Blessed Octave of St. Joseph to you too!!!

Just when it feels like St. Joseph's Day has sped by and left us for at least another month and a half, a Carmelite friar of my acquaintance sends me a marvelous first-thing-in-the-morning text wishing a Blessed Octave of St. Joseph!!!

Those 3 exclamation points are his, which means he's a true son of our holy mother Teresa and a true little brother of St. Therese. I haven't mentioned it lately, but when I first went to the Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux (and yes, I owe a lifetime and an eternity of gratitude for being able to say "when I first went" because this last Christmas was a second trip there!!!), I fell in love with the Crypt. I know, it's a strange thing to say. Who falls in love with a Crypt? Apparently I do, because I did, and one of the many reasons why was that behind the main altar there is a mosaic of angels with buckets of roses and a statue of St. Therese in front of them with her arms upraised to toss those heavenly roses on us . . . and above this mosaic are (in mosaic tile too - the most beautiful Byzantine-Vegas sparkly pastel tiles) our Sister's last words (in French, but we'll translate), "Oh I love Him + My God, I love You!!!"

Yes, these 3 exclamation points are hers - and how could one not LOVE that? You see, when a person speaks aloud, it is unusual to know how many exclamation points are being used - unless the person is herself unusual and her translators (in this case her sisters Pauline/Mother Agnes and Celine/Sister Genevieve) very astute. She was and they were, and hence, the 3 exclamation points.

But I feel myself drifting away from the main joy of this post which is our patron, our benefactor, our dearest earthly Father (like Jesus') - good St. Joseph!

I wasn't able to post for St. Joseph's Day yesterday, and along comes today with my early text from The Friar, and viola, it is never too late! Here we are only beginning the Octave, and if anyone ever needed an octave it is us! I was going to say it's St. Joseph (who needs an octave) because he has so much to give us, and to his sweet and mild disappointment we never ask him enough - you can see what a reflection of our Heavenly Father he is in this way - but in fact, this means we're the ones who need the octave so we can have more time to reflect on his goodness, his kindness, his paternal care for us and the whole Church and the whole world - and then, bolstered in our confidence, we need this octave to ask him for much more!!!

There are 3 things, in honor of our 3 exclamation points, that I want to do here today.

First, I want to give you the words of holy mother St. Teresa on St. Joseph. She praised and promoted him so well that she launched a movement still going strong and recently renewed by the spectacularly lowly wonder-worker (though just a kind of laser pointer to St. Joseph who obtained the miracles) St. Andre Bessette, and much more recently by the spate of St. Joseph consecrations following Fr. Calloway's thorough and thoroughly charming book on Consecration to St. Joseph.

Second, I want to tell you about this year's novena prayer and the miracles we're seeing already.

And third, I can't help but re-post my St. Joseph day blog from 2022 because not only did it start with the gorgeous Murillo atop today's offering (showing St. Joseph and little Jesus in a veritable photograph!!!), but it also came on the heels of the Year of St. Joseph which contained such eternal blessings for my family that I love to re-visit them and share them to help your hope. We all have our miracles to share, and I'm so happy I have this place in which to share them. 

Oh, and who can resist another photo of the Saints? We'll conclude with our usual favorite little prayers and then a pic of St. Joseph with St. Therese and their True Loves, our Blessed Mother and adorable little Jesus . . .

First then, in Chapter 6 of the Book of Her Life, we find the great Doctor and Mother, St. Teresa of Jesus, writing in the 1500's these words which practically say it all (though it turns out there is always more to say, because who can glorify God in Himself, in His angels and in His saints, and then simply be done with it?). This is not my usual preferred ICS (Institute of Carmelite Studies) version of her words, but I live in a two-story house and my fave translation is upstairs near the sleeping husband, while I am downstairs with my friends the google elves, so here we are . . .

Without further ado, St. Teresa of Jesus of Avila, from the Book of Her LIfe, Chapter 6:

*     *     *

I took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw clearly that both out of this my present trouble, and out of others of greater importance, relating to my honour and the loss of my soul, this my father and lord delivered me, and rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favours which God hath given me through this blessed Saint; the dangers from which he hath delivered me, both of body and of soul. To other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succour men in some special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, to help us in all: and our Lord would have us understand that as He was Himself subject to him upon earth—for St. Joseph having the title of father, and being His guardian, could command Him—so now in heaven He performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to St. Joseph, and they too know this by experience; and there are many who are now of late devout to him, having had experience of this truth.

I used to keep his feast with all the solemnity I could . . . 

Would that I could persuade all men to be devout to this glorious Saint; for I know by long experience what blessings he can obtain for us from God. I have never known any one who was really devout to him, and who honoured him by particular services, who did not visibly grow more and more in virtue; for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him. It is now some years since I have always on his feast asked him for something, and I always have it. If the petition be in any way amiss, he directs it aright for my greater good.

