In this Issue »

P 2: Pope Leo XIII on St. Joseph

P 6: The Foster-Father of Jesus

P 8: Life of St. Joseph

P 12: Information Corner

C Jor esuFornax Ardens Caritatis, Miserere Nobis

» St. Joseph, Illustrious Son of David

A Parish Bulletin

Priory of the Most Sacred Heart

Palayamkottai

Sancta Maria Publications

March 2017 Issue: 3

To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs,

Primates, Archbishops, and other Ordinaries,

in Peace and Union with Holy See.

A lthough We have already many times ordered

special prayers to be offered up in the whole

world, that the interests of Catholicism might be insis-

tently recommended to God, none will deem it matter

for surprise that We consider the present moment an

opportune one for again inculcating the same duty.

During periods of stress and trial - chiefly when every

lawlessness of act seems permitted to the powers of

darkness - it has been the custom in the Church to

plead with special fervor and perseverance to God, her

author and protector, by recourse to the intercession of

the saints - and chiefly of the Blessed Virgin, Mother

of God - whose patronage has ever been the most effi-

cacious. The fruit of these pious prayers and of the

confidence reposed in the Divine goodness, has always,

sooner or later, been made apparent. Now, Venerable

Brethren, you know the times in which we live; they

are scarcely less deplorable for the Christian religion

than the worst days, which in time past were most full

of misery to the Church. We see faith, the root of all

the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see

charity growing cold; the young generation daily grow-

ing in depravity of morals and views; the Church of

Jesus Christ attacked on every side by open force or by

craft; a relentless war waged against the Sovereign

Pontiff; and the very foundations of religion under-

mined with a boldness which waxes daily in intensity.

These things are, indeed, so much a matter of notoriety

that it is needless for Us to expatiate on the depths to

which society has sunk in these days, or on the designs

which now agitate the minds of men. In circumstances

so unhappy and troublous, human remedies are insuffi-

cient, and it becomes necessary, as a sole resource, to

beg for assistance from the Divine power.

Begging St. Joseph’s Help

2. This is the reason why We have considered it

necessary to turn to the Christian people and urge them

to implore, with increased zeal and constancy, the aid

of Almighty God. At this proximity of the month of

October, which We have already consecrated to the

Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary,

We earnestly exhort the faithful to perform the exercises

2 Cor Jesu-March 2017

POPE LEO XIII ON ST. JOSEPH ENCYCLICAL QUAMQUAM PLURIES OF POPE LEO XIII

ON DEVOTION TO ST. JOSEPH

of this month with, if possible, even more piety and

constancy than heretofore. We know that there is sure

help in the maternal goodness of the Virgin, and We

are very certain that We shall never vainly place Our

trust in her. If, on innumerable occasions, she has dis-

played her power in aid of the Christian world, why

should We doubt that she will now renew the assistance

of her power and favor, if humble and constant prayers

are offered up on all sides to her? Nay, We rather

believe that her intervention will be the more marvel-

ous as she has permitted Us to pray to her, for so long

a time, with special appeals. But We entertain another

object, which, according to your wont, Venerable

Brethren, you will advance with fervor. That God may

be more favorable to Our prayers, and that He may

come with bounty and promptitude to the aid of His

Church, We judge it of deep utility for the Christian

people, continually to invoke with great piety and trust,

together with the Virgin-Mother of God, her chaste

Spouse, the Blessed Joseph; and We regard it as most

certain that this will be most pleasing to the Virgin

herself. On the subject of this devotion, of which We

speak publicly for the first time to-day, We know with-

out doubt that not only is the people inclined to it, but

that it is already established, and is advancing to full

growth. We have seen the devotion to St. Joseph, which

in past times the Roman Pontiffs have developed and

gradually increased, grow into greater proportions in

Our time, particularly after Pius IX., of happy memory,

Our predecessor, proclaimed, yielding to the request of

a large number of bishops, this holy patriarch the patron

of the Catholic Church. And as, moreover, it is of high

importance that the devotion to St. Joseph should

engraft itself upon the daily pious practices of Catholics,

We desire that the Christian people should be urged to

it above all by Our words and authority.

Motives for Calling Him the Universal Patron of the Church

3. The special motives for which St. Joseph has been

proclaimed Patron of the Church, and from which the

Church looks for singular benefit from his patronage

and protection, are that Joseph was the spouse of Mary

and that he was reputed the Father of Jesus Christ.

