Buona Festa di San Giuseppe! (Because even Francophiles are Italian today!)

Holy Card from my dear Aunt Mary to my dad, her "Petit Frere Henri," 1944, Tripoli, Lebanon

Prayer from the Missionaries of Charity . . . 

We here at Miss Marcel's Musings join the angels and saints in wishing you the Happiest St. Joseph day ever! We are asking Heaven for lots of miracles today! Do you need one? You are included in our novena, so count on it! We're not only petitioning good St. Joseph, but we're importuning St. Brother Andre of Montreal, Aunt Mary of Lebanon and Venezuela, Henri of Lebanon, Venezuela, Canada, and California, and so many more of our cloud of witnesses who are up close and personal with St. Joseph and little Jesus - May they all conspire with us to press St. Joseph into pressing Adorable Jesus to grant every one of those miracles we so need and desire!

Last night I spent a lot of time in the wee hours searching for the miracle of St. Joseph's friendship with Our Lady. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I had an inkling, and when I found it, I breathed a sigh of relief and soon could go back to sleep. Here it is, for your spiritual delectation. For your bodily delectation, we recommend a cannoli, biscotti, tiramisu, or even (in the spirit of international friendship) St. Therese's favorite, an eclair! Maybe it's a glass of wine that floats your boat, or a cup of tea...Whatever it is, do celebrate this Solemnity with a feast for the body and the soul, because St. Joseph is wonderful! And, we might add, Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!

What I found for us all for spiritual delight:

From "Divine Favors Granted to Saint Joseph by Pere Binet (God bless him), published as a booklet by TAN years ago, and also available on Kindle (Thank You, Jesus)!

St Joseph, guardian angel of Mary

Secondly, Joseph was chosen from all eternity to be the visible guardian angel of the virginity of Our Lady. Must not, then, his soul have been armed with every virtue, and fortified by every assistance necessary for such a noble and admirable office? Consider what manner of man Joseph is! The angels and Saints are only the servants of the glorious Virgin, while he is her guardian angel and her spouse. This title is far beyond the comprehension of our feeble intelligence; for, husband and wife being of one heart and one soul, what must be the sovereign dignity of a man who, so to speak, is one with the most holy Mother of the living God!

St. Bernardine of Siena has boldly grasped this thought. He says that as the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph consisted in the union of their wills, the friendship of their hearts, and the love of their souls increased to such a degree that there never were two hearts more completely identified, two souls more dissolved into one, and he adds that the Holy Ghost would never have formed this union without rendering the husband perfectly similar to the wife. It was beseeming that the likeness of these two suns should be so striking that it would be difficult to distinguish one from the other. On one hand, the holiness of Our Lady outshines the holiness of all creatures; on the other hand, the holiness of Joseph is entirely like the holiness of Mary. 

. . . Were we to question the most Holy Virgin about the graces of her spouse, she would, no doubt, reply in words borrowed from the Canticle: 'My beloved spouse is white as snow by his virginal purity, red as scarlet by his modesty; chosen out of thousands. His head is as the finest gold; his eyes as doves upon brooks of waters which are washed with milk and set beside the plentiful streams; his hands shine like gold, full of the precious stones of all good works; his voice is full of sweetness; all the graces of nature are united in his face; he is beloved of heaven and earth.'

Aaah, Amen!
Praise God Who is so good, so infinitely good, that He became man and was born of the Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, and deigned to let the world see His father as St. Joseph, representative of the Heavenly Father Who sent Him to save us!

Draw me; we will run!