Thursday, March 19 SAINT JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Today, Catholics and other Christians interrupt the Lenten cycle of readings to honor St. Joseph, spouse of Mary and foster father of Jesus.  A tender devotion to St. Joseph was among the religious traditions brought to Texas by the first Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.  They entrusted their works and houses to his protection, with trust that since Joseph cared for the Holy Family he would care for the Sisters and their ministries.  In times of need or crisis the Sisters prayed urgently to St. Joseph, pleading for his intercession.  The history of the Congregation, by Sr. Helena Finck (1925), records earnest appeals to St. Joseph for special needs—prayers, novenas, a St. Joseph medal, a lit vigil candle, even turning his statue to the wall in desperation! The annals also record the many favorable outcomes to their challenges, which they attributed to St. Joseph.  The Sisters’ chapels usually feature a statue of St. Joseph.

Sometimes, the requests were very practical, as evidenced in this prayer by Mother St. Pierre, excerpted from her March 1888 newsletter to the Sisters:

Prayer to St. Joseph

St. Joseph, we need 60 piastres (French term for US dollars) to pay for that horse which Sister Mary of Jesus bought; 155 piastres to pay Mr. Grennett; 110 pastres to pay Mr. Woolfson; 60 piastres to pay Mr. Thalteyer.  We need this money, at once, my good Father.  These debts were contracted by you who are the owner, father, and protector of your orphanage, St. Joseph’s, San Antonio…Hurry! Hurry! Your honor is at stake.  [Letters of Mother Pierre Cinquin, 267.]

On February 20, 1891, about two months before travelling to Austria for medical treatment, Mother Pierre wrote to the Sisters about her serious health issues, a small pox outbreak in San Antonio, and the poor health of a number of Sisters and of the Bishop.  Despite these challenges, she expressed trust in St. Joseph’s protection.

[Sisters,] “No need to encourage you to pass the month of St. Joseph in humble prayer and confidence in his paternal protection. Let us learn from St. Joseph to serve and love the Incarnate Word and our Immaculate Mother in the midst of labor and hard circumstances.  We see in Him that to those whom God loves He gives a large share of tribulations, so let us then follow our Father in humble submission to the Divine Will.” [Letters, 391]