From these sources have sprung his dignity, his holi-

ness, his glory. In truth, the dignity of the Mother of

God is so lofty that naught created can rank above it.

But as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by

the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he

approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by

which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created

natures. For marriage is the most intimate of all unions

which from its essence imparts a community of gifts

between those that by it are joined together.

Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse,

God appointed him to be not only her life‟s compan-

ion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of

her honor, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a par-

ticipator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines

among all mankind by the most august dignity, since

by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God

and reputed as His father among men. Hence it came

about that the Word of God was humbly subject to

Joseph, that He obeyed him, and that He rendered to

him all those offices that children are bound to render

to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the

obligation which nature lays upon the head of families,

so that Joseph became the guardian, the administrator,

and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief

he was. And during the whole course of his life he ful-

filled those charges and those duties. He set himself to

protect with a mighty love and a daily solicitude his

spouse and the Divine Infant; regularly by his work he

earned what was necessary for the one and the other

for nourishment and clothing; he guarded from death

the Child threatened by a monarch‟s jealousy, and found

for Him a refuge; in the miseries of the journey and in

the bitternesses of exile he was ever the companion, the

assistance, and the upholder of the Virgin and of Jesus.

Now the divine house which Joseph ruled with the

authority of a father, contained within its limits the

scarce-born Church. From the same fact that the most

holy Virgin is the mother of Jesus Christ is she the

mother of all Christians whom she bore on Mount

Calvary amid the supreme throes of the Redemption;

Jesus Christ is, in a manner, the first-born of Christians,

who by the adoption and Redemption are his brothers.

Cor Jesu-March 2017 3

And for such reasons the Blessed Patriarch looks upon

the multitude of Christians who make up the Church

as confided specially to his trust – this limitless family

spread over the earth, over which, because he is the

spouse of Mary and the Father of Jesus Christ he holds,

as it were, a paternal authority. It is, then, natural and

worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the

needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with

his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of

his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus

Christ.

Joseph, Patron of Egypt, a figure of St. Joseph, Patron of the Church

4. You well understand, Venerable Brethren, that

these considerations are confirmed by the opinion held

by a large number of the Fathers, to which the sacred

liturgy gives its sanction, that the Joseph of ancient times,

son of the patriarch Jacob, was the type of St. Joseph,

and the former by his glory prefigured the greatness of

the future guardian of the Holy Family. And in truth,

beyond the fact that the same name – a point the

significance of which has never been denied – was

given to each, you well know the points of likeness that

exist between them; namely, that the first Joseph won

the favor and especial goodwill of his master, and that

through Joseph‟s administration his household came to

prosperity and wealth; that (still more important) he

presided over the kingdom with great power, and, in a

time when the harvests failed, he provided for all the

needs of the Egyptians with so much wisdom that the

King decreed to him the title “Savior of the world.”

Thus it is that We may prefigure the new in the old

patriarch. And as the first caused the prosperity of his

master‟s domestic interests and at the same time

rendered great services to the whole kingdom, so the

second, destined to be the guardian of the Christian

religion, should be regarded as the protector and

defender of the Church, which is truly the house of the

Lord and the kingdom of God on earth. These are the

reasons why men of every rank and country should fly

to the trust and guard of the blessed Joseph. Fathers of

families find in Joseph the best personification of

paternal solicitude and vigilance; spouses a perfect

example of love, of peace, and of conjugal fidelity; virgins

at the same time find in him the model and protector

of virginal integrity. The noble of birth will earn of

Joseph how to guard their dignity even in misfortune;

the rich will understand, by his lessons, what are the

goods most to be desired and won at the price of their

labor. As to workmen, artisans, and persons of lesser

degree, their recourse to Joseph is a special right, and

his example is for their particular imitation. For Joseph,

of royal blood, united by marriage to the greatest and

holiest of women, reputed the father of the Son of God,

passed his life in labor, and won by the toil of the

artisan the needful support of his family. It is, then, true

that the condition of the lowly has nothing shameful in

it, and the work of the laborer is not only not dishon-

oring, but can, if virtue be joined to it, be singularly

ennobled. Joseph, content with his slight possessions,

bore the trials consequent on a fortune so slender, with

greatness of soul, in imitation of his Son, who having

put on the form of a slave, being the Lord of life,

subjected himself of his own free-will to the spoliation

and loss of everything.

