APOSTOLIC
LETTER
OF THE
SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II
REDEMPTORIS
CUSTOS
ON THE PERSON AND MISSION OF SAINT JOSEPH
IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND OF THE CHURCH
To Bishops
To Priests and Deacons
To Men and Women Religious
And to all the Lay Faithful
INTRODUCTION
1. "Joseph did as the
angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife" (cf. Mt
1 :24).
Inspired by the Gospel,
the Fathers of the Church from the earliest centuries stressed
that just as St. Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly
dedicated himself to Jesus Christ's upbringing,(1) he likewise
watches over and protects Christ's Mystical Body, that is, the
Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model.
On the occasion of the
centenary of Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical Epistle Quamquam
Pluries,(2) and in line with the veneration given to St.
Joseph over the centuries, I wish to offer for your
consideration, dear brothers, and sisters, some reflections
concerning him "into whose custody God entrusted his most
precious treasures."(3) I gladly fulfill this pastoral duty so
that all may grow in devotion to the Patron of the Universal
Church and in love for the Savior whom he served in such an
exemplary manner.
In this way the whole
Christian people not only will turn to St. Joseph with greater
fervor and invoke his patronage with trust, but also will always
keep before their eyes his humble, mature way of serving and of
"taking part" in the plan of salvation.(4)
I am convinced that by
reflection upon the way that Mary's spouse shared in the divine
mystery, the Church - on the road towards the future with all of
humanity - will be enabled to discover ever anew her own
identity within this redemptive plan, which is founded on the
mystery of the Incarnation.
This is precisely the
mystery in which Joseph of Nazareth "shared" like no other human
being except Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word. He shared
in it with her; he was involved in the same salvific event; he
was the guardian of the same love, through the power of which
the eternal Father "destined us to be his sons through Jesus
Christ" (Eph 1:5).
I
THE GOSPEL PORTRAIT
Marriage to Mary
2. "Joseph, Son of David,
do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins" (Mt 1:20-21).
In these words we find the
core of biblical truth about St. Joseph; they refer to that
moment in his life to which the Fathers of the Church make
special reference.
The Evangelist Matthew
explains the significance of this moment while also describing
how Joseph lived it. However, in order to understand fully both
its content and context, it is important to keep in mind the
parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke. In Matthew we read: "Now
the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his
mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit" (Mt
1:18). However, the origin of Mary's pregnancy "of the Holy
Spirit" is described more fully and explicitly in what Luke
tells us about the annunciation of Jesus' birth: "The angel
Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary" (Lk 1:26-27).
The angel's greeting: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with
you" (Lk 1:28) created an inner turmoil in Mary and also moved
her to reflect. Then the messenger reassured the Virgin and at
the same time revealed God's special plan for her: "Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call
his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of
the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of
his father David" (Lk 1:30-32).
A little earlier the
Gospel writer had stated that at the moment of the Annunciation,
Mary was "betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David." The nature of this "marriage" is explained indirectly
when Mary, after hearing what the messenger says about the birth
of the child, asks, "How can this be, since I do not know man?"
(Lk 1:34) The angel responds: "The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of
God" (Lk 1:35). Although Mary is already "wedded" to Joseph, she
will remain a virgin, because the child conceived in her at the
Annunciation was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
At this point Luke's text
coincides with Matthew 1:18 and serves to explain what we read
there. If, after her marriage to Joseph, Mary is found to be
with child of the Holy Spirit," this fact corresponds to all
that the Annunciation means, in particular to Mary's final
words: "Let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). In
response to what is clearly the plan of God, with the passing of
days and weeks Mary's "pregnancy" is visible to the people and
to Joseph; she appears before them as one who must give birth
and carry within herself the mystery of motherhood.
3. In these circumstances,
"her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her
to shame, resolved to send her away quietly" (Mt 1:19). He did
not know how to deal with Mary's "astonishing" motherhood. He
certainly sought an answer to this unsettling question, but
above all he sought a way out of what was for him a difficult
situation. "But as he considered this, 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; she will bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins'" (Mt 1:20-21).
There is a strict parallel
between the "annunciation" in Matthew's text and the one in
Luke. The divine messenger introduces Joseph to the mystery of
Mary's motherhood. While remaining a virgin, she who by law is
his "spouse" has become a mother through the power of the Holy
Spirit. And when the Son in Mary's womb comes into the world, he
must receive the name Jesus. This was a name known among the
Israelites and sometimes given to their sons. In this case,
however, it is the Son who, in accordance with the divine
promise, will bring to perfect fulfillment the meaning of the
name Jesus-Yehos ua' - which means "God saves."
Joseph is visited by the
messenger as "Mary's spouse," as the one who in due time must
give this name to the Son to be born of the Virgin of Nazareth
who is married to him. It is to Joseph, then, that the messenger
turns, entrusting to him the responsibilities of an earthly
father with regard to Mary's Son.
"When Joseph woke from
sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took
Mary as his wife" (cf. Mt 1:24). He took her in all the mystery
of her motherhood. He took her together with the Son who had
come into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way
he showed a readiness of will like Mary's with regard to what
God asked of him through the angel.
II
THE GUARDIAN OF THE
MYSTERY OF GOD
4. When, soon after the
Annunciation, Mary went to the house of Zechariah to visit her
kinswoman Elizabeth, even as she offered her greeting she heard
the words of Elizabeth, who was "filled with the Holy Spirit"
(Lk 1:41). Besides offering a salutation which recalled that of
the angel at the Annunciation, Elizabeth also said: "And blessed
is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what
was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1:45). These words were the
guiding thought of the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, in which I
sought to deepen the teaching of the Second Vatican Council,
which stated the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of
faith, and faithfully preserved her union with her Son even to
the cross,"(5) "preceding"(6) all those who follow Christ by
faith.
