The Popes on Saint Joseph

As the Church universal is jubilantly celebrating the feast of St Joseph on this day, it would be so beautiful to draw from the different Magisteria of Popes who spoke about this special saint. I am sure that the different reflections they want to offer us act as a great encouragement to love this extraordinary saint more and more.

Blessed Pius IX, in his Decree through the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and thanks to which he gave his decision on declaring St Joseph Patron of the Universal Church whilst raising his feast of March 19 to the first class, now a solemnity, on December 8, 1870, entitled Quemadmodum Deus, pictures our saint as the privileged one among kings and prophets. The latter conversed with and loved tenderly Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man and Our Lord. He writes:

Jesus Christ our Lord … whom countless kings and prophets had desired to see, Joseph not only saw but conversed with, and embraced in paternal affection, and kissed. He most diligently reared Him whom the faithful were to receive as the bread that came down from heaven whereby they might obtain eternal life.

Pope Leo XIII, the great Pope of the first social encyclical of the Church Rerum Novarum, also spoke of St Joseph within the context of work. In his encyclical on devotion to St Joseph, Quamquam Pluries, published on August 15, 1889, he writes:

For Joseph, of royal blood, united by marriage to the greatest and holiest of women, reputed the father of the Son of God, passed his life in labour, and won by the toil of the artisan the needful support of his family. It is, then, true that the condition of the lowly has nothing shameful in it, and the work of the labourer is not only not dishonouring, but can, if virtue be joined to it, be singularly ennobled. Joseph, content with his slight possessions, bore the trials consequent on a fortune so slender, with greatness of soul, in imitation of his Son, who having put on the form of a slave, being the Lord of life, subjected himself of his own free-will to the spoliation and loss of everything (no.4).

Drawing his inspiration from his predecessor Leo XIII, the Venerable Pope Pius XII put St Joseph as the protector of workers. Hence, work was not seen as a tool to foster class conflict or domination, as Communists would reason, but as a very relevant means for personal and communal holiness. That is why Pope Pius XII on May 1, 1955, said:

Saint Joseph is the best protector to help you in your life, to penetrate the spirit of the Gospel. Indeed, from the Heart of the God-Man, Savior of the world, this spirit is infused in you and in all men, but it is certain that there was no worker’s spirit so perfectly and deeply penetrated as the putative father of Jesus, who lived with him in the closest intimacy and community of family and work. So, if you want to be close to Christ, I repeat to you ‘Ite ad Ioseph’ Go to Joseph!

In the vision of Pope St John Paul II, St Joseph stands out as the first guardian of the divine mystery. In his apostolic exhortation on the person and mission of St Joseph in the life of Christ and the Church, Redemptoris Custos, written on August 15, 1989, Pope Wojtyła writes:

Together with Mary, Joseph is the first guardian of this divine mystery. Together with Mary, and in relation to Mary, he shares in this final phase of God’s self-revelation in Christ and he does so from the very beginning. Looking at the gospel texts of both Matthew and Luke, one can also say that Joseph is the first to share in the faith of the Mother of God and that in doing so he supports his spouse in the faith of the divine annunciation. He is also the first to be placed by God on the path of Mary’s “pilgrimage of faith.” It is a path along which – especially at the time of Calvary and Pentecost – Mary will precede in a perfect way (no.5).

In his reflection on St Joseph which he gave in the Vatican Gardens while inaugurating and blessing a fountain dedicated to the saint, which was a gift from the Governor’s Office of Vatican City State, on July 5, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said:

The espousals between Joseph and Mary are an episode of great importance. Joseph was of the royal line of David and, in virtue of his marriage to Mary, would confer on the Son of the Virgin – on God’s Son – the legal tile of ‘Son of David,’ thus fulfilling the prophecies. The espousals of Joseph and Mary are, because of this, a human event, but determinant in the history of humanity’s salvation, in the realization of the promises of God; because of this, it also has a supernatural connotation, which the two protagonists accept with humility and trust.

Pope Francis, in his apostolic letter Patris Corde on the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, given on the Immaculate Conception, 8th of December, 2020, Pope Francis presents to us St Joseph as the man who supports us by his tremendous intercession as he seems to be unnoticed. In his silence St Joseph is the most powerful before God to help us. Pope Francis writes in its introduction:

Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation.

The crowning of the Popes’ reflection on St Joseph remains the famous prayer given at the end of his encyclical Quamquam Pluries, by Pope Leo XIII. This famous prayer is so powerful that it not just merits to end these reflections but, and furthermore, serves as a powerful encouragement for you and me to pray this prayer daily to St Joseph, our father and best companion after Jesus and Mary in our pursuit of holiness.

To thee, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction, and having implored the help of thy thrice holy Spouse, we now, with hearts filled with confidence, earnestly beg thee also to take us under thy protection. By that charity wherewith thou wert united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly love with which thou didst cherish the Child Jesus, we beseech thee and we humbly pray that thou wilt look down with gracious eye upon that inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and wilt succor us in our need by thy power and strength.

Defend, O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen offspring of Jesus Christ. Keep from us, O most loving Father, all blight of error and corruption. Aid us from on high, most valiant defender, in this conflict with the powers of darkness. And even as of old thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the peril of His life, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield us ever under thy patronage, that, following thine example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting bliss in Heaven. Amen.

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