Patron and Example of Those Who Labor

5. Through these considerations, the poor and those

who live by the labor of their hands should be of good

heart and learn to be just. If they win the right of

emerging from poverty and obtaining a better rank by

lawful means, reason and justice uphold them in chang-

ing the order established, in the first instance, for them

by the Providence of God. But recourse to force and

struggles by seditious paths to obtain such ends are mad-

nesses which only aggravate the evil which they aim to

suppress. Let the poor, then, if they would be wise,

trust not to the promises of seditious men, but rather

to the example and patronage of the Blessed Joseph,

and to the maternal charity of the Church, which each

day takes an increasing compassion on their lot.

6. This is the reason why - trusting much to your

zeal and episcopal authority, Venerable Brethren, and

not doubting that the good and pious faithful will run

4 Cor Jesu-March 2017

beyond the mere letter of the law - We prescribe that

during the whole month of October, at the recitation

of the Rosary, for which We have already legislated, a

prayer to St. Joseph be added, the formula of which

will be sent with this letter, and that this custom should

be repeated every year. To those who recite this prayer,

We grant for each time an indulgence of seven years

and seven Lents. It is a salutary practice and very praise

worthy, already established in some countries, to con-

secrate the month of March to the honor of the holy

Patriarch by daily exercises of piety. Where this custom

cannot be easily established, it is as least desirable, that

before the feast-day, in the principal church of each

parish, a triduo of prayer be celebrated. In those lands

where the 19th of March - the Feast of St. Joseph - is

not a Festival of Obligation, We exhort the faithful to

sanctify it as far as possible by private pious practices, in

honor of their heavenly patron, as though it were a day

of Obligation.

7. And in token of heavenly favors, and in witness of

Our good-will, We grant most lovingly in the Lord, to

you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy and to your

people, the Apostolic blessing.

(Given from the Vatican, August 15th, 1889,

the 11th year of Our Pontificate.) - LEO XIII

Cor Jesu-March 2017 5

O Glorious Patriarch and Patron of the Catholic Church! O Virgin Spouse of God, and

guardian and foster father of the Incarnate Word! In the presence of Jesus and Mary, I

choose thee this day to be my guardian and father.

O thou whom God has constituted Head of the Holy Family, accept me, I beseech thee,

though utterly unworthy, to be a poor little servant in thy holy house. Present me to thy

Immaculate Spouse, ask her also to accept me as a servant and to adopt me as a child. With

her, teach me, thou who art a master of the interior life, how to converse constantly with

Jesus and how to serve Him faithfully in all things to the end of my life.

To thy custody was committed the Living Bread of Heaven, to be dispensed to thy

starving brethren. O, with Mary help me to prepare the poor stable of my heart to receive,

worthily and often, the Bread of my salvation. Let me receive it from thy hands and from

those of Mary, as often as I approach the Holy Table.

O my tender and watchful father, I hereby consecrate myself to thee; and I firmly

purpose and resolve never to leave thee, and never to say or do anything, nor to suffer any-

one under my charge to say or do anything, against thy honor! O thou head of the house of

God upon earth, in faithful imitation of Jesus and Mary, I place myself and all my concerns

under thy care and protection. To thee, after Jesus and Mary, I consecrate my body and soul

with all their faculties, my spiritual progress, my home, and all my affairs and undertakings.

Forsake me not, but adopt me as a servant and a child of the Holy Family. Watch over

me at all times, but especially in the last awful hour of my life on earth: then visit, console,

and strengthen me with Jesus and Mary, that with them and thee I may sing the praises of

the adorable Trinity for all eternity. Amen.

Act of Consecration to St. Joseph

T HAT Joseph was a man of holiness we know from

the Scriptures: of the nature and characteristics

of that holiness we have little direct testimony. The

Evangelist, St. Matthew, says of him, that he was a just

man, assigning to him a quality, which in the language

of Scripture, always implies the possession, in a harmo-

nious balance, of the moral and Theological Virtues.

The term is applied to others—as for instance, to

Zachary and Elizabeth, and it is therefore no indication

of there being anything in the quality of Joseph's holi-

ness which would distinguish it from, and exalt it above,

that of the other virtuous persons mentioned in Scrip-

ture. In the absence, therefore, of all direct evidence, it

is from an enquiry into the providential part Joseph was

called on to play, in the economy of the Redemption,

that we are to derive our knowledge of the greatness

and of the characteristics of the sanctity that distinguis-

hed the head of the Holy Family.

