HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY SAINT JOSEPH IS ALWAYS PORTRAYED WITH A DRY STICK BLOSSOMED WITH FLOWERS? As we draw nearer to the Nativity of Our Lord, Im sure we may like to know more about the Great St. Joseph, whose role will never go unnoticed in the plan of our salvation. OUR LADY’S WONDERFUL ESPOUSAL WITH SAINT JOSEPH. The following are words of Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda reported in her famous book Mystical City of God: My daughter, although you have described my spouse, Saint Joseph, as the most noble among the Princes and Saints of the heavenly Jerusalem, still you cannot properly manifest his eminent sanctity, nor can any mortal know it fully before he arrives at the vision of the Divinity. Then all will be filled with wonder and praise as the Lord will make them capable of understanding this truth. On the day on which, as we have said in the preceding chapter, our Princess Mary completed the fourteenth year of her life, the men, who at that time in the city of Jerusalem were descendants of the tribe of Juda and of the race of David, gathered together in the temple. The sovereign Lady was also of that lineage. Among the number was Joseph, a native of Nazareth. and then living in Jerusalem; for he was one of the descendants of the royal race of David. He was then thirty-three years of age, of handsome person and pleasing countenance, but also of incomparable modesty and gravity; above all he was most chaste in thought and conduct, and most saintly in all his inclinations. From his twelfth year he had made and kept the vow of chastity. He was related to the Virgin Mary in the third degree, and was known for the utmost purity of his life, holy and irreprehensible in the eyes of God and of men. All these unmarried men gathered in the temple and prayed to the Lord conjointly with the priests. In order to be governed by the Holy Spirit in what they were about to do. The Most High spoke to the heart of the high priest, inspiring him to place into the hands of each one of the young men a dry stick, with the command that each ask his Majesty with a lively faith, to single out the one whom He had chosen as the spouse of Mary. And as the sweet odor of her virtue and nobility, the fame of her beauty, her possessions and her modesty, and her position as being the firstborn in her family was known to all of them, each one coveted the happiness of meriting Her as a spouse. While they were thus engaged in prayer the staff which Joseph held was seen to blossom and at the same time a dove of purest white and resplendent with admirable light, was seen to descend and rest upon the head of the saint, while in the interior of his heart God spoke: Joseph, my servant, Mary shall be thy Spouse; accept Her with attentive reverence, for She is acceptable in my eyes, just and most pure in soul and body, and thou shalt do all that She shall say to Thee. At this manifestation and token from heaven the priests declared saint Joseph as the spouse selected by God himself for the maiden Mary. Calling Her forth for her espousal, the Chosen one issued forth like the sun, more resplendent than the moon, and She entered into the presence of all with a countenance more beautiful than that of an angel, incomparable in the charm of her beauty, nobility and grace; and the priests espoused Her to the most chaste and holy of men, saint Joseph. It must be emphasized that the source used is not de fide and belief by the faithful is not mandatory regarding it. However, it should be stressed that this work has received the approbation of Popes, Doctors of the Church, and many Saints, which lends great credibility to their authenticity. The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda has received the approbation of 32 Popes, and the great St. Pius X so loved the work that he recommended daily reading from it for the clergy and laity.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 09:49:24 +0000
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