If I were a person who had authority to write, it would be a pleasure to me to be diffusive in speaking most minutely of the graces which this glorious Saint has obtained for me and for others. But that I may not go beyond the commandment that is laid upon me, I must in many things be more brief than I could wish, and more diffusive than is necessary in others; for, in short, I am a person who, in all that is good, has but little discretion. But I ask, for the love of God, that he who does not believe me will make the trial for himself—when he will see by experience the great good that results from commending oneself to this glorious patriarch, and being devout to him. Those who give themselves to prayer should in a special manner have always a devotion to St. Joseph; for I know not how any man can think of the Queen of the angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Infant Jesus, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for the services he rendered them then. He who cannot find any one to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious Saint for his master, and he will not wander out of the way.

May it please our Lord that I have not done amiss in venturing to speak about St. Joseph; for, though I publicly profess my devotion to him, I have always failed in my service to him and imitation of him. He was like himself when he made me able to rise and walk, no longer a paralytic; and I, too, am like myself when I make so bad a use of this grace.

+   +    +

My husband always advises students to comment after they use a block quote in a paper. Well, we're not on paper, and if I don't hurry, said sleeping husband (now awake upstairs from the sound of feet above my head) will be ready for breakfast before this post is half baked!

Thus we move on to my second (and brief) foray into St. Joseph's glories.
Suffice it to say that this year we had 3 main intentions for our father and patron, following St. Teresa's encouraging words:

It is now some years since I have always on his feast asked him for something, and I always have it. If the petition be in any way amiss, he directs it aright for my greater good.

We said our usual novena prayer (which you'll find below along with my reasons for loving it) and this time my husband was all in. Often I say novenas without him because I have all of you to join me, but this time, as I say, he was right there with me - quite comically, come to think of it, because we've both had laryngitis this week, but luckily in turns. So I think at the start we may have said the novena aloud together, but then as the 9 days progressed, I had to take over the "aloud" portion, and then he did! There are all kinds of unexpected benefits of novenas, and one of them is that so much can happen over nine days (or nine months, or nine minutes, depending on how you like to time your novenas).

Well! Now we get to the very fun part!

Yesterday on St. Joseph's Feast and the day before, on his Vigil, we realized that 2 out of our 3 main intentions had been answered - or at least he had begun to make things right as rain! (A sore subject around here actually, so let me try that again!) That is, good St. Joseph had given us the most marvelous signs and indications that he was truly obtaining for us from little Jesus these tremendous particular miracles for which we've been beseeching him lately. Hooray! I may have more glorious details as these miracles develop - you can see they won't be the instantaneous kind of cures we could submit to Rome, but oh, as you know from your own experience, there are miracles less visible and less instant which take your breath away just as effectively once your angel has knocked you on the head to make you see what's happened.

Speaking of which, let's move on to that old post from 2022. In it I recount two of the greatest graces of our lives (my dear husband's and mine) - the blessed deaths, or rather entrances into eternal life, of our dads, Henry and Paul (in that order, God rest their souls), which, considering we're all "terminal," took 86 years and 85 years, respectively.

So here goes, and then at the end you'll find our second photo for today, this one a great snapshot of our dear St. Joseph in glory, in the company of his family and our sister.

*  *  *
​
March 19, 2022

Are you ready for the feast of St. Joseph? 

You may have been praying away, preparing by a traditional novena, or you may have made it a little novena, forgetting some days, or you may be saying "oops!" right now. That last especially would make you ready to dive into our novena, but you're more than welcome to pray it in addition to yours even if you've been very together! Here at MIss Marcel's Musings, we like to end novenas on the actual feast day, and we LOVE St. Joseph. Consequently we've been praying to him for days and days and it's unlikely we'll stop after today  - and all your intentions are included! We find it easy as pie because God our Heavenly Father wants to give us so many things, and He loves to give them through the request of dear St. Joseph who was His stand-in on earth.

So come on down! Let's importune St. Joseph and get those graces showering upon all our near and dear ones, all who have commended themselves to our prayers, all who are in need of our prayers (whether we're aware of their needs or not) and all for whom we've promised to pray. Whew, that's quite a list! Good thing our guardian angels are with us to keep track - we don't need to name every name (in fact we couldn't, come to think of it), but just trust. And as always, we can fortify our small supply of trust by drawing on the HUGE confidence of our sister St. Therese. Now that she sees Our Lord face to Face, she has no need of her trust and is happy to give it to us!

I'm not aware of our dear Marcel Van having written on St. Joseph, but I do love what Jesus told him in Conversations about the Heavenly Father's love for us, and I'm certain these words apply to good St. Joseph in his capacity as our father too. Jesus said:

"Come, come, little brother, the goodness of your true Father is without measure, as I have told you many times already. Even if, in His Love, He indulged you in everything, filling all your desires, He would never find it enough for His Love; He would only be afraid that you might not have the strength to receive all His treats." (492)

St. Joseph must have felt exactly this way regarding the Treasures the Heavenly Father confided into his care: Jesus, and Mary, his spouse, when they lived on earth, and the whole universal Church now. I'm sure St. Joseph wants to indulge us just as he would have wanted to indulge Mary and little Jesus in everything! And I've been thinking about how Mary and Jesus must have felt about him too. I imagine that St. Joseph was such a tremendous comfort to Our Lady and Jesus. He was both strong and gentle, prudent and loving, faithful, devoted, always near and ever ready to help in any task that arose in their little household. And when trials came - the first intimations of the cross in the flight to Egypt, their exile, and later the three day loss of the boy Jesus when He remained in the temple - St. Joseph was no doubt a refuge for Our Lady and a reminder of the faithfulness of the Father who would never abandon them.

