Crowning of the Statue of St Joseph, Solemnity of St Joseph 19 th March 2018 Author: Clair-Mary Honoring the second disciple of Christ, St Joseph In preparation for the Solemnity of St Joseph on March 19 th, 2018, Delegates of the UK s first Symposium on St Joseph, which was held in partnership with the National Shrine of St Joseph, arrived from across the country to contemplate various themes concerning the Husband of Mary. Three days before the Solemnity of St Joseph, the talk title of The Annunciation of St Joseph began the symposium in the spirit of the first Joy of Our Lady concerning her Annunciation. Throughout the next few days of the journey we hosted the Abbot from St Michael s Abbey, Farnborough where the National Shrine of St Joseph was housed in which he gave a precis of the history of devotion to St Joseph in England and the National Shrine. He also brought a special blessing with him in the form of the restored crowns from the statue of St Joseph from his national shrine, which were placed on the altar in the Slipper Chapel before Our Lady before heading back to Farnborough to their home. An array of reflective talks was given which on the Solemnity itself brought a dimension of St Joseph as the first model of forgiveness and apostle of forgiveness in the New Testament from Msg Armitage, Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Amongst a sacramental programme of confession, Holy Mass, Adoration, Rosary and the Chaplet of St Joseph, his litany and joys and sorrows, we were blessed to witness within Holy Mass a crowning of the Statue of St Joseph in the Chapel of Our Lady of Reconciliation. About this Statue On the 13th October 2017, in commemoration of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima one hundred years ago in which St Joseph and the Child Jesus blessed the world for peace, Bishop Alan Hopes installed this statue of Saint Joseph at the Basilica of Our Lady in Walsingham with permission for crowns to honour the Husband of Our Lady on his Solemnities of March 19th and May 1st each year. 1 P a g e
A History This statue originally stood at the entrance of the St Joseph s Missionary Society founded in 1866 by the third Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vaughan, who was our great Apostle of St Joseph in the British Isles. Priests of the Society prayed before this statue, then known as Economus Nostra meaning Our Economist for all their provision for their missions. A few years after St Joseph was declared Patron Saint of the Universal Church and by a special indult of Pope Pius IX, Cardinal Manning crowned another statue of St. Joseph at Mill Hill set apart to become the then new National Shrine of St Joseph in England. This canonical crowning was performed in the presence of the whole hierarchy of England and Wales on the 13th April 1874. Today, the National Shrine of St Joseph is housed at St Michael s Abbey, Farnborough. This statue has special significance of uniting the two National Shrines of Our Lady of Walsingham and St Joseph. An Invitation In the same way that the St Joseph s Missionary Society intended priests from England to go out into the world and spread the Gospel, you are invited to pray for the spiritual renewal of England, Our Lady s Dowry, and to invoke the intercession of St Joseph, husband of Our Lady, Patron Saint of the Universal Church and Father of the New Evangelisation. In conclusion to a very blessed first Symposium on St Joseph, next years one will be held in Westminster in honour of Cardinal Vaughan. You can start booking tickets now on the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/symposium-on-st-joseph-in-honour-of-cardinal-vaughan-tickets- 44291514111 2 P a g e
National Shrine of St Joseph, St Michael s Abbey, Farnborough with restored crowns March 19 th, 2018 Who is St Joseph? Go to Joseph! Ite Ad Joseph Of old it was said to the needy and suffering people in the kingdom of Egypt: Go to Joseph and do all that he shall say to you. (Gen. 41:55). The same is now said by the Sovereign Pontiff to all needy and suffering people in the kingdom of the church: Go to Joseph What was truly said of the first Joseph, as to his future, and as to his goodness, his chastity, his patience, his wisdom, his influence with the king, his power over the people, and his love for his brethren, is verified much more perfectly, even to this day, in the second JOSEPH. - Herbert Cardinal Vaughan - Archbishop of Westminster This symposium gives us a wonderful opportunity to catch a glimpse into the mysteries of the holy family. In these few days leading up to the Solemnity of St Joseph, you are invited to ponder with Our Lady, who the Patron Saint of the Universal Church is. We will journey with the man whom was closest to Christ and begin to open the treasure chest of graces available through his God-given office. We will follow in the footsteps of those whom have gone before us in their wisdom and devotion to St Joseph. Devotion is about relationship. This symposium is an invitation to enter deeper into a relationship with a spiritual father, whom resides in the office of the Shadow of God the Father St Joseph. If Our Lady is your spiritual mother, is St Joseph your spiritual father? If Our Lady is Mother of the Church, then who is the Father of the church? If Our Lady is spiritual Mother of England, then surely St Joseph is spiritual Father of England. Pope Francis has invited us to raise shrines across the church as key centres of evangelization, to engage in missionary activity, to avail ourselves to play a part in the conversion of our nation. 3 P a g e
