St. Joseph's Love for Jesus, his God and Saviour

                   MARCH 8

             

          EIGHTH 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 Jesus, his God and Saviour

And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Matthew 1:16     

Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. . . She shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins." – Matthew 1: 20

Reflect on the boundless love of St, Joseph for Jesus, his God, his Saviour, and the Redeemer of the world. This supreme love began the very moment our great Saint learned, from divine revelation, and from Mary's own lips, the profound Mystery of the Incarnation, and increased at every moment for the long space of thirty years. The nearer we approach the fire, the greater the heat; the closer we move to the sun the more intense the rays. What thermometer could measure the degrees of the heat, the intensity of the rays of divine love that consumed the soul of St. Joseph, who so long lived in the very presence of the Eternal Sun of Charity?

     If, writes St. Francis of Sales, by being exposed for a few days only to the heat of the material sun, the lily acquires its dazzling whiteness, who can conceive the extraordinary degree of charity to which St. Joseph was exalted, exposed as he was day and night for so many years to the rays of the Sun of Justice, and to that mystical Moon which derives her splendour from Him.

     If the beloved Disciple became inflamed with the most ardent love for Jesus because for a few moments he was permitted to incline his head on the bosom of his Saviour what Angel's plummet could fathom the depths of the divine love of St. Joseph, who so often looked into the countenance of Jesus and saw divine intelligence beaming in His sacred eyes, who so often pressed to his bosom the Infant Jesus, and felt the very pulsations of His Sacred Heart; who so often took into his arms the Infant Jesus and lulled Him to sleep on his bosom. Contemplate the Infant Jesus asleep, pillowed on the bosom of His holy Mother, and St. Joseph on his knees kissing and adoring His sacred feet. Every now and again the eyes of the sleeping Babe open and cast a look of love on our Saint. These looks of love must have enraptured and in undated with celestial joys the heart and soul of St. Joseph. A celebrated writer says: — "The light of the Divine Child's eyes, the sound of His voice, the play of His fingers, caused St. Joseph a constant ecstasy of joy."

       PRACTICAL RESOLUTION

Without grace we cannot approach Jesus, be faithful to Jesus, or love Jesus. Without grace we cannot see nor obey the secret inspirations of heaven to love Jesus. Without holy grace we cannot draw near, like St. Joseph, to the burning furnace of divine love, the throbbing and Sacred Heart of Jesus. The grace of God is obtained by prayer. I resolve hence frequently on bended knees, to beg most humbly the grace to love Jesus, and for an increase and an intensity of the love of Jesus. Secondly, I resolve every day, and especially after Holy Communion, to offer to Jesus, and to beg of Jesus to accept it for me, the love of Mary and Joseph.

                  PRAYERS

Thanksgiving to the most Adorable Trinity for the Privileges granted to St. Joseph.

I adore Thee, I love Thee, and with all my heart I thank Thee, O Eternal Father, for having chosen St. Joseph to be the spouse of the most holy Mary. I adore Thee, I love Thee, and with all my heart I thank Thee, O Eternal Son, for having chosen St. Joseph to be Thy foster-father.

     "I adore Thee, I love Thee, and with all my heart I thank Thee, O Eternal Holy Spirit, for having chosen St. Joseph to be the guardian of Jesus and Mary."

     O Jesus! grant me the grace to love Thee, to live for Thee, and to die for Thee. O Jesus! be ever the sole object of my love, and the solo subject of my thoughts. O Jesus! light up in my heart and soul the burning fire of Thy divine love. O Jesus! take now and forever my heart with its affections, my soul with its faculties, my body with its senses. O Jesus! I wish at every moment of my life to offer Thee the love of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph.

A Prayer to St. Joseph to obtain love for Jesus

St. Joseph! who first after Mary adored the Infant Jesus, obtain for me love for Jesus. St. Joseph! who protected the Divine Babe, beg of Jesus to grant me His love. St. Joseph! whose hands were privileged to supply the wants and comforts of Jesus, obtain for me the grace to work and to live only for the love of Jesus.

                Practice

Have the habit of frequently offering to Jesus for yourself the love of Mary and Joseph.

               Aspiration

My Jesus, my God, my Saviour, and my all, I love Thee with my whole heart and above all things for Thy own sake.