I have a favorite St. Joseph novena prayer that I've been saying a lot recently, and you'll be glad to hear it works! In his kindness and knowing my timorous heart, St. Joseph answered one of my lead-off petitions before I finished the novena, and I'm so grateful. What a way to show us that our confidence is well placed! He would never neglect us, his children, and he is even now working out the answers to as many needs as we present to him.

One reason I love this particular prayer - okay, besides that it has been the means of obtaining many favors and graces over the years - is that it's replete with hope and childlike dependence, plus a lot of great reminders about how reliable St. Joseph is, how responsive, how quick to hear and answer.

Full disclosure: Some of my petitions have been trotted out again and again, and I know that doesn't sound like "quick to hear and answer" on St. Joseph's part. Rest assured that many others were answered by him pronto, and I know he would take care of every intention that way except that he wants to be as obedient to God as God always was to him! Are some of your petitions like some of mine, and you find yourself commending to him the same needs that have been with you for more than one or two of his feasts? I suspect I'm not alone in this, but I have a story to boost your perseverance.

In the beautiful Year of St. Joseph which unfortunately ended last December (I would have liked a decade of St. Joseph or maybe a century!), I was able to assist my two earthly fathers, that is my dad and my father-in-law, in their passages Home to God. They both were blessed with holy deaths, and for my father-in-law this was particularly marvelous because we had been praying for his return to the sacraments for decades! God knew and waited. St. Joseph heard and persisted in reminding the Father. We just kept praying and trusting and trusting and praying - and voila! Wonderfully, two weeks before he left this life for Eternal Life, my father-in-law cheerfully consented to receive the sacraments and did! The prayers of his parents from long ago, of his wife of 62 years, of his children from their childhoods, of his grandchildren and eventually great grandchildren, these were answered at last in one fell swoop of grace and mercy at the perfect moment God had in mind from all eternity.

Don't worry, then, if some of your prayers are still unanswered. God's timing is always perfect, and He loves that you continue to turn to Him with these persistent requests. And when you go to Him through St. Joseph, you are bringing in one who has great power over God's heart! We have much power over His Heart too, He loves us so much, but with St. Joseph there is that added business of obedience, since the Heavenly Father made St. Joseph the earthly father for Jesus Who was perfect in obedience as in everything else. As Marcel's father in the Redemptorists, St. Alphonsus, explains: "Just as Jesus Christ wanted to be subject to Joseph on earth, so He does everything the saint asks of Him in Heaven."

So what do you say? Shall we pray together? Let's honor St. Joseph with our filial confidence and take refuge in him as our Blessed Mother and little Jesus did. And the bigger your needs, the more challenging your requests, the better! This will give Jesus a chance to thank St. Joseph for the years of tender care he provided, and since God will never be outdone in generosity, He is delighted to have the opportunity to provide the tender care St. Joseph now asks on our behalf. May St. Joseph win the day and obtain God's answer to your petitions as swiftly as he obeyed the angels' messages when he was caring for Our Lord and Our Lady!

Marcel and Therese and I (and St. Andre Bessette) wish you the happiest of feasts. May St. Joseph spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for you an abundance of heavenly graces to more than answer all your deepest desires and petitions. And we pray he throws in a cupcake, or something equally sweet and fun, just to seal the deal!

As for that prayer I can never get enough of, here it is. I gladly pray it again, with you and for you, asking our angels fill in the blanks:

With childlike confidence I present myself before you, O holy Joseph, faithful foster father of Jesus! I beg your compassionate intercession and support in this, my present necessity. . .(and I pray too for all those who have asked my prayers, all those who need my prayers, and all those for whom I have promised to pray).

I firmly believe that you are most powerful near the throne of God, who chose you for the foster father of His well-beloved son, Jesus Christ. O blessed Saint, who saved that treasure of heaven, with His virginal mother, from the fury of His enemies, who with untiring industry supplied His earthly wants and with paternal care accompanied and protected Him in all the journeys of His childhood, take me also, for the love of Jesus, as your child. Assist me in my present difficulty . . .  with your prayers before God. The infinite goodness of Our Savior, who loved and honored you as His father upon earth, cannot refuse you any request now in heaven.

How many pious souls have sought help from you in their needs and have experienced, to their joy, how good, how ready you are to assist. How quickly you turn to those who call upon you with confidence! How powerful you are in bringing help and restoring joy to anxious and dejected hearts! Therefore, do I fly to you, O most worthy father of Jesus, most chaste spouse of Mary! Good St. Joseph, I pray you by the burning love you had for Jesus and Mary upon earth, console me in my distress and present my petitions . . .  through Jesus and Mary, before the throne of God! One word from you will move Him to assist my afflicted soul. Then most joyfully shall I praise Him and you, and most earnest shall be my thanksgiving!
Amen.
​

Little Flower, in this hour, show your power!
Little Jesus, draw me, we will run!