Saint Joseph has been given many titles, evident through his litany, which is embraced by the theology and teaching of the church about his office, his vocation, which extends to us all as members of the catholic church. The most recent title St Joseph, Father of the New Evangelisation is one which invites us in these times of the third millennium, to enter the mission side of our vocations in union with the holy family the earthly trinity, to proclaim the good news of the gospel. What does that mean for England? For our ancient heritage and title of Our Lady s Dowry and what is St Joseph s role alongside Our Lady for the conversion of England? The great apostle of St Joseph, Cardinal Vaughan, in the 19 th Century collected thousands of signatures up and down our country to petition Pope Pius IX to declare St Joseph Patron of the Universal Church. On December 8, 1870, The Sacred Congregation of Rites promulgated the following decree, which communicated the decision of Pope Pius IX to declare St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, and which also raised St. Joseph s feast of March 19 to the rank of double of the first class. England had played a large part in this and in leading devotion to St Joseph in the church at this time. This was a time in England for great missionary work in our lands after the restoration of the catholic hierarchy, following the reformation in this country. I would argue we have lost a sense of the history of St Joseph in England and proclaim this morning it is now time to rediscover once again our history and enter deeper into relationship with St Joseph in the British Isles. The most poignant question before I offer a meditation on Joseph s dream I could leave you to ponder upon is from Cardinal Suenens: Do you want to know whether you love the Blessed Virgin? Then answer this question truthfully: do you love St. Joseph? Meditation Joseph s Dream: His Annunciation his first joy In this shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham which is a shrine of the Incarnation, the first joy of Our Lady, the Annunciation is celebrated here. It is about vocation and a wholehearted Fiat/Yes to God which Our Lady so perfectly gave. I want to open this symposium reflecting on the second disciple of Christ after Our Lady who was the first St Joseph. I want to offer a meditation on his Annunciation, his Fiat and his Magnificat which all point his vocation to wholehearted service to God through Jesus and Mary....Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him." (Matthew 1:18-24) 4 P a g e
This is what is described in Josephology as the moment of his annunciation. As our lady experienced joys and sorrows so too did St Joseph. Our Lady s first joy was the mystery of the Annunciation. St Joseph s first joy was this dream (his annunciation) and invitation to participate in its mystery. Angelus of St. Joseph V. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. R. Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, into your home. V. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. R. And she shall bring forth a son. V. And you shall call his name Jesus. R. Because He is the one who is to save his people from their sins. V. Pray for us, O virgin father of Jesus. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. V. Let us pray. All. Pour forth we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ you Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord, Amen. The accounts of the annunciations to Joseph are especially significant, because they present us with a powerful (and challenging) example. Unlike Mary, Joseph wasn t being asked to speak aloud on behalf of the world. He wasn t being asked to participate in a new creation. He was simply being told what God wanted him to do, and his unspoken response is a model for us all. He doesn t say fiat. He says nothing. He simply does exactly what he s told, immediately and unquestioningly. He is a man whose life speaks a complete and unbroken fiat. His Magnificat is silence and action. Prior to this dream, St. Joseph had just found out that Mary was with child and was considering what course of action to take. He was considering putting her away quietly, in order that she would not suffer public shame. Joseph was the just man in that he was trying to do what was right, but also showed a compassion to Mary. Joseph was given the light and inspiration to know what he should do, because he was seeking to do God s will. We all are given the inspirations needed to know what is the will of God if we are faithful to our state in life, and if we truly seek, with an openness to His grace, to desire to do what the Holy Spirit inspires us to do at every moment. If Mary is known as the first disciple of Christ, then St. Joseph follows close behind her as the second disciple, after his Annunciation. As John Paul II has said, after this, St. Joseph takes on a spiritual view of the unfolding events, after having first seeing through the opaque lens of human understanding. The clarity, that the angel s announcement brings to Joseph, enables him to courageously follow behind Mary in 5 P a g e
the walk of a disciple. Not only a disciple but in the even more profoundly intimate relationship with Mary as spouse, and with Jesus as foster father. St. Joseph s Annunciation allows him to embrace his vocation with the total dedication that marked his life, and because of this, is rightly remembered as the just man since he was faithful in everything that God called upon him to do. St. Joseph, as the husband of Our Blessed Lady, is the one man in all the Church who was completely at the service of the Incarnation and Redemption. Both proceeded according to the divine plan through Joseph's cooperation. With no other saint, other than Mary, can one find such a remarkable vocation. In his encyclical on St. Joseph, Redemptoris Custos, Guardian of the Redeemer, Pope John Paul II draws to our attention a close connection between the soon-to-be mother and foster-father of the Messiah: both are visited by angels who announce His appearance (Red. Cust. 3). The Gospel of St. Luke provides Mary s annunciation account, St. Matthew gives us Joseph s. For Joseph, who is receiving his annunciation well after Mary has conceived God s Son, and who is unaware of what has taken place, the angel says: Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit... (Mt. 1:20). There Joseph is introduced to the mystery of Mary s motherhood, which he then understood to be part of God s plan. Up to this point he had been thinking in human terms of Mary s pregnancy. But with the message of the angel, he leaves behind a human understanding without hesitation. This was a path of faith that Mary had already taken months before at her annunciation. Pope John Paul calls her the first among the members of the Church to go down the path of faith in the Son of God. Before all others she was given this opportunity when the angel Gabriel came to her relaying God s wish that she become the Mother of the Incarnate Word. Not knowing all that this would entail, but trusting in God to