When God directly assigns a definite mission to a

creature, especially a mission having a close and intimate

relation with the Incarnation, He owes it to Himself to

impart to that creature a measure of grace proportioned

to the importance of the role to be fulfilled. It would

be thought that, starting from this easily accepted prin-

ciple, Sacred writers would, from the beginning, have

formed a lofty conception of the measure of divine grace

meted out to one who was privileged to be the Spouse

of the Mother of God, and to exercise all the rights and

functions of parental authority with regard to God‟s

Son. Yet strangely enough, this is not so. Joseph, called

by God to cast the veil of obscurity over the mystery of

the birth and the early years of Jesus Christ, has had his

own greatness enveloped in the shadow which it was his

function to project on the persons committed to his care

by Almighty God.

The very nature of his mission is the very cause of

the hiddenness of his sanctity. The constant care of the

Church to put clearly in evidence the miraculous virgin

birth of the Savior, during the first centuries of the

Church's history, caused the figure of Joseph to remain

in the background in the writings of the early Fathers.

But when, in the course of time, after the successive

heresies, attacking now the divinity, at another time the

humanity of the Savior, had been overthrown, the

Theology of the Incarnation had been fully developed

and the virginity of Mary clearly established, the Spirit

of God inspired saints and spiritual writers to turn to a

study of the mission and of the sanctity of the third

The Foster-Father of Jesus “Joseph, Son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife.” (Mt.l:20)

6 Cor Jesu-March 2017

FR. EDWARD LEEN

member of the Holy Family. Devotion to him then rap-

idly developed, and the investigations of the theologi-

ans revealed the solid foundation on which it is based. . .

…The universal patronage of St. Joseph is the direct

consequence of the mission confided to him on earth.

As the spouse of Mary and the guardian of Jesus, during

that period of the Savior's life on earth when He needed

care and protection, it is fitting that the care of the

Mystical Body of the same Jesus should be entrusted to

him, while it, too, is accomplishing its earthly pilgrim-

age. Because the Word of God on earth was submissive

to Joseph and rendered to him all the duties that children

render to their parents, there devolved on the earthly

shadow of the Eternal Father all the duties that nature

imposes on the heads of families—i.e., to be the guard-

ian, the administrator and the legitimate defender of

the home of which he is the head. St. Joseph exercised

these functions during his mortal life. He applied him-

self to protect with supreme love and tend with hourly

solicitude his spouse and the Divine Child. He saved

the Child from death when menaced by the jealousy of

Herod, and with commendable prudence and prompti-

tude snatched the Treasure confided to him away to a

place of safety. In the hardships of the journey and the

sorrows of exile he was the companion, the comfort

and the support of the Mother and the Infant.

By his work he earned what was necessary for their

support and provided for all their material wants. The

holy house which Joseph governed with the authority

of a father was, as it were, the Church of God in

its infancy. Mary is the Mother of Christ and, by

way of consequence, of all Christians, to whom

she, as it were, gave birth on Mount Calvary in

the midst of the final agony of the Redemption.

Jesus is the First-born of many brethren—that is,

of Christians who become of His family by that

adoption, that was merited for them in the Re-

demption. This is the reason why all Christians

are confided in a particular way to the protection

of Joseph. Again, the Church continues and per-

petuates in a mystical way the life of Christ: it is

therefore admirably fitting that the great saint

should continue to exercise the function of guardian

and protector of Jesus, perpetuating His sojourn on

earth in this mystic manner.

This patronage of St. Joseph is not without apposite-

ness: across the ages the Church in its trials, its works,

its sufferings, portrays to the eyes of faith the very

vicissitudes of the mortal life of Jesus. It is fitting that

just as of old the spouse of Mary attended to all the

wants of the Child at Nazareth and enveloped Him and

His Mother with the mantle of his protection, so he

should now extend his heavenly protection to the

Church and be constituted its accredited defender. In

the biblical Joseph, we recognize his prototype. As the

first brought success and prosperity to the domestic

interests of his Master and rendered marvelous services

to His Kingdom, so the second, destined to be the

guardian of the Christian religion, must be considered

as the protector and defender of the Church, which is

truly the house of the Lord and the Kingdom of God

on earth. This protection of Joseph is universal, ex-

tending itself not only to spiritual, but to temporal

needs as well. St. Teresa says that to the other saints is

accorded the grace to succor us in particular necessi-

ties, but to St. Joseph, to come to our assistance in all.

