Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confessor
by VP
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026 at 03:00AM in Saints
St. Joseph, (Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, Washington, NC)
"On the festival of this saint, let virgins pray for the divine protection against all temptations and snares. Let all married persons pray for conjugal chastity; let all parents pray for grace, for the faithful discharge of all duties towards their children. Let all who have the care of families pray that they may not be wanting in any part of their charge, that discipline may be preserved by their care, and virtue encouraged by their good example.
St. Joseph was chosen by Almighty God to be the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and under the reputation of father, to have the care of the Son of God made man; to protect him in his infancy, and secure both Mother and Son against the cruel designs of Herod. It was he, whose great virtues were rewarded, even in this life, by his being made an eye-witness of the virtues of the divine Jesus, in possessing him under his roof for many years; and seeing him, whom kings and prophets had desired to see, but it was not granted them. He was recompensed not only in seeing, but in hearing, in carrying him in his arms, in embracing and feeding him, and being made the depository of those divine secrets which were committed to no other. His life has not been written by men, but by the Holy Ghost himself; who has left his most considerable actions recorded in the gospel. And it will be our happiness on this festival, if we can learn some of those great lessons, which we are taught by his example.
Since the care of Jesus was by the Eternal Wisdom left to an humble tradesman, have not here all of that degree, as also all house-keepers, a great instruction, that sanctity and perfection are not to be thought the exclusive property of ecclesiastics and religious, but that their condition also is capable of these, and that in the new Law they are expected of them? In this they see that the daily toil of a laborious life is no exclusion to Jesus; but that he may dwell in the midst of them, while with the sweat of their brows they are working for bread, and the provision of their families. Nay, since they see him make choice of such an abode, they cannot doubt but in this all their labours are not only approved, but consecrated by him; and that he has declared a laborious life to be a holy life. Let it be only their care to join innocence with their toil, to season it with daily prayer, and sanctify it by a repeated oblation to Almighty God, in the faithful discharge of the duties of the state to which they are called; and they can have no just reason to complain of their unhappy circumstances, but rather rejoice. For they see their life to be a penitential life, even a performing of the penance enjoined by Almighty God himself on the sons of Adam at their exclusion from Paradise.
It cannot be questioned but that such persons stand much fairer for the pardon of their sins, in undergoing the punishment, than those others who, living at their ease, feed on the toil of others, and wholly dispense with themselves as to this part of their penance. Nay, since these may observe that those primitive Christians, who studied the greatest perfection, took in this laborious and penitential part, and since the apostle gloried in it, they cannot apprehend their most painful labours and daily employments to be a hindrance to salvation, but rather one part of a Christian life, and very proper for gaining a happy eternity. It is with such that the divine Jesus delights to dwell. And if he be not always with them, they may be assured that it is not their labours that drive him thence, but either their love of idleness in neglecting these, or because not content to depend on their industry and pains, they make use of lies, frauds, and injustices, whereby to overreach their neighbour, and enrich themselves by wronging him. Were it not for these unwarrantable methods, no state might be more favoured by heaven than that of labouring Christians. If they would but renounce these practices, be faithful in their callings, observe their times of prayer and spiritual duties, they might be so many families of saints, and have Jesus their companion here, and reward hereafter." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
To St. Joseph for a Particular Priest
Saint Joseph, I present to you this day
Father [name], priest of Jesus Christ, and beg you to be to him advocate
and defender, counselor and friend. Open your heart to him as you
opened your home to the Virgin Mother in her hour of need. Protect his
holy priesthood as you protected the life of the Infant Christ
threatened by cruel Herod. In darkness bring him light; in weakness,
strength, and in fear the peace that passes understanding.
For
the sake of the tender love that bound you to the Virgin Mary and the
Infant Christ, be for him, Saint Joseph, a constant intercessor and a
shield against every danger of body, mind, and soul so that, in spite of
his weaknesses and sins, his priesthood may bring glory to Christ and
serve to increase the beauty of holiness in his bride the Church. Amen
Day 30. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Catechism on the Holy Priesthood
by VP
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026 at 02:00AM in Lenten Sermons
"My children, we have come to the Sacrament of Orders. It is a Sacrament which seems to relate to no one among you, and which yet relates to everyone. This Sacrament raises man up to God.
What is a priest! A man who holds the place of God - a man who is invested with all the powers of God. "Go, " said Our Lord to the priest; "as My Father sent Me, I send you. All power has been given Me in Heaven and on earth. Go then, teach all nations. . . . He who listens to you, listens to Me; he who despises you despises Me. " When the priest remits sins, he does not say, "God pardons you"; he says, "I absolve you. " At the Consecration, he does not say, "This is the Body of Our Lord;" he says, "This is My Body. "St. Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest; yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts.
If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest - always the priest. And if that soul comes to the point of death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmness and peace? Again the priest. You cannot recall one single blessing from God without finding, side by side with this recollection, the image of the priest.
Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. The Holy Virgin cannot make her Divine Son descend into the Host. You might have two hundred angels there, but they could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he may be, can do it; he can say to you, "Go in peace; I pardon you. " Oh, how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love.
The other benefits of God would be of no avail to us without the priest. What would be the use of a house full of gold, if you had nobody to open you the door! The priest has the key of the heavenly treasures; it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the distributor of His wealth. Without the priest, the Death and Passion of Our Lord would be of no avail. Look at the heathens: what has it availed them that Our Lord has died? Alas! they can have no share in the blessings of Redemption, while they have no priests to apply His Blood to their souls!
The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts. If the missionary Father and I were to go away, you would say, "What can we do in this church? there is no Mass; Our Lord is no longer there: we may as well pray at home. " When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion.
When the bell calls you to church, if you were asked, "Where are you going?" you might answer, "I am going to feed my soul. " If someone were to ask you, pointing to the tabernacle, "What is that golden door?" "That is our storehouse, where the true Food of our souls is kept. " "Who has the key? Who lays in the provisions? Who makes ready the feast, and who serves the table?" "The priest. " "And what is the Food?" "The precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. " O God! O God! how Thou hast loved us! See the power of the priest; out of a piece of bread the word of a priest makes a God. It is more than creating the world. . . . Someone said, "Does St. Philomena, then, obey the Curé of Ars?" Indeed, she may well obey him, since God obeys him.
If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. The latter is the friend of God; but the priest holds His place. St. Teresa kissed the ground where a priest had passed. When you see a priest, you should say, "There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul. " At the sight of a church tower, you may say, "What is there in that place?" "The Body of Our Lord. " "Why is He there?" "Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass. "
What joy did the Apostles feel after the Resurrection of Our Lord, at seeing the Master whom they had loved so much!
The priest must feel the same joy, at seeing Our Lord whom he holds in his hands. Great value is attached to objects which have been laid in the drinking cup of the Blessed Virgin and of the Child Jesus, at Loretto. But the fingers of the priest, that have touched the adorable Flesh of Jesus Christ, that have been plunged into the chalice which contained His Blood, into the pyx where His Body has lain, are they not still more precious? The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.
When you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Source: The Blessed Curé of Ars in His Catechetical Instructions, 1951
Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG#7 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind
by VP
Posted on Thursday March 19, 2026 at 01:00AM in Thursday Reparation
7. We adore Thee, O source and origin of all sanctity and innocence! And to repair the abominations committed by wicked priests, who consecrate and receive Thee in the state of mortal sin, we offer up to Thee the profound adoration and holiness of the Powers. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.
O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine
Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of
the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf
and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by
rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of
performing. Amen