Now at the beginning of
this pilgrimage, the faith of Mary meets the faith of Joseph. If
Elizabeth said of the Redeemer's Mother, "blessed is she who
believed," in a certain sense this blessedness can be referred
to Joseph as well, since he responded positively to the word of
God when it was communicated to him at the decisive moment.
While it is true that Joseph did not respond to the angel's
"announcement" in the same way as Mary, he "did as the angel of
the Lord commanded him and took his wife." What he did is the
clearest "obedience of faith" (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26; 2 Cor
10:5-6).
One can say that what
Joseph did united him in an altogether special way to the faith
of Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing
that she had already accepted at the Annunciation. The Council
teaches: "'The obedience of faith' must be given to God as he
reveals himself. By this obedience of 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."(7) This statement, which
touches the very essence of faith, is perfectly applicable to
Joseph of Nazareth.
5. Therefore he became a
unique guardian of the mystery "hidden for ages in God" (Eph
3:9), as did Mary, in that decisive moment which St. Paul calls
"the fullness of time," when "God sent forth his Son, born of
woman...to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as sons" (Gal 4:4-5). In the words of the
Council: "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal
himself and to make known the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9).
His will was that men should have access to the Father, through
Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and become
sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph 2:18; 2 Pt 1 4)."(8)
Together with Mary, Joseph
is the first guardian of this divine mystery. Together with
Mary, and in relation to Mary, he shares in this final phase of
God's self-revelation in Christ and he does so from the very
beginning. Looking at the gospel texts of both Matthew and Luke,
one can also say that Joseph is the first to share in the faith
of the Mother of God and that in doing so he supports his spouse
in the faith of the divine annunciation. He is also the first to
be placed by God on the path of Mary's "pilgrimage of faith." It
is a path along which - especially at the time of Calvary and
Pentecost - Mary will precede in a perfect way.(9)
6. The path that was
Joseph's-his pilgrimage of faith - ended first, that is to say,
before Mary stood at the foot of the cross on Golgotha, and
before the time after Christ returned to the Father, when she
was present in the upper room on Pentecost, the day the Church
was manifested to the world, having been born in the power of
the Spirit of truth. Nevertheless, Joseph's way of faith moved
in the same direction: it was totally determined by the same
mystery, of which he, together with Mary, had been the first
guardian. The Incarnation and Redemption constitute an organic
and indissoluble unity, in which "the plan of revelation is
realized by words and deeds which are intrinsically bound up
with each other."(10) Precisely because of this unity, Pope John
XXIII, who had a great devotion to St. Joseph, directed that
Joseph's name be inserted in the Roman Canon of the Mass-which
is the perpetual memorial of redemption - after the name of Mary
and before the apostles, popes and martyrs.(11)
The Service of
Fatherhood
7. As can be deduced from
the gospel texts, Joseph's marriage to Mary is the juridical
basis of his fatherhood. It was to assure fatherly protection
for Jesus that God chose Joseph to be Mary's spouse. It follows
that Joseph's fatherhood - a relationship that places him as
close as possible to Christ, to whom every election and
predestination is ordered (cf. Rom 8:28-29) - comes to pass
through marriage to Mary, that is, through the family.
While clearly affirming
that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and
that virginity remained intact in the marriage (cf. Mt 1:18-25;
Lk 1:26-38), the evangelists refer to Joseph as Mary's husband
and to Mary as his wife (cf. Mt 1:16, 18-20, 24; Lk 1:27; 2:5).
And while it is important
for the Church to profess the virginal conception of Jesus, it
is no less important to uphold Mary's marriage to Joseph,
because juridically Joseph's fatherhood depends on it. Thus one
understands why the generations are listed according to the
genealogy of Joseph: "Why," St. Augustine asks, "should they not
be according to Joseph? Was he not Mary's husband?... Scripture
states, through the authority of an angel, that he was her
husband. Do not fear, says the angel, to take Mary your wife,
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Joseph
was told to name the child, although not born from his seed. She
will bear a son, the angel says, and you will call him Jesus.
Scripture recognizes that Jesus is not born of Joseph's seed,
since in his concern about the origin of Mary's pregnancy,
Joseph is told that it is of the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, he is
not deprived of his fatherly authority from the moment that he
is told to name the child. Finally, even the Virgin Mary, well
aware that she has not conceived Christ as a result of conjugal
relations with Joseph, still calls him Christ's father."(12)
The Son of Mary is also
Joseph's Son by virtue of the marriage bond that unites them:
"By reason of their faithful marriage both of them deserve to be
called Christ's parents, not only his mother, but also his
father, who was a parent in the same way that he was the
mother's spouse: in mind, not in the flesh."(13) In this
marriage none of the requisites of marriage were lacking: "In
Christ's parents all the goods of marriage were
realized-offspring, fidelity, the sacrament: the offspring being
the Lord Jesus himself; fidelity, since there was no adultery:
the sacrament, since there was no divorce."(14)
Analyzing the nature of
marriage, both St. Augustine and St. Thomas always identify it
with an "indivisible union of souls," a "union of hearts," with
"consent."(15) These elements are found in an exemplary manner
in the marriage of Mary and Joseph. At the culmination of the
history of salvation, when God reveals his love for humanity
through the gift of the Word, it is precisely the marriage of
Mary and Joseph that brings to realization in full "freedom" the
"spousal gift of self" in receiving and expressing such a
love.(16) "In this great undertaking which is the renewal of all
things in Christ, marriage-it too purified and renewed-becomes a
new reality, a sacrament of the New Covenant. We see that at the
beginning of the New Testament, as at the beginning of the Old,
there is a married couple. But whereas Adam and Eve were the
source of evil which was unleashed on the world, Joseph and Mary
arc the summit from which holiness spreads all over the earth.
