our saint, when he must have been about twelve years of age, went to Jerusalem, as other youths were wont to do, there to learn science and wisdom from the Priests of the Lord, who were its sole teachers in those times. But however this may be, to render this science and wisdom

1 St. Matthew xiii. 55.

2 St. Matthew xxvii. 56 ; St. Mark xv. 40, 47 ; xvi. 1 ; St. Luke xxiv. 10 ; St. John xix. 25. Mary, the wife of Cleophas, or Alpheus, had five sons and two daughters. The sons were Simon Zelotes, James the Less, and Jude, or Thaddeus, all three Apostles, Joseph surnamed the Just (Acts i. 23), and Simeon, a disciple of Jesus. The two daughters were Mary Salome (St. Markxv. 40 ; xvi. 1), wife of Zebedee and mother of James the Greater and John the Evange- list (St. Matt. xx. 20 ; xxvii. 56), and another Mary who is supposed to have been the mother of John surnamed Mark (Acts xii. 12).

88 ST. JOSEPH.

truly perfect, God reserved for Joseph far more sublime instructors, the Incarnate Word Himself, and her whom the Church invokes under the title of Sedes Sapientiae, Seat of Wisdom, the Immaculate Virgin. In the school of Jesus and in the society of Mary for some thirty years Joseph must have become eminently perfect in the science of the saints. This consideration may serve to rectify a mistaken notion to be found even among some devout persons who, while esteeming Joseph to have been a very great saint, nevertheless imagine that he was simple and unlettered and endowed with but a slender amount of knowledge. No; Joseph had an exalted intellect, his judgment was profound, his wisdom surpassed that of the wisest among men. " God," says St. Bernard, " had found in Joseph, as in another David, a man after His own heart, to whom He could securely commit His heart's closest and most sacred secret ; to whom He could manifest the secret and hidden things of His wis- dom,1 and communicate that great mystery which none of the princes of this world knew."2 How, indeed, could it be otherwise ? For, if of the ancient Joseph, who was but the figure of our Joseph, it was said that no one could be found like to him or wiser than he,3 what must be said of our saint, who was not merely endowed with wisdom to interpret dreams, but was privileged to learn the secrets of Heaven, and to be admitted to the knowledge of the sublimest truths, revealed to him by angels, nay, taught him by the Son of God Himself and by the august Queen of all the Doctors of the Church-?

1 Psalm 1. 8. 2 Super Missus est. Horn. ii.3 3 Gen. xij. 39.

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CHAPTEE XIV. JOSEPH'S Vow OF VIRGINITY.

IF Holy Scripture nowhere expressly speaks of the chastity of Joseph previous to his espousals with Mary, we might well conclude it from the very fact of those espousals. We judge of the nature of a tree from the fruit which it produces ; to know, then, that Joseph was the spouse of a virgin and of a Virgin-Mother such as Mary, was quite sufficient to persuade the great body of the Fathers to hold with security that Joseph was a virgin by his own election before he was chosen to be the husband of Mary. A few, it is true, too easily crediting the baseless statements of some of the Apocryphal books, which asserted that those who in the Gospel are called the brethren and sisters of Jesus were children of St. Joseph by a previous marriage, were led to withhold from him the gift and glory of perpetual virginity. But the great majority, and those of the highest authority, freely recognised this grace among those which enriched and adorned the spouse of the Blessed Virgin. As early, indeed, as the third century St. Athanasius spoke these short but weighty words of Joseph and Mary : that " both remained intact, as was proved by many testi- monies " ; l and after him St. Jerome, defending the perpetual virginity of Mary against the heretic Helvidius, maintained that, not only Mary, but her spouse Joseph was ever a virgin, so that of this virginal marriage a virginal Son should be born. Hence St. Peter Damian

1 De Incarnatione.

90 ST. JOSEPH.

asserts, in a letter to Pope Nicolas, and also in his work on the celibacy of the clergy, that such was the faith of the Church on this point ; for that the Son of God, not content with having a virgin for His mother, willed that he who represented His Father should also be a virgin ; l where we shall do well to observe that this great doctor does not hesitate to qualify this belief as the '" faith of the Church".

