Editorial Note: This post is a part of our saint devotion series , in which one of our staff or faculty members explores their relationship with a particular saint. Joseph is my favorite saint. I love St. He hides himself. We know him as someone who does not speak, who does not represent himself, who does not tell his own story, who gives up giving an account of himself.
In this way, his life is a whole burnt offering, speaking to us only by not speaking. Mary uses that word Luke , publicly and without hesitation. It unveils the deepest of mysteries of love. And handed to Joseph for his safe-keeping. The most ordinary thing in the world. Joseph could protest! Let me tell you! But Joseph does no such thing. He completely surrenders his identity to a paternity that is not, in one way, his, but is willed by God for him and given to him.
It hides them from the Prince of Darkness, like a magic cloak of paternal invisibility. For the devil does not believe in Love.
Joseph protects his Wife and Son purely, in advance of any action, by his paternity. He does so after the pattern of his dad on earth, who formed him, humanly speaking, in the virtues and in fidelity to the Law, and ultimately and from all eternity, in obedience to his Father in Heaven.
See why I cringe when someone asks me to write about St. Because he did not write, or even speak, about himself. It takes on the character of Joseph himself, out of respect to him who is so embarrassingly loveable and Dad-like to anyone who would entrust themselves to him. And so, I did! To download a free custom phone wallpaper featuring St.