The Savior began the work of salvation by this virginal and holy
union, wherein is manifested his all-powerful will to purify and
sanctify the family - that sanctuary of love and cradle of
life."(17)
How much the family of
today can learn from this! "The essence and role of the family
are in the final analysis specified by love. Hence the family
has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love, and this
is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God's love for
humanity and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church his
bride."(18) This being the case, it is in the Holy Family, the
original "Church in miniature (Ecclesia domestica),"(19) that
every Christian family must be reflected. "Through God's
mysterious design, it was in that family that the Son of God
spent long years of a hidden life. It is therefore the prototype
and example for all Christian families."(20)
8. St. Joseph was called
by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus directly through
the exercise of his fatherhood. It is precisely in this way
that, as the Church's Liturgy teaches, he "cooperated in the
fullness of time in the great mystery of salvation" and is truly
a "minister of salvation."(21) His fatherhood is expressed
concretely "in his having made his life a service, a sacrifice
to the mystery of the Incarnation and to the redemptive mission
connected with it; in having used the legal authority which was
his over the Holy Family in order to make a total gift of self,
of his life and work; in having turned his human vocation to
domestic love into a superhuman oblation of self, an oblation of
his heart and all his abilities into love placed at the service
of the Messiah growing up in his house."(22)
In recalling that "the
beginnings of our redemption" were entrusted "to the faithful
care of Joseph,"(23) the Liturgy specifies that "God placed him
at the head of his family, as a faithful and prudent servant, so
that with fatherly care he might watch over his only begotten
Son."(24) Leo XIII emphasized the sublime nature of this
mission: "He among all stands out in his august dignity, since
by divine disposition he was guardian, and according to human
opinion, father of God's Son. Whence it followed that the Word
of God was subjected to Joseph, he obeyed him and rendered to
him that honor and reverence that children owe to their
father."(25)
Since it is inconceivable
that such a sublime task would not be matched by the necessary
qualities to adequately fulfill it, we must recognize that
Joseph showed Jesus "by a special gift from heaven, all the
natural love, all the affectionate solicitude that a father's
heart can know."(26)
Besides fatherly authority
over Jesus, God also gave Joseph a share in the corresponding
love, the love that has its origin in the Father "from whom
every family in heaven and on earth is named" (Eph 3:15).
The Gospels clearly
describe the fatherly responsibility of Joseph toward Jesus. For
salvation-which comes through the humanity of Jesus-is realized
in actions which are an everyday part of family life, in keeping
with that "condescension" which is inherent in the economy of
the Incarnation. The gospel writers carefully show how in the
life of Jesus nothing was left to chance, but how everything
took place according to God's predetermined plan. The
oft-repeated formula, "This happened, so that there might be
fulfilled...," in reference to a particular event in the Old
Testament serves to emphasize the unity and continuity of the
plan which is fulfilled in Christ.
With the Incarnation, the
"promises" and "figures" of the Old Testament become "reality":
places, persons, events and rites interrelate according to
precise divine commands communicated by angels and received by
creatures who are particularly sensitive to the voice of God.
Mary is the Lord's humble servant, prepared from eternity for
the task of being the Mother of God. Joseph is the one whom God
chose to be the "overseer of the Lord's birth,"(27) the one who
has the responsibility to look after the Son of God's "ordained"
entry into the world, in accordance with divine dispositions and
human laws. All of the so-called "private" or "hidden" life of
Jesus is entrusted to Joseph's guardianship.
The Census
9. Journeying to Bethlehem
for the census in obedience to the orders of legitimate
authority, Joseph fulfilled for the child the significant task
of officially inserting the name "Jesus, son of Joseph of
Nazareth" (cf. Jn 1:45) in the registry of the Roman Empire.
This registration clearly shows that Jesus belongs to the human
race as a man among men, a citizen of this world, subject to
laws and civil institutions, but also "savior of the world."
Origen gives a good description of the theological significance,
by no means marginal, of this historical fact: "Since the first
census of the whole world took place under Caesar Augustus, and
among all the others Joseph too went to register together with
Mary his wife, who was with child, and since Jesus was born
before the census was completed: to the person who makes a
careful examination it will appear that a kind of mystery is
expressed in the fact that at the time when all people in the
world presented themselves to be counted, Christ too should be
counted. By being registered with everyone, he could sanctify
everyone; inscribed with the whole world in the census, he
offered to the world communion with himself, and after
presenting himself he wrote all the people of the world in the
book of the living, so that as many as believed in him could
then be written in heaven with the saints of God, to whom be
glory and power for ever and ever, Amen."(28)
The Birth at
Bethlehem
10. As guardian of the
mystery "hidden for ages in the mind of God," which begins to
unfold before his eyes "in the fullness of time," Joseph,
together with Mary, is a privileged witness to the birth of the
Son of God into the world on Christmas night in Bethlehem. Luke
writes: "And while they were there, the time came for her to be
delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped
him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there
was no place for them in the inn" (Lk 2:6-7).
Joseph was an eyewitness
to this birth, which took place in conditions that, humanly
speaking, were embarrassing-a first announcement of that
"self-emptying" (cf. Phil 2:5-8) which Christ freely accepted
for the forgiveness of sins. Joseph also witnessed the adoration
of the shepherds who arrived at Jesus' birthplace after the
angel had brought them the great and happy news (cf. Lk 2:15-
16) . Later he also witnessed the homage of the magi who came
from the East (cf. Mt 2:11).
The Circumcision
11. A son's circumcision
was the first religious obligation of a father, and with this
ceremony (cf. Lk 2:21) Joseph exercised his right and duty with
regard to Jesus.
The principle which holds
that all the rites of the Old Testament are a shadow of the
reality (cf. Heb 9:9f; 10:1) serves to explain why Jesus would
accept them. As with all the other rites, circumcision too is
"fulfilled" in Jesus. God's covenant with Abraham, of which
circumcision was the sign (cf. Gn 17:13), reaches its full
effect and perfect realization in Jesus, who is the "yes" of all
the ancient promises (cf. 2 Cor 1:20).
