Digital Marian Helper Magazine Spring 2021

M arian H elper • S pring 2021 • marian . org 17 l recite the Rosary in families and among engaged couples in order that “all Christian families may be stimulated to recreate the same atmosphere of intimate communion, love and prayer that was in the Holy Family”; l entrust their daily activity to the protection of St. Jo- seph; l invoke the intercession of St. Joseph so that those seek- ing work can find dignifying work; l celebrate the feast of St. Joseph onMarch 19 with an act of piety in honor of St. Joseph; l celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 with an act of piety or prayer; l pray an approved prayer to St. Joseph on the 19 th of any month; l honor Joseph with an act of piety or approved prayer on a Wednesday, the day traditionally dedicated to St. Joseph; l recite the Litany of St. Joseph for persecuted Christians (Byzantine Catholics have the option of an Akathist to St. Joseph); and l recite any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honor of St. Joseph. In addition, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the gift of the plenary indulgence is also extended to the sick, the elderly, the dying, and all those who, for legiti- mate reasons, are unable to leave their homes. They can obtain the plenary indulgences if they are detached from any sin and have the intention as soon as possible of go- ing to Confession, receiving Holy Communion, and per- forming an act of piety in honor of St. Joseph, offering to God the pains and hardships of their lives. Patris corde (With a Father’s Heart) H ere’s a summary of key points from the apostolic letter from Pope Francis that accompanied his declaration of a Year of St. Joseph: One hundred fifty years after Blessed Pius IX proclaimed St. Joseph “Patron of the Universal Church,” Pope Fran- cis shared some personal reflections on the earthly father of Christ and the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “My desire to do so increased during these months of the pandemic, when we experienced, amid the crisis, how ‘our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked,’” Pope Francis said. Though the Gospels don’t say much about St. Joseph, they say enough to help us appreciate the sort of father he was. The Gospels tell us that Joseph was only a lowly carpenter, that he was troubled at first by Mary’s mysteri- ous pregnancy. It also says that he was obedient to the voice of God revealed through his dreams. Despite his limitations, by accepting his role as the spouse of Mary and as Christ’s father on earth, St. Joseph placed himself, as St. John Chrysostom put it, “at the service of the entire plan of salvation.” “All too often, we think that God works only through our better parts, yet most of his plans are realized in and despite our frailty,” Pope Francis said. On account of St. Joseph’s outstanding virtue, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magis- terium than St. Joseph. He’s been declared the Patron of the Universal Church, Patron of Workers, Guardian of the Redeemer, and Patron of a Happy Death. As the earthly father of Christ, Joseph taught Jesus to do the will of the Father in Heaven. Pope St. John Paul II said, “Saint Joseph was called by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus directly through the exercise of his father- hood … he cooperated in the fullness of time in the great mystery of salvation and is truly a minister of salvation.” After Joseph “dismissed Mary quietly,” (Mt 1:19) the Lord spoke to him in a dream, telling him not to be afraid to take Mary as his spouse, and Joseph obeyed. Often things happen in our lives that we do not understand. We may have the temptation to rebel. Pope Francis said, “Joseph set aside his own ideas in order to accept the course of events and, mysterious as they seemed, to embrace them, take responsibility for them and make them part of his own history.” Those weren’t the end of St. Joseph’s challenges. He arrived with his family at Bethlehem with no place to stay. Then he found out that King Herod was intending to kill Christ, so Joseph had to flee with his family to Egypt. “The Holy Family had to face concrete problems like every other family, like so many of our migrant brothers and sisters who, today too, risk their lives to escape misfortune and hunger,” Pope Francis said. Joseph protected Mary and Jesus amidst their poverty and need. “Consequently, every poor, needy, suffering or dying person, every stranger, every prisoner, every infirm person is ‘the child’ whom Joseph continues to protect,” Pope Francis said.