A Wednesday whim (on a Tuesday)
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Labels: devotions, joseph, josephite, prayer
A great Holy Family reflection ... and two teeny Josephite-related quibbles
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Labels: holy family, joseph, josephology, mary, reflections
"St. Joseph and Child Jesus from the Temple"
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Labels: artwork, joseph, shopping
Love, in a nutshell
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Labels: artwork, domincan, joseph, josephite, quotes
Joseph eyes
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Labels: colors, joseph, josephite, reflections
Joseph an' Mary on the 3 a.m. red-eye
I have a honkin' huge devotion to
Joseph, Husband o' Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, so I like to observe all feast days -- current, historical, and ones celebrated in particular regions or by specific orders -- that pertain to him.
As part of that, I've got a calendar for his feasts in my Google Calendar-integrated Sunrise Calendar app, and the app helpfully reminded me today of the (historical) feast of the Flight Into Egypt.
When I saw the associated icon, I cracked up.
... They've got the 3 a.m. red-eye with kosher meal.
Labels: applications, humor, joseph, random
I can quit anytime
"Do you have many Josephite prayer books?"
"Oh, a few. ... Well, maybe several. ... OKAY, FINE, A LOT."
Don't judge me.
(We are
not even gonna discuss how many Josephite holy cards I have. NO, I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM.)
Labels: joseph, josephite, prayer
Josephology: Joseph, Man of Dreams
Recently, the subject of Joseph and his dreams came up in an online Bible study, and I said I'd do a little lookin' around t'see what I could find on the subject. Seeing as how today's the Solemnity of Joseph, Husband of Mary, it seemed appropriate to toss out another Josephology post. :-)
Happily, in
Joseph in the New Testament by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ, is a wonderful chapter, "Joseph, the Man of Dreams". Since I can't include the whole thing here, following are excerpts that I especially liked.
Background on Dreams and Angel Appearances
(pages 51-52)
"In Joseph's dreams it is
ággelos kuríou, the 'angel of the Lord,' who appears to him. This exact phrase is found repeatedly and consistently in the Septuagint as a translation for 'the angel of Yahweh,' who is sent with most important messages to Hagar (Gen 16:7-12), Abraham (Gen 22:11,15), Moses (Ex 3:2), the people of Israel (Jgs 2:1-4), the barren wife of Manoah (Jgs 13:3-5), Elijah (1 Kgs 19:7; 2 Kgs 1:15), and Joshua the high priest (Zec 3:1-10). The types of communications in the dreams cited above and those through the angel of the Lord are most similar, and it is not so surprising that for Joseph these two forms are combined, so that he invariably awakes with total faith and no doubt whatsoever about their interpretation.
"... Matthew has shown how Joseph received the vocation to be a key personage in Jesus' infancy, and how that role can only be fulfilled by a special charism, a charism which was communicated to him by an angel of the Lord in dreams, in the way that God communicated to his patriarchs and prophets in the Old Testament. ... In the New Testament, this role and this manner of divine communication are unique to Joseph, so that he alone can be called a 'man of dreams,' a title previously given to his namesake, the patriarch Joseph (Gen 37:19)."
Joseph's Patriarchal Role, Midrashic Technique
(pages 56-58)
"Such strong similarities with the Old Testament literature do not mean that Joseph is an invention created by Matthew on the basis of scriptural patterns. His dream narrations are not
midrash in the sense of reflecting on Old Testament events to make them intelligible, but rather are descriptions of the historical nucleus of events surrounding the early years of Jesus Christ understood against the background of the Old Testament.
"... Matthew's portrayal thus communicates the multi-leveled truth that Joseph has a patriarchal role to play in connection with the prophetic mission of Christ. As a privileged recipient of multiple, combined forms of divine communications, and as a perfectly obedient man of faith who collaborates with all that is commanded him, he recapitulates the history of salvation of Israel, which has reached its definitive culmination in the child he names, protects and raises. The man of dreams who took the child and his mother to Egypt and back is the last of the patriarchs, who receives revelation about the promised descendence in the style of the Old Testament shared by no one else in the New Testament or thereafter."
Labels: books, joseph, josephology
Book review: "Hungry Souls"
Hungry Souls: Supernatural Visits, Messages, and Warnings from Purgatory
by Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg (2009, TAN Books)
I finished this a couple days ago, and I
highly recommend it! Well-written, even-handed, tons of endnotes -- which add greatly to the book! -- and a substantial bibliography. It's a fascinating, sobering, compelling, and hope-inspiring read, all jammed into a short 157 pages (that includes the endnotes and bibliography).
The biggest takeaways for me -- none of which are new, simply restated in a thunks-ya-deep-in-the-heart way -- are:
1) Clear reminder of how God's mercy is limitless, and how Our Lady
and Joseph are
always there for us. Stories were mentioned of dying folks being saved in their last moments through "insight and repentance", even after leading deplorable lives.
I especially loved this account of a man's particular judgment, which he told to his daughter when he was permitted to appear to her to beg for her prayers:
"He then disclosed that on leaving this world he had seen the infinite majesty of God, the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary and that this vision had left him in a continually increasing and most ardent yearning to see them again. He also told [his daughter] that St. Joseph was present at his judgment, and that he had since repeatedly visited purgatory in company of the Blessed Virgin to console him, and that he often saw his guardian angel, who came to comfort him." (p. 132)
2) Even though Purgatory exists because of God's mercy, it's still
not something we should aim for ("Oh, well, I'll just hope for Purgatory!"), but rather work our butts off to avoid. The intense longing to be closer to God is the source of the Holy Souls' indescribable suffering.
3) Do
not assume that everyone who dies zips straight to heaven. Sure, you can
hope that they do, but
pray like heck for them, anyway, because chances are really good that they're in Purgatory and
they desperately need and want your prayers. Frankly, we've done a piss-poor job of remembering to pray and sacrifice for the Holy Souls (myself included), who depend on us for relief and assistance.
