March 13, 2023

Dear St. Martin of Tours Family and Friends,

On the one hundredth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Quamquam Pluries promoting devotion to St. Joseph, Pope John Paul II in Custos Redemptoris (August 15, 1989) declared: 

In this great undertaking which is the renewal of all things in Christ, marriage—it too purified and renewed—becomes a new reality, a sacrament of the New Covenant. We see that at the beginning of the New Testament, as at the beginning of the Old, there is a married couple. But whereas Adam and Eve were the source of evil which was unleashed on the world, Joseph and Mary are the summit from which holiness spreads all over the earth. The Savior began the work of salvation by this virginal and holy union, wherein is manifested his all-powerful will to purify and sanctify the family - that sanctuary of love and cradle of life."

Being the head of the Holy Family meant that St. Joseph would received the obedience of both the Son of God and the Immaculate Conception. As head of the household, St. Joseph would have been the perfect father, and therefore the perfect image of God the Father in their midst. While this is most certainly a favor lesser than the Virgin Mary’s whose Divine Motherhood merited preservation from original sin from the first moment of her conception because she would literally give her flesh to that Sacred Humanity and carry the Son of God within her virginal womb, to be prepared for and suited to this role, Sacred Tradition tells us that St. Joseph was cleansed from original sin at the first moment immediately after his conception. 

Mary’s great suffering was to stand by her Son at his crucifixion and to experience the agony of her son’s passion.

St. Joseph’s great suffering, of which he was continually aware and which brought him continual pain and sadness, was that he knew he would not be there at such a time to comfort his son and his wife. 

Let us, however, not neglect the terrible suffering of St. Joseph! After the Blessed Virgin Mary who is in a category all her own, St. Joseph is the most powerful and exalted saint of all the saints. He is Father and Protector of the Church. Pray to him, and do not neglect him, this the greatest man of God.  

St. Joseph, Pray for us who are in need of your protection!