make it happen, Mary agrees in faith to follow the angel s instructions. But who was next to fully participate in this journey down the path of faith? St. Joseph. What must have been a number of weeks after Mary s encounter with the angel Joseph has his own. It comes in the midst of much anxiety. He had somehow found out about Mary s pregnancy. The scriptural account is not clear, saying vaguely that she was found to be with child... (Mt. 1:18). Was Joseph informed by someone? Did Mary herself let him know? Did he discover it for himself? We have no way of knowing for sure. For St. Jerome, she was found to be so by none other than St. Joseph, who watched the swelling of the womb of his betrothed with... anxious glances... (Contra Helvidius, 4). Augustine, too, accepts that Joseph discovered the pregnancy through observation (Sermon 51.9). And John Chrysostom provides an even more detailed explanation. He says that Joseph did indeed discover for himself that Mary was with child. Mary, Chrysostom comments, was going to leave this matter up to God to reveal. This was the most prudent way to handle the situation. Had she spoken to Joseph about what really happened herself, how could he be expected to believe her? Such a thing as the incarnation of God in her virgin womb would be too difficult to accept coming from her. So Mary, in a difficult situation herself, seeing her husband s distress, and yet being in no position to speak to him about it, kept silence and waited for God to intervene (Cf. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew, 4.8). This became for Joseph a time of divinely willed darkness, a characteristic, in fact, of both annuncations. For this reason we can be assured that both were occasions of immense acts of faith. For Mary, God gave no information about what would be expected of her as the Mother of God. The angel s message is little more than, The promised Messiah, the Son of God, will be conceived in your womb. For Joseph, God left him for a time in a state of complete ignorance about what was taking place. How long he was in this state we do 6 P a g e
not know. It seems for perhaps weeks Joseph was in great uncertainty and anxiety. Finally, God sends the angel, and Joseph then receives essentially the same message as Mary: what has been begotten in her is not from man, but from the Holy Spirit. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH St. John Chrysostom observantly notes that the appearance of the angel for Joseph s annunciation happens while Joseph was asleep, in the context of a dream. Chrysostom asks himself why it should be this way and not more openly, in the way the angel appeared to so many others, the shepherds, Zechariah, or Blessed Mary? The answer he finds illustrates well the character of our saint. It was certainly not that St. Joseph was somehow unworthy of a more extraordinary appearance. Rather, Chrysostom explains, "This was a man so ready to believe that he did not require such a manifestation (Hom. on Matt. 4.10). God, who knew St. Joseph through and through, and loved him with the fullness of His Fatherly affection, was well aware of the strength of his faith, and the ability of St. Joseph to discern the true presence of his angel. God also knew how little it would take to stir this wise and faithful man to action. All that was needed was an angelic appearance in a dream, and Joseph would be able to discern authenticity, and respond with prompt action. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him... (Mt. 1:24). No longer did Joseph cling to doubts, and without hesitation, changed his plan to dismiss Mary quietly. He accepted completely the mystery of God-made-man, who was then growing in Mary s womb. As Pope John Paul points out in his encyclical, Joseph at this point had joined Mary on the journey of faith. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing she had accepted at the annunciation. The Council teaches: the obedience of faith must be given to God as he reveals himself. By this faith man freely commits himself entirely to God, making the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals, and willingly assenting to the revelation given by him. This statement, which touches the essence of faith, is perfectly applicable to Joseph of Nazareth. (Red. Cust. 4) And, as Chrysostom so perceptively tells us once again, his faith continued without flaw, as we can see in the way he responds to the angelic warning about King Herod s plans to kill the infant Jesus. A lesser man would have been plunged into doubts. The angel had previously stated that this child was a savior, and yet here a man with weaker faith might say, He is unable to save Himself, requiring me to flee with the family to a far off country. Was this not contrary to what had been promised? So St. John continues: No, he uttered nothing of this sort, for he was a man of faith. Nor did he inquire the time of the return even though the angel spoke vaguely, saying, Remain there until I tell you. Thus, Joseph did not become slothful, but he obeyed and bent his will, and he bore all his trials with joy What can we learn from St Joseph? 1) Wait on the Lord 2) Do not be afraid 3) Surrender your will and your plans to God 7 P a g e
St Joseph s Magnificat is his Silence The silence of Joseph is a seed which bears the fruit of holiness and courage. The silence of Joseph drowns the din of sorrow and silences the wailing of the weak The silence of Joseph draws the world to a cave in Bethlehem where God is born as man and man is born again The silence of Joseph draws us to our knees in worship of the Word made flesh in whose presence all words of men lose their meaning The silence of Joseph directs a symphony of silence which stills the universe in adoration of the One in Whom the New creation has come. Let us join our silence to the Silence of Joseph. Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, spoke these profound words concerning the silence of his namesake "His is a silence permeated by contemplation of the mystery of God, in an attitude of total availability to his divine wishes. Let us allow ourselves to be "infected" by the silence of St Joseph! We have much need of it in a world which is often too noisy, which does not encourage reflection and listening to the voice of God." (Pope Benedict XVI, December 18, 2005) 8 P a g e