Amid the silence that shrouds Joseph in the gospels, says John Paul II (6), one can discern in him "an aura of contemplation" from the fact, the awe-inspiring fact, that, actually dwelling with him under his roof and sharing his daily toil and bread alike, was "the mystery hidden from ages past" (Col 1:26). Consequently their Nazareth home was virtually heaven on earth for the Holy Family. Newman (7) had this in mind when he likened prayer to "the language of heaven and an exercise of our citizenship there."

In view of all this, few would disagree with St. Bernardine of Siena that the Savior's guardian is second only to the Virgin Mother as a contemplative. For, sharing his home and the intimacies of domestic life was the God-Man in person, the Eternal Word communing unbrokenly with his Heavenly Father. Also forming part of Joseph's life was his beloved spouse, Emmanuel's all-holy mother, whose great hymn of praise, the Magnificat, testifies to her, being Israel's Mystical Rose and House of Gold.

It was only to be expected, then, that in such a spiritual ambience Joseph's prayer-life progressively developed beyond all telling. His union with God was close and continuous. And, as he went about his humdrum routines, he embodied the maxim later coined by St. Francis de Sales for the benefit of all those enrolled in the Lord's school of holiness: "Give him your heart a thousand times a day."

St. Joseph's Prayer

Like everyone else's, St. Joseph's prayer would necessarily have fallen into the four main kinds that express mankind's basic religious duties and needs; we know them as adoration, contrition, intercession and thanksgiving. Now nowhere does this foursome find such classic expression as in that great treasury of prayer-the Old Testament psalms. To a devout Israelite like St. Joseph they would have provided a wealth of texts to meet and match life's changing patterns and moods.

The dominant mode of prayer for St. Joseph was unquestionably adoration; after all, he shared his home and much of his life with the God of heaven and earth clothed in flesh as human as his own. One particular psalm-verse could well have found a constant echo in Joseph's heart: "At all times I will bless the Lord; his praise shall be on my lips continually" (Ps 3:2).

As does every prayer, adoration, Augustine observes, flows from faith as from a fountain. Now because the faith the Nazareth carpenter had in the Incarnation was flamelike in its intensity, it imparted a unique purity and power to his adoration of the Word-made-flesh. Indeed, nobody except Mary has more ardently than he worshipped the God-Man "in spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:24).

Though a minority view holds that one of St. Joseph's privileges was his lifelong preservation from all personal sins, it seems more likely that the prayer of contrition, howsoever minor his offences may have been, did in fact find a place in Joseph's prayer-life. Here again a whole array of psalm-prayers would have served his purpose, particularly King David's great act of contrition and plea for forgiveness as found in psalm 50. Its opening verse goes to the very heart of the matter: "Have mercy on me, O God, as thou art ever rich in mercy; in the abundance of thy compassion blot out the record of my misdeeds" (Ps 50:3).

We can be sure that the third kind of prayer-intercession or petition-played a major part in St. Joseph's spiritual life, especially in times of trial and crisis. Two prominent instances were the flight into Egypt and the loss in the temple. Faced with these crises, the Lord's earthly guardian could appropriately have made the psalmist's plea his own: "O God, our Savior, help us; deliver us, Lord, for the glory of thy name" (Ps 78:9).

As regards the prayer of thanksgiving, the saint would have made it frequently and fervently. In all likelihood he used for this purpose Mary's great prayer of gratitude-the Magnificat. Also he would have recalled many apposite psalm-verses expressive of our thankfulness to God for his multiple benefits. One particular text was a favorite with the people of Israel: "Bless the Lord, my soul, remembering all he has done for thee... how he heals all thy mortal ills ... how he crowns thee with the blessings of his mercy ... how he contents all thy desire for good" (Ps 102:2-5).

Man of Peace

"Peace is the seed-ground of holiness" (Jas 3:18). From this text we may infer that St. Joseph's peace of mind must have been of the highest order for it to produce in him such a harvest of holiness. Already he had been singularly blessed with this heavenly gift when the Bethlehem angels heralded the arrival on earth of the Prince of Peace. And, during the years ahead, that Prince continued to enrich his guardian with this heavenly treasure, which he would later bequeath to his disciples as a precious legacy (cf. Jn 14:27).