There's an account (pages 128-134) of a father appearing to one of his daughters to ask for her prayers because of his purgatorial sufferings. His other children didn't bother praying for him because they all assumed he was in heaven, and she alone was his only source of help. And it's not like this was a "bad" man. He'd been devoted to Our Lady, in whose honor he received the sacraments on all her feasts, and was exceedingly charitable -- not sparing any expense to help those in need. He'd even gone begging door to door to help the Little Sisters of the Poor establish a home. Yet, he was in Purgatory: "I suffer for my continual impatience, and for faults which I cannot mention." (p. 128)
If you've been wondering about whether or not it's worth the time to read this, it is. Check it out from your library or get a copy!
Note: I didn't receive any kind of compensation for this review, nor was I asked to review it by anyone. I simply read this book and wanted to share it. :-)Labels: books, joseph, mary
My Top 10 Saints
With All Saints Day coming up in a few weeks on 1 Nov. (and All Saints of the Franciscan Order on the 5th), I thought it'd be fun to share my absolute fave saints -- my Saintly Circle, in
Google+ parlance, if you will -- and a little bit as to why I like them.
There are loads more saints that I love, like St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic, and St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort to name a few. But if I included
all of them, you'd nod off and start drooling on your keyboard, and drool + keyboard = possible electrocution. So, in the interest of public safety, I present My Top
10 Saints.
1 & 2. Joseph and Mary
These two pretty much go without sayin', but ... I'm saying 'em anyway. :-) For
Joseph, how can you
not admire someone who answers to "Terror of Demons"? And Mary's the
Mother of God. 'Nuff said.
3. St. Francis of Assisi
Bein' that I'm a Franciscan, this should also go without saying. One of the things I love best about Francis Bernardone was his wholehearted embrace of living the Gospel
sine glossa, "without gloss". Sadly, in our time, he's become sissified into a Birkenstock-clad, Tree-huggin' Birdman. But in reality, Francis was as tough as nails and took a no-holds-barred approach to sin.
"See, you who are blind, deceived by your enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, for it is pleasant to the body to commit sin and it is bitter to make it serve God because all vices and sins come out and 'proceed from the heart of man' as the Lord says in the Gospel. And you have nothing in this world and in the next, and you thought you would possess the vanities of this world for a long time."[1]
That sound like a nambly-pambly "anything goes" guy? Didn't think so.
Learn more about St. Francis of Assisi.
4. St. Clare of Assisi
The other half of the Franciscan Wonder Twins. (Franciscan powers, activate! Form of ... a
Tau!)
No, she's not a biological twin of Francis, but Clare Offreduccio is Francis' arse-kicking spiritual twin. Born of nobility, she was inspired by Francis' example of uncompromising Gospel living and left it all behind to do the same. She eventually came to found the Poor Clares, the Second Order in the overall Franciscan Order.
Even though she was of frail health, Clare
twice saved San Damiano and her sisters from invaders: In 1240, she repelled hordes of Saracen mercenaries by holding aloft the Eucharist while praying for her sisters and the city of Assisi. She did it again in 1241 against the troops of Vitalis d'Aversa. Don't mess with Mama Clare.
Learn more about St. Clare.
5. St. Faustina
Named the "Apostle of Divine Mercy", Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska was graced with numerous visions of Christ Himself, in which He instructed her to make widely known the depths of His mercy to an aching and broken world. She heroically lived her life with childlike simplicity and trust in God, and faithfully obeyed God, her spiritual director, and superiors
in all things.
Because of her obedience, we have the magnificent
Divine Mercy devotions, such as the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Divine Mercy image, and more. Faustina said nothing new -- the Lord has
always been a Lord of mercy -- she simply reminded us of God's unfathomable mercy and communicated deeper ways of contemplating it.
Learn more about St. Faustina.
6. St. Francis de Sales
Plain-spoken, direct, and full of compassion for the average schmoe striving for sanctity, St. Francis wrote -- among others --
An Introduction to the Devout Life, which I find enormously helpful and inspiring in its practical advice. With a complete collection of his writing/sayings spread in front of you, ya could close your eyes, randomly plop your finger down, and find a gem. Ev'ry time. For example:
"A spirit of mockery is one of the worst imperfections of the mind, and displeases God greatly, so that He has often punished it most severely. Nothing is more hurtful to charity, and still more to devotion, than contempt and derision of our neighbor, and such is inevitably found in mockery."[2]
Bam! (And
ouch -- it's
so easy to fall into mockery, isn't it?)
Learn more about St. Francis de Sales.
7. St. Ignatius of Loyola
I absolutely adore Ignatius' vivid imagination, and his advice on how to use our own imaginations while praying, as well as in everyday situations, like eating:
"While one is eating, let him imagine he sees Christ our Lord and His disciples at table, and consider how He eats and drinks, how He looks, how He speaks, and then strive to imitate Him. In this way, his mind will be occupied principally with our Lord, and less with the provision for the body. Thus he will come to greater harmony and order in the way he ought to conduct himself."[3]
I've found his
Spiritual Exercises quite helpful, and I highly recommend making a
Spiritual Exercises retreat.
Learn more about St. Ignatius.
8. St. Josemaría Escrivá
Every time I read
anything of his, it's like being doinked upside the head by Moe of the
Three Stooges. Not that I'm sayin' Josemaría is a stooge, just that he has a way of walloping ya back in line. Such as:
"Don't succumb to that disease of character whose symptoms are inconstancy in everything, thoughtlessness in action and speech scatter-brained ideas: superficiality, in short.
"Mark this well: unless you react in time -- not tomorrow: now! -- that superficiality which each day leads you to form those empty plans (plans 'so full of emptiness') will make of your life a dead and useless puppet."[4]
Learn more about St. Josemaría.
