Dear St. Joseph,
As we rest with you in the Lord, confident in His absolute power, goodness, gentleness, and love, look upon us kindly as you so often looked upon Little Jesus, our Brother, and Mary, your Immaculate Spouse and our Mother. Please take our needs and requests . . . into your dreaming heart and present them to your Son, Who was so quick to obey your every word. Help us then, good St. Joseph, to hear the voice of God, to arise peacefully, and to act with joy and love. Amen. Isn't this exciting! We're starting our novena to St. Joseph today, and you remember what that means, don't you? It's a time-and-and-eternity-honored tradition here at Miss Marcel's Musings that our novenas are both little and HUGE! This novena, like all those up to now, is little because we are little, just like our sweet and funny little brother Marcel-Jesus (the name he loved to call himself after his religious profession, knowing they had become one in some mysterious way). But this novena is also HUGE - Ginormous, really!! - because our policy is that ALL those who hear of it and/or see news of it anywhere or/and say the prayer once, more than once, or even participate from start to finish (wow! that is gold medal novena-ing, and we little souls can appreciate the heroism of those who manage it with God's compassionate grace!) - ALL of these people are included, and all their intentions, and the intentions of those they love! And did I mention it doesn't matter when they hear, see, or join the novena? Early? Half-way through? At the eleventh hour? All are welcome and included, and this encompasses those intentions we may remember or come across or have commended to us on Day 9 just as surely as on Day 1. It's the way of Love, ever diffusive of itself (just like goodness) and ready to invite everyone to the party (which thankfully is mostly a spiritual party, so introverts can each get their own mansion!)! A rose from Carmel emailed me last night to let me know the St. Joseph novena starts today (or yesterday for those who like to finish on the Vigil, but I'm a finish-on-the-feast kind of gal, so we start today)....and this morning, thankfully, my angel was all about my remembering - and you will never guess the mischief he's got me into! Somehow, after deciding to try out the devotion to Sleeping St. Joseph (since St. Joseph heard God's inspirations in dreams so often, and I know so many, myself included, who could use a dose of angelic inspiration these days), I found a statue of him at the San Buenaventura Mission (thank you, St. Junipero Serra! Thank you, St. Anthony! Thank you, St. Bonaventure! And thank you, lovely ladies who work there and had one in the back, having sold the one in the front yesterday!)!! Then I took a photo of him (which you can see above), and also happened to think of calling my awesome Catholic print manager at Staple's near us.....Can we make a St. Joseph holy card? Yes, we can! And very economically if we put it on a business card and order ONE THOUSAND!!!! WOWIE ZOWIE, this is FUN! So please do whichever of the following things your own angel inspires you to do: 1. Consider yourself part of our novena! Your intentions and those of your loved ones are IN! 2. Spread the news of this glorious novena to this glorious and so fabulous Saint! 3. Send me your name and address via the "CONTACT ME" button, and I can send you a few St. Joseph holy cards via the postal mail. and 4. If you want a shot in the arm for devotion to St. Joseph, do yourself a favor and get (if you don't already have it, or read and pray with if you do) Fr. Donald Calloway's awesome new book on Consecration to St. Joseph. One thing I love about this book: even if you are kind of a dope, like me, and forgetful, like me and Marcel, and so you're challenged in doing the 33 day full consecration, you will love the book for the prayers, artwork, and especially (oh, how I love this!) the quotations from all the Saints about the greatness and goodness, kindness and love of that so silent, but always willing to help us, St. Joseph, dad to Jesus our brother and beloved pure spouse of Mary Immaculate, our own Mama! Yes, you got it - these relationships make him our dad too! And what an image of the Heavenly Father he is, what an outpouring of gentle compassion and mercy you will find when you turn to him. AND I must add, because I forgot to correct a dear friend who said "But St. Joseph does take his time," that in my experience, he is (as a favorite prayer says) very prompt and quick in answering our prayers. You see, as our simple novena prayer says above, Jesus was prompt in obeying St. Joseph - and I think St. Joseph is a sleep-talker, so don't worry if it looks like he's napping! He's going to take care of us, and pronto! I'm thinking of this (for myself and my intentions) as a bit of a "discernment" novena. My husband and I, our two sons, and a handful of really dear friends scattered across the country - all of us have decisions we might make. Golly, I bet you do too, even if it's something as small (or big!) as "Shall I try again with my Lenten resolutions? Should I choose another instead of giving up entirely?" (But don't let me project! That's part of my discernment now for sure!!) Don't you think good and sleeping St. Joseph - who heard, at least thrice, angels in dreams whom God sent to enlighten him regarding what to do - will be the perfect intercessor for us? He's so peaceful too - and I'm sure he'll share that peace with us, who so often need it badly! Welcome to our St. Joseph novena of 2020 (or whenever you happen to read this on the timeless internet), and may our dear father, guardian and protector of the whole Church and us, bring us happily to his feast day, and peacefully to good decisions! And now, to his Divine Son, we pray: Draw us, we will run!!! Comments are closed.
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Miss MarcelI've written books and articles and even a novel. Now it's time to try a blog! For more about me personally, go to the home page and you'll get the whole scoop! If you want to send me an email, feel free to click "Contact Me" below. To receive new posts, enter your email and click "Subscribe" below. More MarcelArchives
December 2024
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