Conferral of the
Name
12. At the circumcision
Joseph names the child "Jesus." This is the only name in which
there is salvation (cf. Acts 4:12). Its significance had been
revealed to Joseph at the moment of his "annunciation": "You
shall call the child Jesus, for he will save his people from
their sins" (cf. Mt 1:21). In conferring the name, Joseph
declares his own legal fatherhood over Jesus, and in speaking
the name he proclaims the child's mission as Savior.
The Presentation of
Jesus in the Temple
13. This rite, to which
Luke refers (2:22ff.), includes the ransom of the first-born and
sheds light on the subsequent stay of Jesus in the Temple at the
age of twelve.
The ransoming of the
first-born is another obligation of the father, and it is
fulfilled by Joseph. Represented in the first-born is the people
of the covenant, ransomed from slavery in order to belong to
God. Here too, Jesus - who is the true "price" of ransom (cf. 1
Cor 6:20; 7:23; 1 Pt l:19) - not only "fulfills" the Old
Testament rite, but at the same time transcends it, since he is
not a subject to be redeemed, but the very author of redemption.
The gospel writer notes
that "his father and his mother marveled at what was said about
him" (Lk 2:23), in particular at what Simeon said in his
canticle to God, when he referred to Jesus as the "salvation
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light
for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people
Israel" and as a "sign that is spoken against" (cf. Lk 2:30-34).
The Flight into
Egypt
14. After the presentation
in the Temple the Evangelist Luke notes: "And when they had
performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they
returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the
child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor
of God was upon him" (Lk 2:39-40).
But according to Matthew's
text, a very important event took place before the return to
Galilee, an event in which divine providence once again had
recourse to Joseph. We read: "Now when [the magi] had departed,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and
said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,
and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search
for the child, to destroy him'" (Mt 2:13). Herod learned from
the magi who came from the East about the birth of the "king of
the Jews" (Mt 2:2). And when the magi departed, he "sent and
killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region
who were two years old or under" (Mt 2:16). By killing them all,
he wished to kill the new-born "king of the Jews" whom he had
heard about. And so, Joseph, having been warned in a dream,
"took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt,
and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill
what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, 'Out of Egypt have I
called my son' " (Mt 2:14-15; cf. Hos 11:1).
And so Jesus' way back to
Nazareth from Bethlehem passed through Egypt. Just as Israel had
followed the path of the exodus "from the condition of slavery"
in order to begin the Old Covenant, so Joseph, guardian and
cooperator in the providential mystery of God, even in exile
watched over the one who brings about the New Covenant.
Jesus' Stay in the
Temple
15. From the time of the
Annunciation, both Joseph and Mary found themselves, in a
certain sense, at the heart of the mystery hidden for ages in
the mind of God, a mystery which had taken on flesh: "The Word
became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). He dwelt among men,
within the surroundings of the Holy Family of Nazareth-one of
many families in this small town in Galilee, one of the many
families of the land of Israel. There Jesus "grew and became
strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him"
(Lk 2:40). The Gospels summarize in a few words the long period
of the "hidden" life, during which Jesus prepared himself for
his messianic mission. Only one episode from this "hidden time"
is described in the Gospel of Luke: the Passover in Jerusalem
when Jesus was twelve years old. Together with Mary and Joseph,
Jesus took part in the feast as a young pilgrim. "And when the
feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed
behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it" (Lk 2:43).
After a day's journey, they noticed his absence and began to
search "among their kinsfolk and acquaintances." "After three
days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard
him were amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Lk 2:47).
Mary asked: "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your
father and I have been looking for you anxiously" (Lk 2:48). The
answer Jesus gave was such that "they did not understand the
saying which he spoke to them." He had said, "How is it that you
sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's
house?" (Lk 2:49-50)
Joseph, of whom Mary had
just used the words "your father," heard this answer. That,
after all, is what all the people said and thought: Jesus was
the son (as was supposed) or Joseph" (Lk 3:23). Nonetheless, the
reply of Jesus in the Temple brought once again to the mind of
his "presumed father" what he had heard on that night twelve
years earlier: "Joseph...do not fear to take Mary your wife, for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." From that
time onwards he knew that he was a guardian of the mystery of
God, and it was precisely this mystery that the twelve- year-old
Jesus brought to mind: "I must be in my Father's house."
The Support and
Education of Jesus of Nazareth
16. The growth of Jesus
"in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Lk
2:52) took place within the Holy Family under the eyes of
Joseph, who had the important task of "raising" Jesus, that is,
feeding, clothing and educating him in the Law and in a trade,
in keeping with the duties of a father.
In the Eucharistic
Sacrifice, the Church venerates the memory of Mary the ever
Virgin Mother of God and the memory of St. Joseph,(29) because
"he fed him whom the faithful must eat as the bread of eternal
life."(30)
For his part, Jesus "was
obedient to them" (Lk 2:51), respectfully returning the
affection of his "parents." In this way he wished to sanctify
the obligations of the family and of work, which he performed at
the side of Joseph.
III
A JUST MAN A HUSBAND
17. In the course of that
pilgrimage of faith which was his life, Joseph, like Mary,
remained faithful to God's call until the end. While Mary's life
was the bringing to fullness of that fiat first spoken at the
Annunciation, at the moment of Joseph's own "annunciation" he
said nothing; instead he simply "did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him" (Mt 1:24). And this first "doing" became the
beginning of "Joseph's way." The Gospels do not record any word
ever spoken by Joseph along that way. But the silence of Joseph
has its own special eloquence, for thanks to that silence we can
understand the truth of the Gospel's judgment that he was "a
just man" (Mt 1:19).
One must come to
understand this truth, for it contains one of the most important
testimonies concerning man and his vocation. Through many
generations the Church has read this testimony with ever greater
attention and with deeper understanding, drawing, as it were,
"what is new and what is old" (Mt 13:52) from the storehouse of
the noble figure of Joseph.
18. Above all, the "just"
man of Nazareth possesses the clear characteristics of a
husband. Luke refers to Mary as "a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph" (Lk 1:27). Even before the "mystery
hidden for ages" (Eph 3:9) began to be fulfilled, the Gospels
set before us the image of husband and wife. According to Jewish
custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal, or
true marriage was celebrated, and then, only after a certain
period of time, the husband brought the wife into his own house.
Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her
"husband." Mary, however, preserved her deep desire to give
herself exclusively to God. One may well ask how this desire of
Mary's could be reconciled with a "wedding." The answer can only
come from the saving events as they unfold, from the special
action of God himself. From the moment of the Annunciation, Mary
knew that she was to fulfill her virginal desire to give herself
exclusively and fully to God precisely by becoming the Mother of
God's Son. Becoming a Mother by the power of the Holy Spirit was
the form taken by her gift of self: a form which God himself
expected of the Virgin Mary, who was "betrothed" to Joseph. Mary
uttered her fiat. The fact that Mary was "betrothed" to Joseph
was part of the very plan of God. This is pointed out by Luke
and especially by Matthew. The words spoken to Joseph are very
significant: "Do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which
has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20).
These words explain the mystery of Joseph's wife: In her
motherhood Mary is a virgin. In her, "the Son of the Most High"
assumed a human body and became "the Son of Man."
Addressing Joseph through
the words of the angel, God speaks to him as the husband of the
Virgin of Nazareth. What took place in her through the power of
the Holy Spirit also confirmed in a special way the marriage
bond which already existed between Joseph and Mary. God's
messenger was clear in what he said to Joseph: "Do not fear to
take Mary your wife into your home." Hence, what had taken place
earlier, namely, Joseph's marriage to Mary, happened in accord
with God's will and was meant to endure. In her divine
motherhood Mary had to continue to live as "a virgin, the wife
of her husband" (cf. Lk 1:27).
19. In the words of the
"annunciation" by night, Joseph not only heard the divine truth
concerning his wife's indescribable vocation; he also heard once
again the truth about his own vocation. This "just" man, who, in
the spirit of the noblest traditions of the Chosen People, loved
the Virgin of Nazareth and was bound to her by a husband's love,
was once again called by God to this love.
"Joseph did as the angel
of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife" into his home (Mt
1:24); what was conceived in Mary was "of the Holy Spirit." From
expressions such as these are we not to suppose that his love as
a man was also given new birth by the Holy Spirit? Are we not to
think that the love of God which has been poured forth into the
human heart through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rm 5:5) molds every
human love to perfection? This love of God also molds-in a
completely unique way-the love of husband and wife, deepening
within it everything of human worth and beauty, everything that
bespeaks an exclusive gift of self, a covenant between persons,
and an authentic communion according to the model of the Blessed
Trinity.
"Joseph. . .took his wife;
but he knew her not, until she had borne a son" (Mt 1:24-25).
These words indicate another kind of closeness in marriage. The
deep spiritual closeness arising from marital union and the
interpersonal contact between man and woman have their
definitive origin in the Spirit, the Giver of Life (cf. Jn
6:63). Joseph, in obedience to the Spirit, found in the Spirit
the source of love, the conjugal love which he experienced as a
man. And this love proved to be greater than this "just man"
could ever have expected within the limits of his human heart.
20. In the Liturgy, Mary
is celebrated as "united to Joseph, the just man, by a bond of
marital and virginal love."(31) There are really two kinds of
love here, both of which together represent the mystery of the
Church - virgin and spouse - as symbolized in the marriage of
Mary and Joseph. "Virginity or celibacy for the sake of the
Kingdom of God not only does not contradict the dignity of
marriage but presupposes and confirms it. Marriage and virginity
are two ways of expressing and living the one mystery of the
Covenant of God with his people."(32) the Covenant which is a
communion of love between God and human beings.
Through his complete
self-sacrifice, Joseph expressed his generous love for the
Mother of God, and gave her a husband's "gift of self." Even
though he decided to draw back so as not to interfere in the
plan of God which was coming to pass in Mary, Joseph obeyed the
explicit command of the angel and look Mary into his home, while
respecting the fact that she belonged exclusively to God.
On the other hand, it was
from his marriage to Mary that Joseph derived his singular
dignity and his rights in regard to Jesus. "It is certain that
the dignity of the Mother of God is so exalted that nothing
could be more sublime; yet because Mary was united to Joseph by
the bond of marriage, there can be no doubt but that Joseph
approached as no other person ever could that eminent dignity
whereby the Mother of God towers above all creatures. Since
marriage is the highest degree of association and friendship
involving by its very nature a communion of goods, it follows
that God, by giving Joseph to the Virgin, did not give him to
her only as a companion for life, a witness of her virginity and
protector of her honor: he also gave Joseph to Mary in order
that he might share, through the marriage pact, in her own
sublime greatness."(33)
21. This bond of charity
was the core of the Holy Family's life, first in the poverty of
Bethlehem, then in their exile in Egypt, and later in the house
of Nazareth. The Church deeply venerates this Family, and
proposes it as the model of all families. Inserted directly in
the mystery of the Incarnation, the Family of Nazareth has its
own special mystery. And in this mystery, as in the Incarnation,
one finds a true fatherhood: the human form of the family of the
Son of God, a true human family, formed by the divine mystery.
In this family, Joseph is the father: his fatherhood is not one
that derives from begetting offspring; but neither is it an
"apparent" or merely "substitute" fatherhood. Rather, it is one
that fully shares in authentic human fatherhood and the mission
of a father in the family. This is a consequence of the
hypostatic union: humanity taken up into the unity of the Divine
Person of the Word-Son, Jesus Christ. Together with human
nature, all that is human, and especially the family - as the
first dimension of man's existence in the world - is also taken
up in Christ. Within this context, Joseph's human fatherhood was
also "taken up" in the mystery of Christ's Incarnation.