9. St. Maximilian Kolbe
Not only am I inspired by his firm devotion to Our Lady, but his heroic self-sacrifice never ceases to humble and amaze me:
"In 1941, the Nazis imprisoned Father Maximilian in the Auschwitz death camp. There he offered his life for another prisoner and was condemned to slow death in a starvation bunker. On August 14, 1941, his impatient captors ended his life with a fatal injection."[5]
Because of this, I think of him as "Iron Max" -- it truly takes a will of iron to offer up your own life for another ... just like Our Lord.
Learn more about St. Max Kolbe.
10. St. Padre Pio
There's so much to love about Padre Pio Forgione of Pietrelcina! His cheerful good humor! All the miracles attributed to his intercession! And oh, those zingers! My two faves are:
- "Bring me my weapon!" (When asking for his Rosary.)
- "Pray, hope, and don't worry." (I say this to myself on a regular basis.)
And when folks talk about being humble even in the face of false accusations, he's always invoked as a prime example of patient endurance.
Learn more about St. Padre Pio.
So, your turn! Who's in your Circle, and why?
- - - - -
- "Concerning Those Who Do Not Do Penance", from "Prologue: Exhortation of St. Francis to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance" in the SFO Rule. The "Brothers and Sisters of Penance" is what the Secular Franciscan Order was originally named. So, this is an exhortation from St. Francis directly to all Secular Franciscans, in all ages. Booyah!
- Part Third, Chapter 27: "Modesty in Conversation, and Becoming Reverence", from An Introduction to the Devout Life.
- Third Week, No. 214, from Spiritual Exercises.
- Chapter 1, No. 17, from The Way.
- Marytown: St. Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr of Charity.
Labels: franciscan, joseph, mary, saints, st. francis
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who needs to use her imagination in prayer and meditation. For me, it's a great focusing aid and helps me ride herd on my strayin' thoughts. As St. Ignatius of Loyola describes it in his
Spiritual Exercises:
"Here it is to be noted that, in a visible contemplation or meditation -- as, for instance, when one contemplates Christ our Lord, Who is visible -- the composition will be to see with the sight of the imagination the corporeal place where the thing is found which I want to contemplate. I say the corporeal place, as for instance, a Temple or Mountain where Jesus Christ or Our Lady is found, according to what I want to contemplate." ("First Exercise")
In other words, use your imagination to create as real and vivid an image as possible while contemplating stuff like Jesus teaching in the temple, or Elizabeth greeting Mary. I'm always looking for ways to do this, and I thought I'd share one that I came up with the other day. It was triggered by the following passage in
The Blessed Eucharist: Our Greatest Treasure:
"A holy nun who had suffered very much in this life appeared after her death to one of her sisters in religion. She told her that she would willingly return to the world and undergo once more all the pains she had suffered here on earth, provided she could say but one Hail Mary, because by that one prayer, her glory and joy would be increased by one degree for all eternity. (P. Michael a St. Catherine, Lib. III, Tract. 16)" (pp. 95-96)
The author used the anecdote to illustrate his point that, if the blessed in Heaven are willing to do so much for
one Hail Mary, what more would they do for one Communion? And I got that, but what really stuck with me was the "one Hail Mary". One Hail Mary ... why don't I pray it more often? There's no reason to limit it to the confines of the Rosary or Angelus. It's such a short, simple prayer, and it's certainly a better thing to have in my head than the usual banal chatter careening about in there. And it's a beautiful way to tell our Blessed Mother how much I love her, which I really should do more often.
So, as I settled into bed that night, I imagined ...
... an endless garden in which there grew all the species and hybrids of roses in existence, whose perfume filled the air. The grass was bright green, the sky was deep blue, and trees of every kind dotted the landscape, as did pools and lakes and flowing rivers of varying sizes. The sun shone brightly, but didn't scorch or blind. Birds called from the trees and water and sky, fish flashed through the streams, and animals played peaceably among the roses.
In the garden's center was a trellis whose size dwarfed
the baldacchino in St. Peter's Basilica, with roses climbing, cascading, and sticking out all over. The trellis towered over a large, white marble dais, veined in gold, silver, and bronze. On the dais sat a polished, high-backed cedar bench whose entire surface was carved with roses, animals, birds, and fish. A plush, amethyst cushion covered the seat. The armrests on each side of the bench curved gently inward, giving it a crescent-shaped appearance.
Sitting on the bench were Mary and Joseph -- he, with his right arm around her; she, resting her head on his shoulder.
The young couple were dressed in royal splendor -- flowing, gold-embroidered robes and mantles. Mary's dress was ruby, her veil and mantle sapphire. Joseph's robe was emerald and his mantle jasper. The matching embroidery on their clothes was of the Sacred Heart, which was depicted in varying sizes. Both wore gold crowns with the Sacred Heart as points.
Vases and bowls and containers of all shapes, colors, materials, and sizes covered the dais and surrounded the bench, and roses were arranged in all of them. Those roses represented all the Hail Marys I'd prayed throughout my life, but the containers were not full by any means.
I imagined myself as I was as at age 9. I wore a simple, pink dress, and I stood barefoot before the Holy Spouses, holding a long-stemmed red rose. As I prayed a Hail Mary, I presented to Our Lady the rose, which she delightedly accepted. Joseph laughed with joy at her happiness. I prayed another Hail Mary and gave her another rose, which had appeared in my hands. With each Hail Mary, a new rose appeared for me to give, and the rose that Mary had been holding re-appeared in one of the vases and bowls and containers.
As I now pray the Hail Mary, not only do I pray it for the usual reasons, but I seek also to fill the dais to overflowing with roses before I die. Not so much to increase my degree of glory or joy in heaven, but simply to make Mary and Joseph as happy as I can, while I can.
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying."
(Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time")
Labels: joseph, mary, prayer, reflections
Josephy card overload! And a new journal.
