SIXTEENTH VISIT TO ST. JOSEPH
We ought to believe that the life of Joseph, spent in the presence of Jesus and Mary, was a continual prayer, abounding in acts of faith and confidence, of love, of resignation, of oblation. Since, then, the reward of the saints corresponds to their merits in this life, consider how great must be the glory of St. Joseph in heaven. St. Augustine compares the other saints to the stars, but St. Joseph to the sun. Father Suarez says that it is very reasonable to suppose that St. Joseph, after Mary, surpasses all the other saints in merits and glory. From this the Venerable Bernardine de Bustis infers that when St. Joseph asks any grace for those that are devoted to him, his prayers have in a certain manner, the force of a command with Jesus and Mary.
St. Joseph, obtain for us a great spirit of prayer.
Prayer
My holy Patriarch, I rejoice at thy happiness and greatness in being made worthy to have power to command, with the authority of a father, Him Whom heaven and earth obey, and to make Him obey thee. My holy Patron, since a God has served thee, I too wish to enroll myself in thy service; I choose thee, after Mary, for my principal advocate and protector. I promise to honor thee every day by some special devotion, and each day I will place myself under thy protection. Through the sweet company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy during life, protect me during my whole life, that I may never be separated from God by losing His grace. And through the assistance which Jesus and Mary gave thee at death, protect me at the hour of my death, that, dying in the company of thee, of Jesus and Mary, I may one day go to thank thee in paradise, and in thy company praise and love thy God to all eternity. Amen.
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