[00:00] ♪ Ave ♪ ♪ Regina ♪ ♪ Mater misericordiae ♪ Praise be Jesus and Mary. May we celebrate the solemnity of the glorious St. Joseph,

[00:30] spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Blessed Joseph Chaminade once asked, once said that we often wonder why the Gospel doesn't tell us more about St. Joseph. But in reality, he says, that by telling us that St. Joseph is the husband of Mary, it tells us everything. And in fact, that's the reality. Since He is the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

[01:04] he is the virginal father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that makes St. Joseph absolutely unique and singular in the plan of God. For this reason, popes, saints, mystics have again and again and again exhorted the faithful to devotion to St. Joseph.

[01:34] Let me just give you two examples from two great mystics. The first is St. Teresa of Ávila. This is what she says. "I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to the glorious St. Joseph, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I do not remember that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors

[02:05] which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint and at the perils from which he has delivered me, both in body and in soul. To other saints, the Lord seems to have given grace to help us in some of our necessities. But my experience is that St. Joseph helps us in them all. Also, that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject on earth to St. Joseph,

[02:36] so in heaven He now does all that Joseph asks." This has also been my experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend themselves to this saint. "I only request for the love of God, whoever will not believe me will test the truth of what I say, for he will see by experience how great a blessing it is to recommend oneself to this glorious patriarch

[03:07] and to be devout to him." St. Teresa of Ávila. Here's another one. Venerable Mary of Ágreda in the Mystical City of God, she writes, "I have been informed concerning certain other privileges conferred upon St. Joseph by the Most High on account of his great holiness, which are especially important to those who ask his intercession in a proper manner. In virtue of these special privileges,

[03:40] the intercession of St. Joseph is most powerful, first, for attaining the virtue of purity in overcoming the sensual inclinations of the flesh, second, for procuring powerful help to escape sin and return to the friendship of God, third, for increasing the love and devotion to Most Holy Mary, fourth, for securing the grace of a happy death

[04:10] and protection against the demons in that hour, fifth, for inspiring the demons with terror at the mere mention of his name, sixth, for gaining health of body and assistance in all kinds of difficulties, seventh, for securing issue of children and families. These and many other favors God confers upon those who properly and with good disposition

[04:42] seek the intercession of the spouse of our Queen, St. Joseph. I beseech all the faithful children of the Church to be very devout to him, and they will experience these favors in reality if they dispose themselves as they should in order to receive and merit them." These are just two examples, but again and again and again, popes, saints, and mystics

[05:15] encourage the faithful devotion to St. Joseph. So especially today in the solemnity of St. Joseph, let us take up the challenge of St. Teresa of Ávila, who challenges us. She's a great Doctor of the Church, doctor of prayer. She challenges those that if they don't believe her to test the truth, test that truth.

[05:45] This solemnity, we thank God for the graces He has given to St. Joseph, and let us exercise what popes, saints, and mystics have exhorted us to do, to go to St. Joseph. ♪ Hos, misericordiae soculo ♪ ♪ Agnus Domini, et estum benedictum, fructum benedictum. ♪