ZOMG! I just found a spin-off blog of
Holy Card Heaven that's entirely devoted to ...
Josephite holy cards:
Saint Joseph Album! Granted, the
decrepit ol' Joe ones set my teeth on edge, but there are plenty of others to swoon over, and I am mighty swoonified right now.
Interesting how I came across it mere minutes after pondering how I'll decorate the cover of my next spiritual journal: I'm on The Very Last Page (filled up pages faster'n usual due to
my daily Lenten scribblings) and will have to start a new one tomorrow or Friday. On the cover (it's just a cheap, spiral-bound, quad-ruled dealio), I've taped a gigantor card with a prayer to St. Francis of Assisi, along with another card of
Francis' prayer before the San Damiano crucifix.
For the next notebook, I was thinking I'd maybe slap on some Josephite ones, but didn't wanna sacrifice any of my current cards ... and then I found the Josephy site. Now I can print, cut out, and tape ones
from there to my heart's content! Well, my heart's content as squooshed into an 8.5-by-11-inch area.
This one of Joseph and Jesus, and
this Holy Family one (on the main
Holy Card Heaven blog), are Way Top Contenders.
Happy sigh.
Labels: artwork, cfotd, joseph, prayer, spiffy
Josephy statue squeeness!
So, I'm finally getting around to watching the video at
Visit The Pope, and totally squeed when I saw this Josephy statue in the Pope's private chapel, where he celebrates morning Mass!! Ya rarely see ones of Joseph
sittin' with lil' bebbeh Jesus in his lap.
::swoon::
(Click for larger image)
Labels: artwork, joseph, pope, vatican, videos
Josephology: List of Must-Read Books
Happily, there are Lots And Tons Of Many Great Josephite Books out there, but before I get to those:
Occasionally, I'll come across an author who says something like, "Poor Joseph, there's really not much written about him! Oh, well!" To that I reply: Come on.
There are
loads of excellent books and articles written about Joseph, ranging from devotional to scholarly and all shades in-between, so whenever a writer says that they "couldn't find anything", it suggests that they really didn't do much searching.
So, the list ... While I've cited a few of the titles in
my Joseph posts, I figured, why not list them all in one spot for ease of reference? Here are what I own (save the
Bibliographie).
I'll update this post as I find more, and please note that I'm only listing books that I think are
good.*
Lisa's List of Happy Fun Josephy Books That You Should Read :-)
The Must-Reads
Joseph: The Man Closest to Jesus: The Complete Life, Theology and Devotional History of St. Joseph by Fr. Francis L. Filas, SJ
Considered to be the definitive Josephological tome out there, this is essential reading. While it's out of print, you can find a copy through used booksellers (I got mine through
AbeBooks.com) or borrow one from your local library.
Joseph the Silent by Michel Gasnier, OP
If you only read one Josephite book, make it this. (Though you really should also read the previous one.) Gasnier presents a vivid and moving portrait of Joseph, and it's all based on extensive research and serious study. He knows his subject and presents it all in a relatively short, yet engrossing, read.
Joseph in the New Testament by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
The amount of info. that Fr. Toschi is able to draw from the NT about Joseph is just mind-bogglingly amazing. Sure, Scripture doesn't say a lot, but what it
does say offers tons of food for thought, and Fr. Toschi delivers.
The Good-to-ReadsHere are the rest (alphabetical by title). This isn't a comprehensive list, just my faves.
Bibliographie sur saint Joseph et la sainte Famille by Roland Gauthier, CSC
THE be-all, end-all Josephological bibliography, weighing in at 1,365 pages, with 19,725 entries. As the book's description says, it's "the single most important source of information about publications of all kinds (ecclesiastical, theological, devotional, artistic, etc.) on St. Joseph and the Holy Family." I read this monster thanks to an interlibrary loan request.
Husband, Father, Worker: Questions & Answers About St. Joseph by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ; Fr. José Antonio Bertolin, OSJ; Rick Sarkisian, PhD
Just Man, Husband of Mary, Guardian of Christ: An Anthology of Readings from Jeronimo Gracian's Summary of the Excellencies of St. Joseph (1597) by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, MA
A Manual of Practical Devotion to St. Joseph by Fr. Antony-Joseph Patriganani, SJ
Saint Joseph by Boniface Llamera, OP (out-of-print)
Saint Joseph: Patron of the Triumph by Fr. Richard Foley, SJ
Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father by Fr. Andrew Doze
Saint Joseph Studies: Papers in English from the Seventh and Eighth International St. Joseph Symposia, Malta 1997 and El Salvador 2001 edited by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
St. Joseph: A Theological Introduction by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
St. Joseph and the Third Millennium: Traditional Themes and Contemporary Issues edited by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
St. Joseph in Early Christianity: Devotion and Theology: A Study and an Anthology of Patristic Texts by Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church by Dominic De Domenico, OP
-------
* Books like Saint Joseph: His Life and His Role in the Church Today by Louise Bourassa Perrotta, in which she talks about "not finding anything on Joseph", do NOT make the cut.Labels: books, joseph, josephite, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Fatherhood
While chattin' with pals recently, I realized that it's been awhile since I've tossed out a Josephy post, which must be remedied forthwith! For this go-round, let's look at Joseph's unique and glorious fatherhood!
"
48. So what is the most exact title we should use to express Joseph's fatherhood?In reality, none of the terms suggested entirely expresses the totality of Joseph's relationship with Jesus. As [the great Jesuit theologian] Suarez asserts, Joseph possessed 'everything proper to a father, apart from his virginity.' He shared in the very dignity of Mary, Jesus' mother. His fatherhood is unique and supernatural. Faced with the lack of any precise word to completely designate this special fatherhood, we may simply call Joseph 'Jesus' father,' as Scripture itself does (Lk. 2:27, 33, 41, 43, 48; Mt. 13:55), without adding any adjective to the title."
