ST. JOSEPH,"model of sanctification of daily life...to have common, simple and human virtues...that are true and authentic." Pope St. JP 11
Thank you to Fr. Calloway and Pope Francis for encouraging this Year of St. Joseph, and devotion to the man God chosen by God for a holy mission. Besides the Litany to St. Joseph and the Novena to St. Joseph, and the devotion of many, including St. Teresa of Jesus, I was inspired by this following poem by St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who encourages relying on St. Joseph in darkened times, as we experience today on all sorts of levels. May it be music to your heart, as it was to mine...
Stanza 1:
Dark and heavy, the heavens loom o'er us. Is night to be eternal, and light ne'er ours again?
Has our Father above turned 'way from us? As by a nightmare's throttling, Our hearts are choked from need, Is there no savior, near or far, who knows to help?
Behold, triumphantly, a beam bursts through the clouds. With friendly gleam, a tiny star peers down,
Benevolent and mild like any father's eye.
And so I take all that affrights us; Raise, and lay it into those steadfast hands.
Receive it all--Saint Joseph, care!
Stanza 11:
Furious the storms that rage across the lands. Oaks whose deep roots sank into earth's own heart,
Whose crowns soared proudly up to heav'n, Lie now uprooted, rest asunder.
Horror, despoilment, round about. Does not the storm shake faith's foundations?
And will her sacred pillars break? Weak are our arms--who's to support them?
Pleading, we raise our hands to you: You are like Abraham, faith's own father,
Stalwart in child's simplicity, and capable of wonders, In power of obedience, and of pure intent,
Protector of new Cov'nant's holy temple, Keep it safe--
Saint Joseph, care!
Stanza 111:
When we must journey into foreign lands, And door to door, our shelter seek,
Walk then before us as our trusty guide.
You who companioned, once , the Virgin purest, You the Child-God's trustworthy, caring Father,
Bethl'em and Nazareth, Egypt, as well, shall be
A home for us, if you but tarry, too. For where you are, there Heaven's blessing rests.
Childlike we pace our steps by yours, Cling to your hands in perfect trust:
Be you, yourself, our home:
Saint Joseph, care!
(text by Fr. John Sullivan, O.C.D.; this translation by Sr. Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D.)