NOVENA TO ST. JOSEPH
FIFTH DAY
St. Joseph, Model of
Justice
"Joseph, her
spouse, was a just man." -St. Matthew 1:19
1. He was a model of the justice one owes to God. He
obeyed His commandments and inspirations in everything. His will tended
continually to the perfect accomplishment of the Divine will.
2. He was a model of the justice we owe our neighbor
in our thoughts, words, and actions.
Seeing the pregnancy of the Blessed Virgin, and not
knowing the mystery, he judged as favourably as he could. Accordingly, not the
least complaint escaped him against Herod, who sought the life of the Divine
Infant.
3. He was a model of the justice we owe to ourselves.
He never flattered his senses in anything. He knew no other interest than that
of perfectly imitating the Incarnate God. We may then consider him as the first
disciple of Jesus Christ also as the first Christian.
Virtues to imitate
in St. Joseph
1. The exact observation of the law of God, and a
perfect docility to His inspirations.
2. The love of the neighbor, and the desire of
assisting him in everything.
3. Imitation of Jesus Christ, our model, in His
mortified and laborious life.
Prayer
I rejoice with thee, my glorious protector, at the
sight of thy indefatigable ardour to advance in the path of perfection. Thou
hast been just towards God in devoting thyself, with all thy mind, with all thy
heart, and with all thy strength, to the accomplishment of His holy will. Thou
wert just towards thy neighbor in loving all creatures in God, and God in all creatures;
thou wert just towards thyself, in desiring only those advantages which
concerned thy greatest perfection, and the exact imitation of the virtues of
humility, obedience, poverty, mortification, and charity, which thou didst see
practised by Jesus and Mary. I beseech thee, Joseph, thrice just, to teach me
to accomplish justice in every point; but I conjure thee, especially, by the
plenitude of thy virtues, and by thy immense credit with God, obtain for me the
grace of commencing to become a perfect Christian; that is to say, a true
imitator of God in His poverty, in His humility, in His patience. I acknowledge
I have been but little so till now, but I propose to be more so in future, by
thy assistance and that of thy holy spouse. Amen.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us Pray
Grant, we beseech Thee, Lord, that we may be assisted
by the merits of the spouse of Thy most holy Virgin Mother, and that what we
cannot obtain through our own weakness, may be granted to us by his prayers. Who
liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Devotions during
the Day
1. To expiate your injustice towards God, you will
make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and ask pardon humbly of Jesus Christ
for your sins, which have been so many acts of injustice against His divine
will.
2. To expiate your injustice towards your neighbor,
you will commence today to do him good by thought, in esteeming him better
than yourself; by word, in treating him with fraternal meekness; by works, in
assisting him in his spiritual and corporal necessities.
3. To expiate the injustice committed towards
yourself, when you have flattered your senses at the expense of your soul, you
will impose upon yourself some abstinence of your own choice.
Sentences
relative to St. Joseph
Joseph was just in his words and actions, just in the
accomplishment of the law, and according to the measure of grace. -
Origen, Hom. I.
The only desire of Joseph was to accomplish the will
of God. - St. Brig. Rev., B. VI.
In his old age he observed inviolably all the law. He
was so dead to the world and to the flesh, that he sighed only after heavenly
things. - St. Brig. Rev., B. VI.
He lived content in poverty. - St.
Bonaventure Life of Christ
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