~ Fr. Jose Antonio Bertolin, OSJ; "Josephology 1A",
Guardian of the Redeemer, Volume XII, Number 1 (March-May 2006)
* * *
"I often explain that if a dove ... drops a date from its beak into a garden, we say that the palm tree that grows from that date belongs to the owner of the garden. If that is so, who would doubt that as the Holy Spirit, like a heavenly dove, let fall a divine seed into the 'garden enclosed' of the Blessed Virgin ... and a garden that pertained to Joseph as a wife pertains to her husband; who I ask, would deny that the divine Palm Tree, which bears the fruits of immortality, belongs to the Blessed Joseph?"
~ St. Francis De Sales
* * *
"It is most important to look first at the way in which St. Joseph is not the father of Jesus. ... There is a variety of ways in which one may be referred to as a father other than as the natural father. There is, of course, a more spiritual use of the term, such as in those who are founders of religious orders. Still, let us confine ourselves to those forms that we find in the family.
"... [W]e might speak of a man as the 'legal father' of the child. ... St. Joseph was recognized publicly and socially to be the legal father of Jesus in one sense, but not as understood in the eyes of Jewish law according to a limited sense of the term, in which a brother would attempt to have a child by the wife of a brother who died so that the dead brother could have legal descendants.
"... Another title one might bear is that of 'foster father.' ... This is most certainly a true and clear way to express the fatherhood of St. Joseph. Yet, as we shall see, it does not completely explain the way in which St. Joseph is father to Jesus. ... [This term] is far weaker ... because it often refers to a very temporary form of relationship.
"... [A]doptive fatherhood does not express the nature of St. Joseph's fatherhood. ... Jesus was not born from another marriage or relationship and then adopted. St. Thomas says, 'Christ was the fruit of this marriage; neither a child born in adultery nor an adopted son ...' ... Thus, the title of adoptive father is inadequate to explain the paternity of St. Joseph.
"... [Stepfatherhood] would not apply to St. Joseph. For Jesus was not the child of a previous marriage or relationship between a man and a woman. Thus, to call St. Joseph a stepfather would be offensive to the Virgin Mary."
De Domenico then goes on to explain that Joseph is Jesus' father (not in the biological sense): 1) because Jesus is the Good of the
marriage; 2) because Jesus is the Possession of the marriage; 3) because Joseph and Mary gave full consent to the marriage; 4) because of Mary's consent at the Annunciation, which, since
she was already Joseph's wife, by default included Joseph's consent; 5) through Joseph's holiness; 6) through
Joseph's virginity; 7) by the command of God; 8) by exercising the office of father.
Thus, "this fatherhood of St. Joseph is entirely new. There has never been anything like it. It is unique and one of a kind. The fatherhood of St. Joseph is superior even to natural human fatherhood as also adoptive fatherhood. ... 'He is father in the supernatural order, not according to nature, but according to the spirit ... In brief, he is father in the most noble, most sublime and divine sense. The bond which unites him with his august Son is moral and therefore more intimate and stronger than a physical bond.' Hence the fatherhood of St. Joseph is only surpassed by the fatherhood of God."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the ChurchLabels: joseph, josephology
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, & Joseph
Oh, how I love
this feast day! It reminds us that Jesus came to us from
within a family, as the ultimate good of
Mary and Joseph's marriage. With them, He formed a union of divine and human hearts, and established an earthly trinity to help us better comprehend the mystery of the heavenly Trinity.
And He gave us not just a means of contemplating the heavenly Trinity, but a living example for us all -- from the very start of His life on earth, He gave us a family in which "all men might behold a perfect model of domestic life, and of all virtue and holiness." (Pope Leo XIII) "
God wanted to be born and to grow up in a human family. In this way he consecrated the family as the first and ordinary means of his encounter with humanity." (
Pope Benedict XVI)
What a gift! What a wonderful source of inspiration to meditate upon. And in this spirit of meditation, here are some reflections on the Holy Family and the history of this Devotion in honor of today's feast.
Union of Hearts
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph comprise the Holy Family, the basic human unit of God's strategy for the Incarnation and Redemption. They belong together in the history of salvation. The three are inseparable, and should always be seen and understood together theologically, pastorally, and in church art. Their special identities in God's plan are interrelated. To see them separately is regrettable and misleading."
~ Br. John M. Samaha, SM, "
Like Wife, Like Husband"
* * *
"[St. Francis de Sales] avers that Christ Jesus Himself joined the hearts of Mary and Joseph in an indissoluble union 'by the heavenly bond of a completely virginal marriage, so that [Joseph] might be [Mary's] helper and coadjutor in the guidance and education of His divine infancy.'
"... Without the marriage of Mary and Joseph, there would be no Holy Family. According to [St. Francis de Sales], the bond of love that binds the members of the Holy Family is a union of hearts which comes about through the marriage of Mary and Joseph. Mary and Jesus were so completely united with one another that they 'had but one soul, but one heart, and but one life, so that the Blessed Mother, although living, yet did not live herself but rather the Son lived in her.' And through the indissoluble union that Jesus establishes between Joseph's heart and Mary's heart, He draws the saint into union with His own divine heart. Jesus was 'the dear Child of [Joseph's] heart,' and Joseph was Jesus' 'great friend and His beloved father.' "
~ Fr. Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS,
The Holy Family Devotion: A Brief History
Origin of the Holy Family Devotion
"Devotion to the Holy Family first appears in the late Middle Ages. Prior to this period, there were two major obstacles impeding the emergence of this cult. First, a strong, positive theology of the person and mission of St. Joseph was lacking. Veneration of the Holy Family is inextricably linked with devotion to St. Joseph, and the former did not appear until the latter flourished. The image of St. Joseph as an active, full-fledged participant in the Holy Family had to be established before it was possible to consider Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as forming an integral and credible family unit. Second, there was no word or expression to denote nuclear family. At the time, the word 'family' was understood to mean 'extended family' (or all those living under the authority of the
paterfamilias), rather than 'nuclear family,' as it does today. Both of these obstacles would be removed in the late medieval period, due principally to the efforts of Jean Gerson (1363-1429), the eloquent and prolific chancellor of the University of Paris.
