Digital Marian Helper Magazine Spring 2021

M arian H elper • S pring 2021 • marian . org 13 The Holy Father announced this special year of graces against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quoting the Holy Father’s new Apostolic Letter, entitled Patris Corde ( “With a Father’s Heart”) , Vatican News said the worldwide pandemic “has helped us see more clearly the importance of ‘ordinary’ people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they re- semble Saint Joseph, ‘the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,’ who nonetheless played ‘an incomparable role in the history of salvation.’” Upon the declaration, the Marian Fathers a nnounced efforts to promote what could become the largest world- wide consecration ever to St. Joseph— on March 19, his feast day. (See page 17 f or more details.) A spiritual model The announcement corresponded with the 150 th anniversary of Blessed Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. The date also marked the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the patronal feast day of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, and 350 years since the found- ing of the Marian Fathers. Indeed, in 1670 , St. Stanislaus Papczynski ( 1631- 1701) — a Polish priest, mystic, preacher, and writer who staked his life upon the mystery of the Immaculate Conception—made what’s known as his Oblatio , offering himself to God and the Blessed Mother, and professing his intention to found his spiritual Congregation. A patron of the Marian Fathers, St. Joseph has been a spiritual model for Marian priests and brothers since the Congregation’s founding. Through Marian Press, the Marians have promoted St. Joseph as a spiritual model for all the Church, most notably with the publication of C ons ecration to St. Joseph: TheWonders of Our Spiri- tu al Father. The book has so far sold more than 150,000 copies in the United States, making it one of the fastest selling Marian Press books of the last decade. It has routinely been in A mazon’s top 10 list of Catholic books. Sales ha ve been strong in the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand, as well. The book is available in Spanish. It will soon be available in German, French, Slovakian, Polish, and Croatian (in those given countries). A streaming audiobook launched this past summer has been a major success. Before the Holy Father’s decree, the book’s publication prompted 12 dioceses in the United States and two in England to declare aYear of St. Joseph. “It’s incredible. It’s just been off the charts,” said Fr. Donald. “My phone has been ringing every day, all day, for months. I am receiving emails from around the world. There is so much happening with St. Joseph I can’t keep up with it.” A letter to the pope For the record, onMay 1, 2019, Fr. Donald wrote a letter to Pope Francis asking him to consider declaring aYear of St. Joseph for the entire Church. Father Donald had the letter translated into Spanish. On May 4, 2019, Bishop Hector Zordan from the Diocese of Gualeguaychu, Argentina, hand-delivered the letter to Pope Francis while in Rome. The letter said, in part: … As you know, in recent centuries the Church has done much to promote St. Joseph.Your illustrious predecessors Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XII, John XXIII, and John Paul II did wonderful things to promote St. Joseph. I am very grateful that you have a tremendous love for St. Joseph, By Felix Carroll I n a decision that brings enormous momentum to the MarianFathers’ yearlong effort promoting consecration to St. Joseph, Pope Francis dropped a spiritual bomb on Dec. 8. He declared a “Year of St. Joseph” extending from Dec. 8, 2020 through Dec. 8, 2021. “I couldn’t be more pleased with Pope Francis’ decision. This is going to bring so many graces to so many people,” said Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, whose book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, r eleased Jan. 1, 2020, may well have played a role in the Holy Father’s decision (see page 15). Y e a r o f S t . J o S e p h D e c . 8 , 2 0 2 0 – D e c . 8 , 2 0 2 1