The Mexicans have a devotion to St. Joseph under the title of “Refuge of Sinners.”
Ah! St. Joseph, refuge of sinners, hear our prayer!
It is his feast day right now!
Thank you St. Joseph for the thousands of graces you have poured out!
This is it! Nana’s nose - pictured is Andy Rooney of course, but he has her nose! - I wonder if I’m related to Andy? (He wouldn’t be invited over unless he trimmed those eyebrows and wore a less novel shirt - I’ll bet his wife picked it out.) Uncle Edmond’s nose looked exactly like Andy’s. Whew! Mine is not that bad! (And this is a young photo of Andy. I just saw the old nose tonight on 60 Minutes and could hardly see his face. Those poor, poor Irish people!)
Pictured: adenocarcinoma of the prostate gland
I guess this is what a cancerous prostate gland looks like.
Guys, get your exams. 
Murillo’s St. Joseph and the Child Jesus.
My house is named “The little hermitage of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus” - which also would have been my title if I had entered Carmel.
I have always painted St. Joseph to look very similar to Jesus, since I believe Providence would have made St. Joseph to resemble his foster-child so that no one would speculate about Our Lord’s paternity. I also think he was a young man, older than Our Lady of course, but young and strong, capable of earning a living and supporting, as well as protecting, the holy family.
I’m convinced he was a virgin and a devout man of deep prayer, keeping the Law with all of his heart - in fact it must have been written upon his heart. He understood well the Law and the prophets and loved God with all of his mind, all of his heart, all of his body. Hence I pray to him, appealing to him under the title, “Most pure heart of Joseph…”
Tonight is the vigil of his feast, the solemnity of St. Joseph. If devotion to Our Lady leads one to devotion to Christ, devotion to St. Joseph most assuredly leads one to devotion to the Blessed Virgin as well as her Divine Son.
Although St. Joseph is the particular patron of fathers and husbands, he is uniquely the patron of single men as well. He lived a chaste and celibate life with the Virgin Mary, therefore he understands well the lives of single men. He understands. He is not exclusive - he is a friend and helper to all. (I wish I could tell in detail all that he has done for me…he obtained the gift of chastity for me, he always provided shelter for me, he always got work for me, he taught me to pray, he gave me devotion to the Child Jesus - the list goes on and on, and not without signal graces.)
Did you know some of the Spanish believe he was immaculately conceived? I prefer to think not - since his chastity is all the more heroic. I have also heard some people believe he was assumed into Heaven, the same as Our Lady. I think not. (Yet I would be happy if he showed me otherwise.)
If you haven’t prayed a novena in preparation for his feast, go to him anyway, asking him to receive you as if you had prayed and fasted for 40 days in preparation for his feast, and ask his intercession and protection, for any matter whatsoever, and he will respond.
Most pure heart of St. Joseph, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
St. Benedict Joseph Labre, known as the saint of the Forty Hours devotion.
I slept in this morning since my old man’s illness is making a comeback. I intended to go to the Traditional Mass at St. Augustine’s, yet remembered St. Agnes is closing the Forty Hours devotion today. After the noon Mass, I was able to linger for adoration, though not staying for the closing solemnities.
I grew up with the observance of 40 Hours devotion in pretty much all the parishes in the Archdiocese. The devotion fell by the wayside after the Council, and today is more or less supplanted by Perpetual Adoration in many parishes.
Thankfully the practice has never been discarded by St. Agnes. The 40 Hours signifies the time Jesus was believed to have spent in the tomb, making it fitting for the devotion to be observed in Lent. It is especially beautiful for Laetare Sunday, as the Church is decorated appropriately with flowers, candles and rose altar coverings. (The Blessed Sacrament, when exposed, should always have flowers and lighted candles.)
St Benedict Joseph journeyed from Church to Church in Rome during the Forty Hours, spending entire days in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I believe I felt his presence today.
Sometimes, I don’t want Lent to end, just as I didn’t want to leave the Blessed Sacrament this afternoon. Nothing in life so satiates the soul as penance and the Eucharist, the foretaste of Heaven. For those who have lost the innocence of youth, penance restores the joy that was lost with it.
Pray for me blessed father St. Benedict Joseph Labre, that I may return to my early love, through penance, adoration and prayer. Pray for all of those devoted to the Blessed Sacrament.
Click here for an explanation of the devotion.
The Prodigal.
“Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Luke 15
I have always understood this statement in reference to the Sacrament of Penance and the Mass. In this way, Jesus continues to welcome sinners and eats with them.
The meditation in “Magnificat” this morning is from Lacordaire concerning youth. He writes;
”Youth is the springtime of beauty; God who is ever young because he is ever beautiful, has willed to impart to us in our early years something of the aspect of his eternity. A young man’s face is the reflection of the face of God, and it is impossible to see a virgin soul in a pure countenance without being moved by a sympathy which is at once tenderness and respect…But this gift so great…God takes away [the innocence] from him who abuses it by precocious passions…Thus it is with all our passions; each has its earthly and revealing chastisement, designed to teach us that their way is false, and that happiness is not the term of the joys which they bring to us…” - Fr. Lacordaire
I couldn’t help but think of Aschenbach and Tadzio on the lido in “Death in Venice” after reading that, gaining a deeper perspective on Thomas Mann’s poignant novella.
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