"Gerson has been described as 'the founder of that branch of theology which today we call "Josephology." ' He conducted an active campaign to rescue St. Joseph from the relative neglect of earlier periods, to correct mistaken notions about him found in the apocryphal gospels and often reflected in art and literature, and to promote his cult among the faithful. Gerson systematically reworked St. Joseph's image from that of an aged, ineffective attendant to the Virgin and Christ Child to a vigorous, youthful man* who was the divinely-appointed head of God's household, a paradigm of perfection who had been sanctified in the womb and was thus incapable of sin, the protector of God's plan for salvation, an industrious provider for the Holy Family, and, along with his spouse, Mary, an exemplar of holy matrimony. As if to underscore that the cult of St. Joseph is the foundation for that of the Holy Family, throughout his writings, Gerson always refers to Jesus, Joseph, and Mary in that order.
"Gerson's transformation of St. Joseph's image made it possible to think about the Holy Family in a new way. Gerson also made it possible to speak about the Holy Family by coining the expression 'earthly trinity' to speak about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a nuclear family in the modern sense. Although Gerson did not explicitly compare the earthly trinity of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with the blessed Trinity in heaven, such a comparison is implicit since previously the use of the word was reserved to the three divine Persons. Henceforth, it became popular to refer to and to depict in the visual arts the Holy Family as a trinity which replicated on earth the blessed Trinity in heaven."
~ Fr. Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS,
The Holy Family Devotion: A Brief History
-----
* A wealth of historical research has born out Gerson's assertions of Joseph's youth. For more information, see Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary and Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary, Part II.Labels: joseph, josephology, liturgy, mary
Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, Part II
I started typing up a really long honkin' reply to a comment left on my previous post,
Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, but 'cause it got s'darn long, I figured I might as well make another full post outta it. :-P
A frequently-made argument about Joseph and Mary's marital status is by citing Bible passages "proving" they weren't actually married at the time of the Annunciation. However, this is the result of
poor translations that present a
euphemism for sex as a literal, "I ain't married" statement, thus ignoring
historical reality.
It is a poor translation when you read Mary say, "I'm not married". A more accurate translation is, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" (NAB) or "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" (Douay-Rheims); you also find this in many other translations. Also, the angel commands Joseph to take Mary into his home to complete the final stage of marriage; it is again a poor translation when you read versions that tell him to "not be afraid to marry" her.
The fact that Joseph and Mary were married, not betrothed, prior to the Annunciation has absolutely, positively nothing to do with
opinions or religious differences. It is simply a case of the
historical reality of Jewish marriage customs at the time, which is clearly documented by many authors; you can read just a few resources in
my previous post.
But, what the heck, here are some more. :-)
Mistranslations of Luke and Matthew"Current translations of Matthew 1:20 are based on the suspicion hypothesis and separate 'do not fear to take Mary your wife' from what follows by a comma, and by a conjunction such as 'for,' thus interpreting that the clause 'that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit' is new information for Joseph. Such news, however, would hardly be a reason to allay fear in the above biblical sense, but rather a cause for it. Grammatical analysis of the conjunctions
gàr and
dè in Matthew 1:20 shows that they may be interpreted in the sense of 'indeed ... but," rather than "for ... and.' The angel is telling Joseph that he should not hesitate to continue with the marriage, for though Mary is indeed pregnant by the Holy Spirit, he is nevertheless to have an important role in that work: to act as Mary's husband and to name the child. The translation could thus read: 'Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife even though that which is conceived in her is indeed of the Spirit and that is Holy. She will bear a son, whom you will give the name Jesus ...'
...
"Mary conceives as a virgin while betrothed to Joseph, who is of the house of David. 'Betrothed' is again understood to mean that all the formal contractual agreements for the marriage had been finalized, while Mary's statement to the angel indicates that Joseph had not yet made the final step of taking her into his home. Luke 1:34 should be translated 'since I have no marital relations with a man,' which is a common meaning of
ginōskō (know) when applied to a man and a woman, used also in Matthew 1:25. It should
not be translated 'since I have no husband,' as the Revised Standard Version does, since the betrothed could be called husband and wife even before the act of coming together in the same house, as seen in Matthew 1:16,19,20,24."
~ Larry M. Toschi, OSJ;
Joseph in the New TestamentMarriage Customs of Joseph and Mary's Time"Since the question [of Mary and Joseph's espousals] is of interest strictly to Catholics, it seems preferable to quote non-Catholic authorities. None of these can justly be accused of interpreting the gospel account in favor of any Catholic theory regarding Mary's vow of virginity and St. Joseph's fatherhood. We will present here four representative non-Catholic opinions.
"Montefiore, the eminent Jewish scholar, comments on Matthew 1:18 as follows: 'They had not yet lived together in one house as man and wife although they were legally married according to Jewish law.'
"The Jewish Encyclopedia repeats the same thought. 'The root, "to betroth," from which the Talmudic word "betrothal" is derived, must be taken in this sense, i.e., to contract an actual though incomplete sense of the rabbinical law declares that the betrothal is equivalent to an actual marriage, and only to be dissolved by a formal divorce.'
"According to Gorge Foot Moore, 'Betrothal was a formal act by which the woman became legally the man's wife; unfaithfulness on her part was adultery and punishable as such; if the relation was dissolved, a bill of divorce was required. Some time elapsed after the bridegroom claimed the fulfillment of the agreement before the bride was taken to her husband's house and the marriage consummated. The term employed for betrothal,
kiddushin, has religious associations; it is an act by which the woman is, so to speak, consecrated to her husband, set apart for him exclusively.'
