St. Joseph's Love for the Child Jesus

The Expectant Madonna with St Joseph by Unknown Master, French  (1425-1450)

                    MARCH 5

             FIFTH MEDITATION

   Invocation of the Holy Ghost

Come, O Holy Ghost, replenish the hearts of thy servants, and enkindle in them the fire of Thy divine love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and our hearts shall be regenerated.

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us Pray

O God, who by the illumination of the Holy Ghost, didst instruct the hearts of the faithful; grant that by the same Divine Spirit we may have a right understanding in all things, and evermore rejoice in His holy consolations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

     Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Joseph's Love for the Child Jesus

Joseph, son of David, said the angel, “fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for He shall save his people from their sins."

The Almighty thus sent an Angel to give solemn, authentic information to St. Joseph of the Incarnation of the Son of God. We are of opinion that long before, St. Joseph heard this secret from the lips of the Blessed Virgin herself; for it is hard to believe that Mary would have kept concealed the knowledge of this sublime mystery and honour from Joseph, her chaste, loving, and tender spouse. After the Blessed Virgin St. Joseph was the first to adore and love the Incarnate Son of God. This love for Jesus became intensified day after day, hour after hour. The nearer we approach the fire the greater the heat, but what thermometer could measure the intensity of the heat of divine love that burned in the soul of St. Joseph, who for so many years lived in the presence of the burning furnace of Uncreated Love, Jesus Christ Himself.

Practical Resolution

The presence of God is Paradise

Jesus is God. And hence the presence of Jesus converted the "Holy House" at Nazareth into a Paradise. In the Blessed Sacrament Jesus is really and truly present; the light of His love shines from the altar; the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the tabernacle, a glowing furnace of burning love, sheds heat and light and lustre upon the Christian world. Before Jesus in the tabernacle the holy soul finds her Paradise on dull earth! "How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord." A holy soul when asked how she could spend so many hours before the Blessed Sacrament, replied that she could stay there for all eternity! Because before the Blessed Sacrament she was kneeling in the presence of her God, her Saviour, her Jesus, her love, her all. I resolve to pay every day of my life a reverent visit of love to Jesus in the tabernacle. If I cannot go to the church or oratory, where the Most Adorable Sacrament is preserved and adored, I resolve to kneel down in my room and turn to the nearest tabernacle where Jesus is, and there pay the very same visit, and say the very same prayers as if I were really present before the Most Adorable Sacrament. O Blessed Saviour, help me to, keep my resolution. Holy Virgin and St. Joseph, pray for me.

Prayer

O my loving Jesus! grant me burning love for the Holy Mass, for Holy Communion, and for Thyself, living and reigning in the Most Adorable Sacrament of the altar. May the purest delights of my life be to adore and pay Thee supreme homage, coming down from heaven at the consecration; to receive Thee at the Communion rails with a heart on fire with divine love, and to visit Thee in the tabernacle where Thy Sacred Heart is ever shedding rays of burning love upon the cold, ungrateful hearts of men. When in pain may I run to Jesus in the tabernacle for relief; when in sorrow may I run to Jesus in the tabernacle for consolation; when tempted may I run to Jesus in the tabernacle for help; when in sin may I run to Jesus in the tabernacle for pardon; and when in peace may I run to Jesus in the tabernacle for perseverance.

Prayer to St. Joseph

O great St. Joseph! obtain for me the grace to love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, as thou didst love Jesus in His divine infancy.

Ite ad Joseph! Sancte Joseph ora pro nobis!