On the basis of this
principle, the words which Mary spoke to the twelve-year-old
Jesus in the Temple take on their full significance: "Your
father and I...have been looking for you." This is no
conventional phrase: Mary's words to Jesus show the complete
reality of the Incarnation present in the mystery of the Family
of Nazareth. From the beginning, Joseph accepted with the
"obedience of faith" his human fatherhood over Jesus. And thus,
following the light of the Holy Spirit who gives himself to
human beings through faith, he certainly came to discover ever
more fully the indescribable gift that was his human fatherhood.
IV
WORK AS AN EXPRESSION
OF LOVE
22. Work was the daily
expression of love in the life of the Family of Nazareth. The
Gospel specifies the kind of work Joseph did in order to support
his family: he was a carpenter. This simple word sums up
Joseph's entire life. For Jesus, these were hidden years, the
years to which Luke refers after recounting the episode that
occurred in the Temple: "And he went down with them and came to
Nazareth, and was obedient to them" (Lk 2:51). This "submission"
or obedience of Jesus in the house of Nazareth should be
understood as a sharing in the work of Joseph. Having learned
the work of his presumed father, he was known as "the
carpenter's son." If the Family of Nazareth is an example and
model for human families, in the order of salvation and
holiness, so too, by analogy, is Jesus' work at the side of
Joseph the carpenter. In our own day, the Church has emphasized
this by instituting the liturgical memorial of St. Joseph the
Worker on May 1. Human work, and especially manual labor,
receive special prominence in the Gospel. Along with the
humanity of the Son of God, work too has been taken up in the
mystery of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a
special way. At the workbench where he plied his trade together
with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of
the Redemption.
23. In the human growth of
Jesus "in wisdom, age and grace," the virtue of industriousness
played a notable role, since "work is a human good" which
"transforms nature" and makes man "in a sense, more human."(34)
The importance of work in
human life demands that its meaning be known and assimilated in
order to "help all people to come closer to God, the Creator and
Redeemer, to participate in his salvific plan for man and the
world, and to deepen...friendship with Christ in their lives, by
accepting, through faith, a living participation in his
threefold mission as Priest, Prophet and King."(35)
24. What is crucially
important here is the sanctification of daily life, a
sanctification which each person must acquire according to his
or her own state, and one which can be promoted according to a
model accessible to all people: "St. Joseph is the model of
those humble ones that Christianity raises up to great
destinies;...he is the proof that in order to be a good and
genuine follower of Christ, there is no need of great things-it
is enough to have the common, simple and human virtues, but they
need to be true and authentic."(36)
V
THE PRIMACY OF THE
INTERIOR LIFE
25. The same aura of
silence that envelops everything else about Joseph also shrouds
his work as a carpenter in the house of Nazareth. It is,
however, a silence that reveals in a special way the inner
portrait of the man. The Gospels speak exclusively of what
Joseph "did." Still, they allow us to discover in his "actions"
- shrouded in silence as they are - an aura of deep
contemplation. Joseph was in daily contact with the mystery
"hidden from ages past," and which "dwelt" under his roof. This
explains, for example, why St. Teresa of Jesus, the great
reformer of the Carmelites, promoted the renewal of veneration
to St. Joseph in Western Christianity.
26. The total sacrifice,
whereby Joseph surrendered his whole existence to the demands of
the Messiah's coming into his home, becomes understandable only
in the light of his profound interior life. It was from this
interior life that "very singular commands and consolations
came, bringing him also the logic and strength that belong to
simple and clear souls, and giving him the power of making great
decisions-such as the decision to put his liberty immediately at
the disposition of the divine designs, to make over to them also
his legitimate human calling, his conjugal happiness, to accept
the conditions, the responsibility and the burden of a family,
but, through an incomparable virginal love, to renounce that
natural conjugal love that is the foundation and nourishment of
the family.(37)
This submission to God,
this readiness of will to dedicate oneself to all that serves
him, is really nothing less than that exercise of devotion which
constitutes one expression of the virtue of religion.(38)
27. The communion of life
between Joseph and Jesus leads us to consider once again the
mystery of the Incarnation, precisely in reference to the
humanity of Jesus as the efficacious instrument of his divinity
for the purpose of sanctifying man: "By virtue of his divinity,
Christ's human actions were salvific for us, causing grace
within us, either by merit or by a certain efficacy."(39)
Among those actions, the
gospel writers highlight those which have to do with the Paschal
Mystery, but they also underscore the importance of physical
contact with Jesus for healing (cf. for example, Mk 1:41), and
the influence Jesus exercised upon John the Baptist when they
were both in their mothers' wombs (cf. Lk 1:41-44).
As we have seen, the
apostolic witness did not neglect the story of Jesus' birth, his
circumcision, his presentation in the Temple, his flight into
Egypt and his hidden life in Nazareth. It recognized the
"mystery" of grace present in each of these saving "acts,"
inasmuch as they all share the same source of love: the divinity
of Christ. If through Christ's humanity this love shone on all
mankind, the first beneficiaries were undoubtedly those whom the
divine will had most intimately associated with itself: Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, and Joseph, his presumed father.(40)
Why should the "fatherly"
love of Joseph not have had an influence upon the "filial" love
of Jesus? And vice versa why should the "filial" love of Jesus
not have had an influence upon the "fatherly" love of Joseph,
thus leading to a further deepening of their unique
relationship? Those souls most sensitive to the impulses of
divine love have rightly seen in Joseph a brilliant example of
the interior life.
Furthermore, in Joseph,
the apparent tension between the active and the contemplative
life finds an ideal harmony that is only possible for those who
possess the perfection of charity. Following St. Augustine's
well-known distinction between the love of the truth (caritas
veritatis) and the practical demands of love (necessitas
caritatis),(41) we can say that Joseph experienced both love of
the truth-that pure contemplative love of the divine Truth which
radiated from the humanity of Christ-and the demands of
love-that equally pure and selfless love required for his
vocation to safeguard and develop the humanity of Jesus, which
was inseparably linked to his divinity.