"Finally, we turn to Shailer Mathews, who appears to hold no brief for the virginal conception of Christ but who definitely considers Jesus the legitimate son of the marriage because of the betrothal. He writes, 'Betrothal among the Jews in the time of Jesus was in the process of transition. ... The status of the man and woman was ... practically the same as that of married persons, although now it was generally customary for the wedding ceremony proper to be celebrated at the expiration of a year. ... There seems to have been no reason why betrothed persons should not live together as man and wife without a subsequent marriage ceremony. The children of such a union would be legitimate.' He concludes that according to the narrative of Matthew and Luke, the contemporary Jewish customs were followed out by Mary and Joseph.
"... The summaries of many other studies can be adduced to uphold this view that the betrothal of Joseph and Mary linked them in a valid marriage, which was later solemnized by the wedding ceremony. This conclusion is further confirmed by a sort of aprioristic argument proposed by Macabiau and modeled on reasoning of Suarez: The gospels make it clear that Jesus was considered the legitimate son of Mary and Joseph. Therefore, one would be prone to conclude that Jesus had been conceived in Mary at a time when genuine marriage rights were considered by the public to belong to His virginal parents."
~ Francis L. Filas, SJ;
Joseph: The Man Closest to JesusSee also: Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage [Part I]Labels: joseph, josephology, mariology, mary
Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage
As Christmas approaches and we contemplate the birth of our Savior, I think it's a good time to clear up the confusion over what led up to His birth -- namely, that Mary wasn't married at the time of the Annunciation.
Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Mary
was not an "unwed mother" at the moment of the Incarnation, nor was she merely "engaged" to Joseph -- she was truly and legally married to him; a wife. Jesus was conceived, as is proper,
within the bond of Holy Matrimony, not outside it. Following are some resources that address the nature and validity of Joseph and Mary's marriage.
Joseph and Mary's Marriage and the Incarnation
"In Hebrew Law the betrothal was not a simple promise of marriage in the future, but, with binding force, was equivalent to it. In Deuteronomy, as in the Gospel, the betrothed was called 'wife' because she was indeed that. Accused of infidelity, she would be obliged to suffer the punishment for adultery, and she would be stoned to death. Did her betrothed die, she would be looked upon as a widow. Nor could she be rejected except through the same process of divorce as the Law required for a married woman.
"Cohabitation, however, was generally postponed for some months, perhaps a year. The rabbis held the bride should be given the time to prepare her trousseau, the groom, to fulfill the promises of the [marriage] contract and prepare the home.
"Actually, the betrothed could have marital relations and if the bride conceived a child by her groom, no fault would be found.
Because of these facts, the endless controversies carried on later about Mary's conception of the Incarnate Word, some affirming that she was truly married, others denying it, are absolutely pointless -- a mere war of words." [emphasis added]
~ Michel Gasnier, OP;
Joseph the Silent
* * *
"In the Book of Luke we read that the Angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary, betrothed to a man named Joseph. From the point of view of our own time and culture, this seems to tell us that, at the time the angel announced the conception of the Son of God, Mary and Joseph were merely engaged.
"Was this really so? ... According to Jewish custom, the betrothal was not merely an engagement but had the force of marriage, including the marital rights.
"... Lest there be any doubt about this understanding of 'betrothal,' the Church herself has given us an explanation of the 'betrothal' of Joseph and Mary. 'According to Jewish custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal, or true marriage was celebrated, and then, only after a certain period of time, the husband brought his wife into his own house. Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her 'husband.' " (Op. cit.,
Redemptoris Custos, n. 18)
"Thus the betrothal of Joseph and Mary refers to an actual marriage. Yet there was a period of possibly [up to] one year following the betrothal in which the couple did not live together. ... The Jews did not consider it unlawful or even necessarily unusual for a woman to conceive a child during the one-year period. This explains why no one thought it was unusual or at least unlawful for Mary to be with child during this time. Otherwise, it would have been a great scandal in the little town of Nazareth, and it could have made her subject to the law and its punishment."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church
* * *
"Nor let the word 'espoused' be understood, as by some it has been understood, as if Mary were at the time only promised in marriage, that is, betrothed. No. The nuptials had already been celebrated, according to the true sense of Scripture, a point which has been clearly established by the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and, in particular, by the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas. Thus we find St. Matthew calling Joseph the husband of Mary, and Mary the wife of Joseph."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph
The Validity of Joseph and Mary's Marriage
"The Scripture testifies clearly that Joseph was the husband of Mary and that Mary was his wife. One could not be a husband or a wife if one did not marry. The Scripture would not call him husband if it meant that he was not Mary's husband. (Cf.
Mt. 1:18-20)
"Still, one should not wish to rely here on a private interpretation of the Scripture unless it is consistent with Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. The Fathers of the Church, including St. Augustine, have unanimously upheld the genuineness of this marriage. It is also the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the universal Doctor of the Church. Besides, the teaching has been upheld by papal encyclicals in more recent times.
"According to the view of St. Augustine, there are three goods of marriage: offspring, fidelity, and sacrament. All three of these, he says, have fulfillment in the marriage of Joseph and Mary. ... Offspring is more perfectly fulfilled in the marriage of Joseph and Mary because the offspring is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who infinitely surpasses all created persons.