Therefore, in all necessities, both spiritual and tempo-

ral, recourse is to be had to Joseph.

Cor Jesu-March 2017 7

Joseph reveals himself to his brothers

8 Cor Jesu-March 2017

Life of St. Joseph

T he glorious St. Joseph was lineally de-

scended from the greatest kings of the

tribe of Juda, and from the most illustrious of

the ancient patriarchs; but his true glory con-

sisted in his humility and virtue. The history

of his life hath not been written by men: but

his principal actions are recorded by the Holy

Ghost himself. God entrusted him with the

education of his divine Son, manifested in the

flesh. In this view he was espoused to the

Virgin Mary. It is an evident mistake of some

writers, that by a former wife he was the

father of St. James the Less, and of the rest

who are styled in the gospels the brothers of our Lord:

for these were only cousin-germans to Christ, the sons

of Mary, sister to the Blessed Virgin, wife of Alphaeus,

who was living at the time of our Redeemer's crucifixion.

St. Jerome assures us that St. Joseph always preserved

his virgin chastity; and it is of faith that nothing con-

trary thereto ever took place with regard to his chaste

spouse, the blessed Virgin Mary. He was given her by

heaven to be the protector of her chastity, to secure her

from calumnies in the birth of the Son of God, and to

assist her in his education, and in her journeys, fatigues,

and persecutions. How great was the purity and sanctity

of him who was chosen the guardian of the most spot-

less Virgin! This holy man seems, for a considerable

time, to have been unacquainted that the great mystery

of the Incarnation had been wrought in her by the

Holy Ghost.

Conscious therefore of his own chaste behavior to-

wards her, it could not but raise a great concern in his

breast, to find that, notwithstanding the sanctity of her

deportment, yet he might be well assured that she was

with child. But being a just man, as the scripture calls

him, and consequently possessed of all virtues, especially

of charity and mildness towards his neighbor, he was

determined to leave her privately, without either con-

demning or accusing her, committing the whole cause

to God. These his perfect dispositions were so accept-

able to God, the lover of justice, charity, and peace, that

before he put his design in execution, he sent an angel

from heaven, not to reprehend anything in his holy

conduct, but to dissipate all his doubts and fears, by

revealing to him this adorable mystery.

How happy should we be if we were as tender in all

that regards the reputation of our neighbor; as free

from entertaining any injurious thought or suspicion,

whatever certainty our conjectures or our senses may

seem to rely on; and as guarded in our tongue! We

commit these faults, only because in our hearts we are

BUTLER’S LIVES OF THE SAINTS

Cor Jesu-March 2017 9

devoid of that true charity and simplicity whereof

St. Joseph sets us so eminent an example on this occasion.

In the next place we may admire in secret contem-

plation, with what devotion, respect, and tenderness,

he beheld and adored the first of all men, the new-born

Savior of the world, and with what fidelity he acquitted

himself of his double charge, the education of Jesus,

and the guardianship of his blessed Mother. “He was

truly the faithful and prudent servant” says St. Bernard,

“whom our Lord appointed; the master of his house-

hold, the comfort and support of his mother, his foster

father, and most faithful cooperator in the execution of

his deepest counsels on earth.” “What a happiness,”

says the same father, “not only to see Jesus Christ, but

also to hear him, to carry him in his arms, to lead him

from place to place, to embrace and caress him, to feed

him, and to be privy to all the great secrets which were

concealed from the princes of this world!”

“O astonishing elevation! O unparalleled dignity!”

cries out the pious Gerson, in a devout address to

St. Joseph, “that the mother of God, queen of heaven,

should call you her lord; that God himself, made man,

should call you father, and obey your commands. O

glorious Triad on earth, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, how dear

a family to the glorious Trinity in heaven, Father, Son,

and Holy Ghost! Nothing is on earth so great, so good,

so excellent.”

