March 28th — St. Joseph’s Venerable Age.

28th Day.— St. Joseph’s Venerable Age.

1.  St. Joseph during his long life had been fulfilling the meaning of the name he bore with unbroken constancy.  He had been “adding” to the brightness of his virtues and the treasure of his merits with an ever-increasing speed.  In the company of Jesus and Mary he had made more rapid progress than any of the other saints.  O Joseph, what fervor must have been thine!  what charity, what perfect purity!  Was there an archangel in heaven equal to thee in love of God?  How different thy lightning advance in grace to my sluggish slowness!

2.  What was the secret of St. Joseph’s high perfection?  It was the calm, quiet peacefulness and tranquillity that enabled his pure soul to reflect in so wonderful a manner the likeness of God, and quickened his ears to catch the faintest whisper of divine grace.  We cannot imagine him ever hurried, or over-eager, or anxious, or disorderly.  If we could remove those defects we should soon become more like St. Joseph.

3.  As St. Joseph grew old and his natural powers began to fail, the beauty of his soul became more and more apparent.  Some think that like Moses he suffered none of the infirmities of age.  At all events, he who as foster-father of Jesus occupied in some sort the place of the Eternal Father upon earth must have been an old man of incomparable beauty, the type and ideal of a saint and patriarch.  Never were gray hairs crowned with such glory and honor as those of him whose happy old age had been spent with Jesus and Mary.

 

 


This article, March 28th — St. Joseph’s Venerable Age. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/devotional/the-catholic-daily/march-month-st-joseph/march-28th-st-josephs-venerable-age/
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