June 28th
“Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him, we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust. Our world today needs fathers. It has no use for tyrants who would domineer others as a means of compensating for their own needs. It rejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare mentality, power with destruction.
Every true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice. The priesthood and consecrated life likewise require this kind of maturity. Whatever our vocation, whether to marriage, celibacy or virginity, our gift of self will not come to fulfillment if it stops at sacrifice; were that the case, instead of becoming a sign of the beauty and joy of love, the gift of self would risk being an expression of unhappiness, sadness and frustration.”
APOSTOLIC LETTER “PATRIS CORDE” OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROCLAMATION OF ST JOSEPH, PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
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June 27th
“Saint Joseph…is a teacher of the interior life. Place yourself under his patronage and you’ll feel the effectiveness of his power.”
-St. Josemaria Escriva
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June 25th
“Joseph’s faith does not falter, he obeys quickly and to the letter.”
-St. Josemaria Escriva
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June 24th
“Be in good spirits under the fatherly mantle of St. Joseph,
a place of safest refuge in trials and tribulations.”
-St. Joseph Marello
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June 23rd
"I take refuge in thy arms [St. Joseph],
so that thou mayest lead me in the the path of virtue.”
-St. Clement Mary Hofbauer
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June 22nd
“To give life to someone is the greatest of all gifts. To save a life is the next. Who gave life to Jesus? It was Mary. Who saved his life? It was Joseph. Ask St. Paul who persecuted him. Ask St. Peter who denied him. Ask all the saints who put him to death. But if we ask, ‘Who saved his life?’ Be silent, patriarchs, be silent, prophets, be silent, apostles, confessors, and martyrs. Let St. Joseph speak, for this honor is his alone; he along is the savior of his Savior.”
-Blessed William Joseph Chaminade
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June 21st
“Nothing will be refused him [St. Joseph],
neither by Our Lady nor by his glorious son.”
-St. Francis de Sales
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June 20th
“Let us love Jesus above all, let us love Mary as our mother; but then, how could we keep from loving Joseph, who was so intimately united to both Jesus and Mary? And how can we honor him better than by imitating his virtues? Now, what else did he do in all his life but contemplate, study, and adore Jesus, even in the midst of his daily labors? Behold, therefore, our model.”
-St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
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June 19th
“In human life, Joseph was Jesus’ teacher in their daily contact, full of refined affection, glad to deny himself to take better care of Jesus. Isn’t that reason enough for us to consider this just man, this holy patriarch, in whom the faith of the Old Covenant comes to full fruition, as a master of interior life?
Interior life is nothing but continual and direct conversation with Christ, so as to become one with him. And Joseph can tell us many things about Jesus. Therefore, never neglect devotion to him—Ite ad Ioseph: 'Go to Joseph'—as Christian tradition puts it in the words of the Old Testament (Gen 41:55).”
-St. Josemaría Escriva
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