St Joseph with Infant Christ in his Arms, Guido Reni

[Reposted]

SOME say Christianity has encouraged submissiveness in men — and led to the phenomenon of the weak and emasculated male. This is a familiar theme on men’s rights blogs. A writer on the Internet once told me in the course of conversation that St. Joseph was the perfect example of the emasculated male. Joseph remained in the background of the great drama of the Incarnation. He took a wife who was already pregnant.

On close inspection, this idea does not hold up, not only because Christianity produced great warriors and emperors and the effeminate male has become more common the more Christian social ideals have been rejected, but because of who St. Joseph was. He had authority over God himself. He was the earthly father of the Word Incarnate.

True masculinity depends upon the principle of authority: man’s authority under God and the authority of men over women and children. St. Joseph is a masculine hero because he recognized both sides of this equation. He not only obeyed a supernatural revelation and displayed heroic fortitude and daring by taking a wife under what would otherwise be scandalous circumstances and later fleeing into Egypt with his wife and young child. He guarded over his treasures with meager resources for 33 years. The fact that he remained in the background is typical of masculine strength and virtue throughout the ages. It is not the famous male — the king or the warrior — upon whom the virtues of masculinity as social ideals most depend. It is the ordinary male, summoning the courage to defend and protect.

God in his limitless wisdom left St. Joseph in the background, chaste and silent, awed by the holiness of his mission. God did not make Joseph a swashbuckling knight-like figure for good reason.  Humility is indeed becoming of men.

St. Bernard wrote:

Who and what manner of man this blessed Joseph was, you may gather from the title, with which, although only as a deputy, he deserved to be honored so that he was both called and thought to be the father of God. You may gather it from his very name, which, being interpreted, means Increase. At the same time remember that great man, the former patriarch, who was sold into Egypt; and know that Joseph not only inherited the latter’s name, but attained to his chastity, and equalled his grace and innocence.

On the authority of Joseph:

To St. Joseph [God] confided this two-fold priceless treasure. He established him the head of His family, master over His house, steward over the most precious of His possessions, over Jesus, He gave him the authority of a father over His Son, and over Mary the authority of a husband over his wife.

This authority of Joseph was fully acknowledged, for there never was a son more obedient, nor a wife more submissive. [“Meditation on the Patronage of St. Joseph,” Pierre Chaignon, 1907]

If one believes power only comes from great activity, the hidden life of the saint may seem like nothing. But an entire civilization arose as a result of the mystical retirement and silence of this one family — the family we know as the Holy Family.

He lived in the deepest recollection of spirit, keeping God ever in view. And here we perceive one of the principal obstacles which stands in the path of so many who fain would think that they are seeking the most rapid way to perfection.

The constant turmoil in which they live is not conducive to a holy life. They shrink from that solitude wherein the Holy Ghost would speak to their hearts. They are given to much conversing, and that, where neither duty nor Christian charity demands it, is a great source of tepidity and lukewarmness. It sets a most pernicious example, which in many instances destroys whatever efforts are made for the sanctification of souls. [“The Feast of St. Joseph,” Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876]

Today is the feast day of St. Joseph. Tens of thousands of people over the course of the centuries have attested to the intercessory power of St. Joseph in heaven. Again and again, prayers to the saint have been answered. He is not called “pillar of families” and “terror of demons” for nothing. His power must be judged not only by what he did while alive, but what he has done after his death. And there again, we find a great masculine hero.

We must not imagine that these glorious titles of St. Joseph, to which so marvelous a power was attached, are, so to speak, disregarded, now that he is in heaven. This can not be. The well-grounded sentiment of the Church is, that the foster-father of Jesus Christ possesses in heaven unlimited power of intercession. While some holy and learned doctors have taught that Mary approaches the throne of her Son, not as a suppliant, but as a sovereign, not to ask, but to command, others have said, speaking of St. Joseph, that the prayers of such a husband and father amount to commandments regarding his spouse and his son; that Almighty God, far from depriving him of his glorious privileges, has enhanced them in his life of glory. They have declared that some saints are invoked for particular necessities, as if the power to assist us were divided among them; but that St. Joseph has received universal power to efficaciously aid us in all our wants of body and soul; that as the Son of God never refused him anything while living under his dependence, now that He is sitting at the right hand of His Father, He, a fortiori, grants him all that he asks.

On this ground, the Catholic Church invites us to have recourse to St. Joseph with the same confidence the Egyptians showed to the first Joseph, to whom they said: “Our life is in thy hand; only, let my Lord look favorably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.” (Gen. xlvii.) [Chaignon, ibid.]

Consider honoring St. Joseph today. Consider praying to him. Lean on his fatherly intercessions. A beta male could never have such supernatural power and love.

Dearest St. Joseph, intercede for us.

[See a reader’s response here.]

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The Litany of Saint Joseph 

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us .
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious son of David, (pray for us)
Light of the patriarchs, (pray for us)
Spouse of the Mother of God, (pray for us)
Chaste guardian of the Virgin, (pray for us)
Foster-father of the Son of God, (pray for us)
Watchful defender of Christ, (pray for us)
Head of the Holy Family, (pray for us)
Joseph most just, (pray for us)
Joseph most chaste, (pray for us)
Joseph most prudent, (pray for us)
Joseph most valiant, (pray for us)
Joseph most obedient, (pray for us)
Joseph most faithful, (pray for us)
Mirror of patience, (pray for us)
Lover of poverty, (pray for us)
Model of workmen, (pray for us) 
Glory of domestic life, (pray for us)
Guardian of virgins, (pray for us)
Pillar of families, (pray for us)
Solace of the afflicted, (pray for us)
Hope of the sick, (pray for us)
Patron of the dying, (pray for us)
Terror of demons, (pray for us)
Protector of Holy Church, (pray for us)

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. He made him the lord of His household,
R. And prince over all His possessions.

Let Us Pray.

O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence didst choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most Holy Mother, grant that as we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to have him as our intercessor in Heaven, Thou Who livest and reignest forever and ever. R. Amen.

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