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Monday, March 19, 2012

"Ite ad Ioseph" ("Go to Joseph" - Gen. 41.55).

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JMJ

Feast of St. Joseph
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confessor, Father and Protector of Carmel


"Of old it was said to the needy and suffering people in the kingdom of Egypt: Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall say to you (Gen. 41.55).

The same is now said by the Sovereign Pontiff to all needy and suffering people in the kingdom of the Church: GO TO JOSEPH...

What was truly said of the first Joseph, as to his future, as to his goodness, his chastity, his patience, his wisdom, his influence with the king, his power over the people, and his love for the brethren, is verified much more perfectly, even to this day, in the second JOSEPH." - Herbert Cardinal Vaughan, Archbishop of Westminster
Words of our holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus: "To other Saints Our Lord seems to have given power to succor us in some special necessity - but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, He has given the power to help us in all. Our Lord ...would have us understand that as He was subject to St. Joseph on earth - for St. Joseph, bearing the title of father and being His guardian, could command Him - so now in Heaven Our Lord grants all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to St. Joseph, and they, too, know the same thing by experience..."
Words of St. Thomas Aquinas: "Some Saints are privileged to extend to us their patronage with particular efficacy in certain needs, but not in others; but our holy patron St. Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every necessity, in every undertaking."
Let us commend ourselves always to St. Joseph, Father and Protector of Carmel, that we who have been clothed with the Holy Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel may, in union with the intercession of Our Immaculate Mother of Carmel, be prevented from being moved to give ourselves to the mortal perversions of our age especially those sins of the flesh such as the Scriptural uncleanness, cf. Gal. 5.19: Lev. 15.16-18 - what St. Thomas Aquinas calls "pollution, without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure" - fornication (copulation outside marriage), adultery, homosexuality or sodomy and effeminacy, lasciviousness, and immodesty in dress especially among women (after the fashion of the entertainment goddesses); the allures of the world to strive after riches and luxury; and, the pride of the devil by disobedience to the legitimate commands (that is, in accordance to the traditional teachings and moral norms of the Catholic Faith) of those whom God has set over us (parents, civil authorities, and the legitimate pastors of the Church). They who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them (Rom. 1.32). 
Prayer to St. Joseph for Purity: "O Guardian of Virgins and holy father St. Joseph, into whose faithful keeping were entrusted Christ Jesus, Innocence itself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, I pray and beseech thee by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary, that, being preserved from all uncleanness, I may with spotless mind, pure heart and chaste body ever serve Jesus and Mary most chastely all the days of my life. Amen."
A blessed Feast to all!

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