How integral peace is to the Christian scheme of things is evident from the frequency with which the theme occurs throughout the New Testament and in the Church's liturgy, notably the Mass. Peace is no less integral to Christian spirituality, as is well exemplified in the interior life of the saints.

Peace was well defined by St. Augustine (8) as "the tranquility of order in the human spirit." Which order, as we can all verify through personal experience, applies at three levels: in our relations with the God of conscience; within our own body-soul selves; and in our relations with our fellow-humans. Let us now apply these three categories to St. Joseph.

His relations with the God of conscience were of the purest and holiest. Being a "just man," he carefully avoided sin and its occasions. Moreover, his close family life with the sinless Word Incarnate and the immaculate virgin daily reinforced his resolve to exclude any thought, word or deed that would offend the all-holy Lord of the commandments and so stain his conscience.

From peace with the God of conscience, and from it alone, flows peace within our inmost selves, peace of mind and imagination, peace of body. This is the peace that reigned in St. Joseph at all times, no matter what life cared to throw at him by way of outer disturbances, mishaps, disappointments, sufferings or whatever else.

Thirdly, St. Joseph's relations with others. Here the two other members of his family come directly into focus. The deep, undisturbed peace that united Joseph in his Nazareth home with the Prince of Peace and its queen inspired the Church's liturgical prayer: "Father, we want to live as Jesus, Mary and Joseph in peace with you and one another" (9).

The Joy of the Lord

Joy has been called "the keynote of the Christian message." This is already evident from Our Lord's words to his apostles: "All this I have told you so that my joy may be yours" (Jn 15:11). And in the lives of the saints we see how characteristically the joy of the Lord manifested itself. Very significantly, one of the Church's criteria for canonization is precisely that candidates should have evidenced consistent joyousness during their lives.

In this light, then, we may safely assume that the greatest of the saints after Mary was throughout his life a model of divine joy. And we may further assume that his joy constantly increased during those many years he spent in close daily contact with joy's Source and Giver, and with her whom we hail as Cause of our Joy.

From St. Joseph's example the Lord's followers can learn that joy, besides being a privilege, is something we must assiduously work at and cultivate. St. Paul lays emphasis on this. "Rejoice in the Lord always," he writes, "and again I say rejoice" (Phil 4:4). The point about the word "always" in this context is that it refers not just to all times but to all of life's circumstances.

Now life's circumstances, as no one knew better from hard experience than the head of the Holy Family, are apt to be changeful and can be most difficult and trying. In the poet's words, "life will mingle thee rue and roses." Unwanted evils like pain, suffering and sorrow can without the least warning or compunction spread the darkest clouds across life's landscape.

Though many such clouds came to overshadow Joseph's life, his inner joy remained undisturbed. For he was united inseparably with the God of joy. Thus, paradoxically, joy co-existed in him undisturbed alongside whatever pain of mind or body came his way. Herein he exemplified Newman's (10) maxim: "Gloom is no Christian temper. We must live in sunshine even when we sorrow." Or as the Cure d'Ars used to say: "For a soul that loves God, it is forever springtime."

Another golden value of Christian joy to be learned from St. Joseph is that it can transcend and sanctify pain and sorrow, precisely through being offered to God in reparation for our own sins or coredemptively for the sins of others. As St. Paul later formulated this key truth, we can and do rejoice in our sufferings, for thereby we fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for his body, the Church (cf. 1 Col 1:24).

The preceding was excerpted from St. Joseph, Patron of the Triumph, Queenship, 2002.

Notes

(l) Paul VI: Discourse at Nazareth, Jan. 5, 1964.

(2) St. Thomas: Summa Theol, 3-8-1 (ad I).

(3) John Paul II: Redemptoris Custos, 27.

(4) Benedict XV: Bonum Sane.

(5) Votive Mass of St. Joseph: Post-Communion prayer.

(6) John Paul II: op. cit. 25.

(7) Cardinal John Henry Newman: Pastoral and Parochial Sermons, IV, 228-229.

(8) St. Augustine: City of God, XIII, 19 9. Feast of the Holy Family: Post-Communion ICL Cardinal John Henry Newman: op. cit. V, 271.

(9) Feast of the Holy Family, post-Communion.

(10) Cardinal John Henry Newman, op. cit., V, 271.