VI
PATRON OF THE CHURCH IN
OUR DAY
28. At a difficult time in
the Church's history, Pope Pius IX, wishing to place her under
the powerful patronage of the holy patriarch Joseph, declared
him "Patron of the Catholic Church."(42) For Pius IX this was no
idle gesture, since by virtue of the sublime dignity which God
has granted to his most faithful servant Joseph, "the Church,
after the Blessed Virgin, his spouse, has always held him in
great honor and showered him with praise, having recourse to him
amid tribulations."(43)
What are the reasons for
such great confidence? Leo XIII explained it in this way: "The
reasons why St. Joseph must be considered the special patron of
the Church, and the Church in turn draws exceeding hope from his
care and patronage, chiefly arise from his having been the
husband of Mary and the presumed father of Jesus..., Joseph was
in his day the lawful and natural guardian, head and defender of
the Holy Family.... It is thus fitting and most worthy of
Joseph's dignity that, in the same way that he once kept
unceasing holy watch over the family of Nazareth, so now does he
protect and defend with his heavenly patronage the Church of
Christ."(44)
29. This patronage must be
invoked as ever necessary for the Church, not only as a defense
against all dangers, but also, and indeed primarily, as an
impetus for her renewed commitment to evangelization in the
world and to re-evangelization in those lands and nations
where-as I wrote in the Apostolic Exhortation Christideles
Laici - "religion and the Christian life were formerly
flourishing and...are now put to a hard test."(45) In order to
bring the first proclamation of Christ, or to bring it anew
wherever it has been neglected or forgotten, the Church has need
of special "power from on high" (cf. Lk 24:49; Acts 1:8): a gift
of the Spirit of the Lord, a gift which is not unrelated to the
intercession and example of his saints.
30. Besides trusting in
Joseph's sure protection, the Church also trusts in his noble
example, which transcends all individual states of life and
serves as a model for the entire Christian community, whatever
the condition and duties of each of its members may be.
As the Constitution on
Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council has said, the
basic attitude of the entire Church must be that of "hearing the
word of God with reverence,"(46) an absolute readiness to serve
faithfully God's salvific will revealed in Jesus. Already at the
beginning of human redemption, after Mary, we find the model of
obedience made incarnate in St. Joseph, the man known for having
faithfully carried out God's commands.
Pope Paul VI invited us to
invoke Joseph's patronage "as the Church has been wont to do in
these recent times, for herself in the first place, with a
spontaneous theological reflection on the marriage of divine and
human action in the great economy of the Redemption, in which
economy the first-the divine one-is wholly sufficient unto
itself, while the second-the human action which is ours-though
capable of nothing (cf. Jn 15:5), is never dispensed from a
humble but conditional and ennobling collaboration. The Church
also calls upon Joseph as her protector because of a profound
and ever present desire to reinvigorate her ancient life with
true evangelical virtues, such as shine forth in St.
Joseph."(47)
31. The Church transforms
these needs into prayer. Recalling that God wished to entrust
the beginnings of our redemption to the faithful care of St.
Joseph, she asks God to grant that she may faithfully cooperate
in the work of salvation; that she may receive the same
faithfulness and purity of heart that inspired Joseph in serving
the Incarnate World; and that she may walk before God in the
ways of holiness and justice, following Joseph's example and
through his intercession.(48)
One hundred years ago,
Pope Leo XIII had already exhorted the Catholic world to pray
for the protection of St. Joseph, Patron of the whole Church.
The Encyclical Epistle Quamquam Pluries appealed to
Joseph's "fatherly love...for the child Jesus" and commended to
him, as "the provident guardian of the divine Family," "the
beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by his blood."
Since that time-as I recalled at the beginning of this
Exhortation-the Church has implored the protection of St. Joseph
on the basis of "that sacred bond of charity which united him to
the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God," and the Church has
commended to Joseph all of her cares, including those dangers
which threaten the human family.
Even today we have many
reasons to pray in a similar way: "Most beloved father, dispel
the evil of falsehood and sin...graciously assist us from heaven
in our struggle with the powers of darkness...and just as once
you saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend
God's holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all
adversity."(49) Today we still have good reason to commend
everyone to St. Joseph.
32. It is my heartfelt
wish that these reflections on the person of St. Joseph will
renew in us the prayerful devotion which my Predecessor called
for a century ago. Our prayers and the very person of Joseph
have renewed significance for the Church in our day in light of
the Third Christian Millennium.
The Second Vatican Council
made all of us sensitive once again to the "great things which
God has done," and to that "economy of salvation" of which St.
Joseph was a special minister. Commending ourselves, then, to
the protection of him to whose custody God "entrusted his
greatest and most precious treasures,"(50) let us at the same
time learn from him how to be servants of the "economy of
salvation." May St. Joseph become for all of us an exceptional
teacher in the service of Christ's saving mission, a mission
which is the responsibility of each and every member of the
Church: husbands and wives, parents, those who live by the work
of their hands or by any other kind of work, those called to the
contemplative life and those called to the apostolate.
This just man, who bore
within himself the entire heritage of the Old Covenant, was also
brought into the "beginning" of the New and Eternal Covenant in
Jesus Christ. May he show us the paths of this saving Covenant
as we stand at the threshold of the next millennium,
in which there must be a continuation and further development of
the "fullness of time" that belongs the ineffable mystery of the
Incarnation of the Word.
May
St. Joseph obtain for the Church and for the world, as well as
for each of us, the blessing of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Given at Rome, in St. Peter's, on
August 15 - the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary - in the year 1989, the eleventh of my Pontificate.
JOHN PAUL II
NOTES
1.
Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, IV, 23, 1: S. Ch. 100/2,
pp. 692-694.
2.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889):
Leonis XIII P.M. Acta, IX (1890), pp. 175-182.
3.
Sacror. Rituum Congreg., Decr. Quemadmodum Deus (December 8,
1870): Pii IX P.M. Acta, pars I, vol. V, p. 282; Pius IX,
Apostolic Letter Inclytum Patriarcham (July 7, 1871): loc. cit.,
pp. 331-335.
4.
