Novena to Saint Joseph: Sixth Day
To us Christmas is a day of uninterrupted joy.
To Joseph it was a day of the brightest light and the deepest shadows: a blazing sky and a chilly cave; the presence of angels and the cold shoulder of the villagers; faith and sorrow; intensest joy in the Infant and grief that he could give the Infant only a stable and straw and his ineffectual service.
The story of Joseph and Christmas is dearly familiar to us.
It was decreed that they leave the comforts of home and journey to Bethlehem. The doors of the crowded inns were slammed in his face. He quested through the night until he found the cave and prepared it for his bride and for the coming Child.
His was the joy of hearing the song of the angels and watching the procession of the first adorers. His was the pain of seeing Mary shiver in the cold darkness and of remembering that they had been forced to leave in Nazareth the cradle that he had made with such loving care.
He was the first sentry in the court of the new king, His first man-at-arms, His prime minister, His treasurer, the faithful disciple of the master, who had yet to speak His first word.
To Joseph at Christmastide we say:
The Prayer of Saint Joseph.
O God, who in your ineffable providence was pleased to choose blessed Joseph for the spouse of your most holy Mother, grant we beseech you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom we venerate as our protector on earth. Who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
(Copyright 1947 Daniel A. Lord, S.J. Nihil Obstat: John M. Fearns, S.T.D. Imprimatur: Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop, New York)
This article, Novena to Saint Joseph: Sixth Day is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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