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, enquiring how the most holy Virgin could give her hand as spouse to St. Joseph, seeing that she had made a vow of virginity, replies that the Blessed Virgin, before contracting es- pousals with St. Joseph, was certified by God that he had himself formed the same resolve of preserving perpetual virginity, and therefore that she exposed herself to no peril by her union with him.2 Further, we find St. Francis de Sales, a most devout client of St. Joseph, strenuously maintaining his virginity and his vow. " How exalted in this virtue of virginity must he have been, who was destined by the Eternal Father to be the guardian or, rather, the companion in virginity of Mary herself ! Both had made a vow to preserve virginity for their entire lives, and it was the will of God to join them in the bond of a holy marriage, not in any way to recall their vow, but rather to confirm it, and that they might strengthen each other to persevere in their holy resolu- tion."3

From all these authorities it is clear that Joseph pre- served through his whole life, and' that by vow, the most angelic purity and virginity. Hence the Bollandists assert that the whole Latin Church, after St. Jerome, has ever held that Joseph lived and died a virgin.

The holy Doctors allege, moreover, other reasons, of a mystical order, to prove its essential propriety. It is a

1 De Ccdib. Sacerd. cap. iii. 2 In Qucest. Sent. q. xi. a. 1.

3 Entrclien, xix.

HIS VOW OF VIRGINITY. 91

•well-known saying of St. Gregory Nazianzen that the first virgin is the August Trinity. The Father is a virgin, who generates the Son in His eternal splendours ; the Son is a virgin, who is generated by the Father without a mother ; the Holy Spirit is a virgin, who proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son. After the image of this August Trinity the saints recognise a second Trinity on earth ; of which the pious and learned Gerson said, " Would that I had suitable words to explain this most admirable and venerable Trinity, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph ! "* Now, as the August Trinity in Heaven is the first and the altogether virgin, so also must the second Trinity on earth be altogether virgin. If Jesus is a virgin and Mary is a virgin, how should not Joseph, who completes this most virginal Trinity, be a virgin also ? Jesus is the Head of virgins, Mary is the mother of virgins, Joseph is the guardian and patron of virgins.

That this glory belongs to Joseph may be seen still more clearly when we consider that he belongs to the order of the Hypostatic Union, in which, along with Jesus and Mary, prototypes of virginity, no one, assur- edly, could be found who was not a spotless virgin. Hence Suarez says that Joseph shone so much the more in every virtue, especially in that of virginity, above all the other saints, inasmuch as he belonged to an order superior to that of all the other saints. It was fitting, therefore, that he who was immediately associated with the Most Sacred Humanity of Jesus should be altogether a virgin ; otherwise he would be inferior to those saints who were ordained to a less intimate association with Jesus, as St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evange- list, and who, nevertheless, preserved perpetual virginity. And how could Joseph, who excelled in all virtues, fail of possessing this peerless gem, which was possessed by other saints far beneath him ?

1 Serm. de Nativ. B, Marice Virg. Consid. iv.

92 ST. JOSEPH.

But more than this. Joseph, according to the opinion of St. Peter Chrysologus and of all other Doctors, was destined to occupy on earth the place of the Eternal Father, and to represent Him in relation to His Divine Son. Now, perpetual virginity shines among the attri- butes of the Divine Paternity ; wherefore Joseph, the representative on earth of the Divine Paternity, must needs, next to Mary, possess the beautiful virtue of virginity in the highest degree.

And are not the angels, to whom is committed the care of the world and the guardianship of men, pre-eminently virgins ? Should not Joseph, then, to whom was com- mitted the care and custody of Jesus and Mary, far excel the angels themselves in virginity ? " And truly," says Isolano, " the virginity of Joseph was more noble, more acceptable, more profitable, more admirable, more perfect than that of the angels. More noble, because that of the angels is from nature, that of Joseph was from grace ; more acceptable, because that of the angels is necessary, that of Joseph was voluntary ; more