Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.
When Mary was chosen to be Mother of God, the old judgment of God was re- echoed: "It is not good for man to be alone." God gave her a chaste spouse. The honor of the Son of God required that He should be born of a virgin, but He needed a man to protect Him and His Mother. A man worthy of this trust had to be chosen, and such a one was found in the person of St. Joseph. He was a man of angelic purity and he would guard the purity of his bride. He was to be the reputed father of Jesus before the Jews, lest Mary be stoned for having broken her marriage vows; his purity was to be in every way similar to that of the purest of virgins. All those who were immediately connected with the great work of our salvation, were to be pure and spotless, their sanctity was to be unquestioned. It was the will of God that the divine origin of His adorable Son should be hid from human eyes, and Joseph was chosen to become the cloak with which this mystery was enshrouded. Only in the secrecy of his family life did he manifest his adoration of the "Word made flesh," and there, as in a sanctuary, he adored his Lord and Saviour.
Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.
Joseph is that wise and provident servant, who was set over his family to distribute to it the necessary food at stated times. He is the visible physical means which God employed for the work of the salvation of mankind. God chooses, it is true, humble instruments to accomplish His holy designs, but at the same time He furnishes them with suitable graces, that His work may be gloriously and effectively performed. Such a servant was chosen by God in the person of St. Joseph, who was a humble and saintly man. To him He gave His graces, for He refuses them to the proud. We too ought to be disinterested and humble in the service of God, using our natural talents to the fullest extent because they belong to God, and have been given to us for the special purpose of performing the duties of our vocation in this world. Disinterestedness and humility are the great sources from which all good proceeds.
Holy St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, etc., etc.
All the saints were filled with the spirit of the Lord, and in consequence they esteemed the virtue of humility as the foundation of perfection. St. Bernard considered this virtue as the corner-stone of the edifice of faith; the perfection of Christian virtues; the tower of safety, into which the soul could retire before the insidious attacks of Satan. And St. Ambrose calls this virtue the first one, and the source of all other virtues--all other virtues must be combined with humility to give them value. To no other virtue does God give so many graces. Just because St. Joseph thought nothing of himself, and lowered himself in the eyes of others, did Jesus select him as His foster-father. This great virtue of humility appears in all the circumstances of his life. Though of the royal house of David, still he did not disdain to labor at the humble trade of a carpenter. He was perfectly resigned to the providence of God; God's will was his will, and he never repined at the trials God sent him.