Cf. St. John Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. V, 3: PG 57, 57f. The
Fathers of the Church and the Popes, on the basis of their
common name, also saw in Joseph of Egypt a prototype of Joseph
of Nazareth, inasmuch as the former foreshadowed in some way the
ministry and greatness of the latter, who was guardian of God
the Father's most precious treasures-the Incarnate Word and his
most holy Mother: cf., for example, St. Bernard, Super "Missus
est," Hom. II, 16: S. Bernardi Opera, Ed. Cist., IV, 33f.; Leo
XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889):
loc. cit., p. 179.
5.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church, Lumen Gentium, 58.
6.
Cf. ibid., 63.
7.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, 5.
8.
Ibid., 2.
9.
Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church, Lumen Gentium, 63.
10.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, 2.
11.
Sacred Congregation of Rites, Decree Novis hisce temporibus
(November 13, 1962): AAS 54 (1962), p. 873.
12.
St. Augustine, Sermo 51, 10, 16: PL 38, 342.
13.
St. Augustine, De nuptiis et concupiscentia, I, 11, 12: PL 44,
421; cf. De consensu evangelistarum, II, 1, 2: PL 34, 1071;
Contra Faustum, III, 2: PL 42, 214.
14.
St. Augustine, De nuptiis et concupiscentia, I, 11, 13: PL 44,
421; cf. Contra Iulianum, V, 12, 46: PL 44, 810.
15.
Cf. St. Augustine, Contra Faustum, XXIII, 8: PL 42, 470f.; De
consensu evangelistarum, II, 1, 3: PL 34, 1072; Sermo, 51, 13,
21: PL 38, 344f.; St. Thomas, Summa Theol., III, q. 29, a. 2 in
conclus.
16.
Cf. Discourses of January 9, 16, February 20, 1980:
Insegnamenti, III/I (1980), pp. 88-92; 148-152; 428-431.
17.
Paul VI, Discourse to the "Equipes Notre-Dame" Movement (May 4,
1970), n. 7: AAS 62 (1970), p. 431. Similar praise of the Family
of Nazareth as a perfect example of domestic life can be found,
for example, in Leo XIII, Apostolic Letter Neminem fugit (June
14, 1892); Leonis XIII PM. Acta, XII (1892), p. 149f.; Benedict
XV, Motu Proprio Bonum sane (July 25, 1920): AAS 12 (1920), pp.
313- 317.
18.
Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (November 22, 1981),
17: AAS 74 (1982), p. 100.
19.
Ibid., 49: loc. cit., p. 140; cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Genhum, 11;
Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam
Actuositatem,11.
20.
Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (November 22, 1981),
85: loc. cit., pp. 189f.
21.
Cf. St. John Chrysostom, In Matth. Hom. V, 3: PG 57, 57f.
22.
Paul VI, Discourse (March 19, 1966): Insegnamenti, IV (1966), p.
110.
23.
Cf. Roman Missal, Collect for the Solemnity of St. Joseph,
Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
24.
Cf. ibid., Preface for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of
the Blessed Virgin Mary.
25.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889):
loc. cit., p. 178.
26.
Pius XII, Radio Message to Catholic School Students in the
United States of America (February 19, 1958): AAS 50 (1958),
p.174.
27.
Origen, Hom. XIII in Lucam, 7: S. Ch. 87, pp 214f.
28.
Origen, Hom. XI in Lucam, 6: S. Ch. 87, pp. 196f.
29.
Cf. Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer I.
30.
Sacror. Rituum Congreg., Decr. Quemadmodum Deus (December 8
1870): loc. cit., p. 282.
31.
Collectio Missarum de Beata Maria Virgine, 1, "Sancta Maria de
Nazareth," Praefatio.
32
Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (November 22, 1981),
16:106. cit., p. 98.
33.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889):
loc. cit., pp. 177f.
34.
Cf. Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens (September 14, 1981), 9:
AAS 73 (1981), pp. 599f.
35.
Ibid., 24: loc. cit., p. 638. The Popes in recent times have
constantly presented St. Joseph as the "model" of workers and
laborers; Cf., for example, Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle
Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889): loc. cit., p. 180; Benedict
XV, Motu proprio Bonum sane (July 25, 1920): loc. cit., pp.
314-316; Pius XII, Discourse (March 11, 1945), 4: AAS 37 (1945),
p. 72: Discourse (May 1, 1955): AAS 47 (1955), p. 406; John
XXIII, Radio Address (May 1, 1960): AAS 52 (1960), p. 398.
36.
Paul VI, Discourse (March 19, 1969): Insegnamenti, VII (1969),
p. 1268.
37.
Ibid.: loc. cit., p. 1267.
38.
Cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theol. II-IIae, q. 82, a. 3, ad 2.
39.
Ibid., III, q. 8, a. 1, ad 1.
40.
Cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Haurietis aquas (May 15, 1956),
III: AAS 48 (1956), pp. 329f.
41.
Cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theol. II-IIae, q. 182, a. 1, ad 3.
42.
Cf. Sacror. Rituum Congreg., Decr. Quemadmodum Deus (December 8,
1870): loc. cit., p.283.
43.
Ibid.: loc. cit., pp. 282f.
44.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889):
loc. cit., pp. 177-179.
45.
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifidele Laici (December
30, 1988), 34: AAS 81 (1989), p. 456.
46.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, 1.
47.
Paul VI, Discourse (March 19, 1969): Insegnamenti, VII (1969) p.
1269.
48.
Cf. Roman Missal, Collect, Prayer over the Gifts for the
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
Prayer after Communion from the Votive Mass of St. Joseph.
49.
Cf. Leo XIII, "Oratio ad Sanctum Iosephum," contained
immediately after the text of the Encyclical Epistle Quamquam
pluries (August 15, 1889)-Leonis XIII P.M. Acta, IX (1890), p.
183.
50.
Sacror Rituum Congreg., Decr. Quemadmodum Deus (December 8
1870): loc. cit., p. 282.
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