"There is fidelity because there is no adultery. ... As the offspring of the marriage, Jesus is also the final end or cause of this marriage. In this sense, the marriage is a sacrament of the New Testament. Following the appearance of an angel in a dream to Joseph, we see that their previously valid marriage becomes a marriage of two people who believe in Christ, a new reality."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church
* * *
"It is clear from more than one passage in the Holy Gospel that Mary was truly Joseph's wife, and Joseph truly Mary's husband, for she is expressly called the wife of Joseph, as Joseph is called the husband of Mary. If Joseph be sometimes styled by the Fathers simply the guardian, not the husband, of Mary, this way of speaking was not intended to exclude the reality of the matrimonial bond which united them, but only to rebut any possible surmise which might arise against their virginal purity."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph
See also: Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, Part IILabels: joseph, josephology, mariology, mary
Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence, Part II
"The other Saints supplicate Jesus and Mary, St. Joseph commands them; this bold idea of Origen has been adopted by several Doctors. St. Joseph speaks as a father; but a father does not petition his son, he commands him. The other Saints throw down their crowns at the feet of the Lamb, and pray as supplicants; St. Joseph supplicates as one commanding, or rather, the humility of this holy man is too great to permit him to command the Lord Jesus; but the goodness of Our Lord is so condescending, that He accepts the prayers of Joseph as paternal commands, and grants all he requests. Happy Patriarch! who alone of all men has relations so special, union so intimate with the Saviour of the world, and His most holy Mother! The Son of Mary owes obedience to you; your spouse owes you honour, you have the right to command them both; can you then fear to pray to them for your clients?
"When two just men consent upon earth concerning anything whatever that they demand in the name of Jesus Christ, it shall be granted to them by His Father in heaven. (Mt 18:19) Here, indeed, is this promise of the Savior verified. When Mary and Joseph plead together before the throne of their Divine Son, in favour of one of their servants, is there any grace which they cannot obtain? Great God! give to me those two all-powerful advocates; grant that they may always plead my cause before Thine adorable Majesty, and that I may ever render to them acceptable service. Where is there to be found an object more beloved by thee and more worthy of our love than those two noble hearts?"
~ Père Binet,
The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph* * *
"In heaven the throne of the Virgin Mary is placed above those of the apostles and of the Seraphim, and no other creature deserves to be seated upon it. In heaven, being great is being humble, and on earth, being humble is being great; greatness is not diminished by humility. What saint lodged Mary and Jesus in his home and served as a throne for God, and, not only that, but Mary and Jesus served and respected him? When in heaven Mary passes by the seats of the Seraphim, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, or the most glorious saints, they rise from their seats, reverence, and prostrate themselves at Mary's feet, calling her their lady, queen, and empress. And when she arrives at the seat and throne where St. Joseph is, being as humble in heaven as she was on earth, she does not fail to give signs of her humility, acknowledging that she had served and obeyed him while she was in the world. She whom all others call queen and empress, Joseph can call spouse and wife. And when the whole heavenly court sees that its Queen pays special honor to St. Joseph, they do not hesitate to pay him him reverence."
~ from
Just Man, Husband of Mary, Guardian of Christ: An Anthology of Readings from Jerónimo Gracián's Summary of the Excellencies of St. Joseph (1597), translated and edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
See also: Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence [Part I]Labels: joseph, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence
"In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty that naught created can rank above it. But as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. For marriage is the most intimate of all unions which from its essence imparts a community of gifts between those that by it are joined together. Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life's companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honor, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men."
~ Pope Leo XIII, "On Devotion to St. Joseph" (
Quamquam Pluries), 1889
* * *
"It might appear more difficult to place him above John the Baptist because of Christ's words, 'Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist.' The difficulty is easily met. When speaking thus, Jesus was comparing John to the prophets of the Old Testament, who announced his future coming, while the Baptist's announcement declared him already come and pointed him out to the people. We might say, too, that those words of Jesus were intended to compare John, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, with that new grandeur which confers on the elect the call to the Kingdom of heaven, that kingdom of which the Church on earth is the foundation, and for that reason ... 'Howsoever great the grandeur of John the Baptist who closes the Old Testament, it sinks into insignificance before that of the lowliest Christian.' "
~ Michel Gasnier, OP;
Joseph the Silent* * *
"The whole theology of St. Joseph is included in these two fundamental titles: husband of Mary and virginal father of Jesus. These two titles place St. Joseph on an immeasurable height, a thousand times above all the angels and saints. After God, there is nothing so great and sublime as His most holy Mother. After Mary, nothing can be imagined more sublime than her virginal husband and nutritive father of Jesus.
"Theologians have taken many centuries to notice the huge figure of St. Joseph. ... It is impossible to express in human words the incomprehensible dignity of St. Joseph as nutritive father of Jesus, which places him a thousand times above the angels and saints and makes him reach very close to the
hypostatic order, if it be that he really does not belong to it as an
integral part, even though mediated and accidentally, as serious theologians claim."
~ Fr. A. Royo Marín, OP;
La Virgen María. Teológia y espiritualidad marianas* * *
"A literalist interpretation of Jesus' words that, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist (Mt 11:11, Lk 7:28) has led to giving him general precedence over all other saints except Mary, without regard for the second clause in Jesus' statement that even the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John."
~ Larry M. Toschi, OSJ; "Liturgical Feasts of St. Joseph",
St. Joseph Studies* * *
"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 therefore so much the more noble and sublime. 'The ministry of Joseph,' says Giovanni di Cartagena, 'both as spouse of the Blessed Virgin and as [earthly] father of Jesus, was closely conjoined with the very Person of Jesus Christ, in such wise [sic] that its dignity appears, more than any other whatsoever, to approach the most sublime dignity of the Mother of God.'
"... 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'; whence they infer that Joseph might, indeed, be equal to the Baptist, but could not surpass him. ... [T]his 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, moreover, 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 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'. Now, Joseph certainly belongs to the New Testament, and is the first after Mary. Therefore he is excluded. Moreover, 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.
"... Nothing in what has been said can be viewed as any derogation of the high titles and sublime sanctity of John 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 greatness and glory he must be reckoned, after Jesus and Mary, as excelling all the saints and angels."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. JosephSee also: Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence, Part IILabels: joseph, josephology