Amidst these his extraordinary graces, what more

wonderful than his humility! He conceals his privileges,

lives as the most obscure of men, publishes nothing of

God's great mysteries, makes no further inquiries into

them, leaving it to God to manifest them at his own

time, seeks to fulfil the order of providence in his regard,

without interfering with anything but what concerns

himself. Though descended from the royal family which

had long been in possession of the throne of Judaea, he

is content with his condition, that of a mechanic or

handicraftsman, and makes it his business, by laboring

in it, to maintain himself, his spouse, and the divine

Child.

We should be ungrateful to this great saint, if we

did not remember that it is to him, as the instrument

under God, that we are indebted for the preservation

of the infant Jesus from Herod's jealousy and malice,

manifested in the slaughter of the Innocents. An angel

appearing to him in his sleep, bade him arise, take the

child Jesus, and fly with him into Egypt, and remain

there till he should again have notice from him to return.

This sudden and unexpected flight must have exposed

Joseph to many inconveniences and sufferings in so

long a journey, with a little babe and a tender virgin,

the greater part of the way being through deserts, and

among strangers; yet he alleges no excuses, nor inquiries

at what time they were to return.

St. Chrysostom observes that God treats thus all his

servants, sending them frequent trials, to clear their

hearts from the rust of self-love, but intermixing seasons

of consolation. “Joseph,” says he, “is anxious on seeing

the Virgin with child, an angel removes that fear; he

rejoices at the child's birth, but a great fear succeeds;

the furious king seeks to destroy the child, and the

whole city is in an uproar to take away his life. This is

followed by another joy, the adoration of the Magi: a

new sorrow then arises; he is ordered to fly into a

foreign unknown country, without help or acquaintance.”

It is the opinion of the fathers, that upon their enter-

ing Egypt, at the presence of the child Jesus, all the

oracles of that superstitious country were struck dumb,

and the statues of their gods trembled, and in many

places fell to the ground, according to that of Isaiah xix,

10 Cor Jesu-March 2017

And the statues of the Egyptians shall be shaken in his

presence.

The fathers also attribute to this holy visit the spiri-

tual benediction poured on that country, which made it

for many ages most fruitful in saints.

After the death of king Herod, which was notified to

St. Joseph by a vision, God ordered him to return with

the child and his mother into the land of Israel, which

our saint readily obeyed. But when he arrived in

Judea, hearing that Archelaus succeeded Herod in that

part of the country, apprehensive he might be infected

with his father's vices—cruelty and ambition—he feared

on that account to settle there, as he would otherwise

probably have done, for the more commodious educa-

tion of the child. And therefore, being directed by God

in another vision, he retired into the dominions of his

brother, Herod Antipas, in Galilee, to his former habi-

tation in Nazareth, where the wonderful occurrences

of our Lord's birth were less known.

St. Joseph being a strict observer of the Mosaic law,

in conformity to its direction, annually repaired to

Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Archelaus, being

banished by Augustus, and Judea made a Roman prov-

ince, he had now nothing more to fear at Jerusalem.

Our Saviour being advanced to the twelfth year of his

age, accompanied his parents thither; who, having per-

formed the usual ceremonies of the feast, were now

returning with many of their neighbors and acquainta-

nce towards Galilee, and never doubting but that Jesus

had joined himself with some of the company, they

travelled on for a whole day‟s journey without further

inquiry after him, before they discovered that he was

not with them.

But when night came on, and they could hear no

tidings of him among their kindred and acquaintance,

they in the deepest affliction returned with the utmost

speed to Jerusalem, where, after an anxious search of

three days, they found him in the temple, sitting

among the learned doctors of the law, hearing them

discourse, and asking them such questions is raised the

admiration of all that heard him, and made them asto-

nished I at the ripeness of his understanding; nor were

his parents less surprised on this occasion. And when

his mother told him with what grief and earnestness

they had sought him, and to express her sorrow for

that, though short, privation of his presence, said to

him: “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold,

thy father and I sought thee, in great affliction of minds

he received for answer, that being the Messias and Son

of God, sent by his Father into the world in order to

redeem it, he must be about his Father's business, the

same for which he had been sent into the world; and

therefore that it was most likely for them to find him in

his Father's house; intimating that his appearing in

public on this occasion, was to advance his Father's

honor, and to prepare the princes of the Jews to receive

him for their Messias: pointing out to them from the

prophets the time of his coming.

But though in thus staying in the temple, unknown

to his parents, he did something without their leave, in

obedience to his heavenly Father, yet in all other things

he was obedient to them, returning with them to Naza-

reth, and there living in all dutiful subjection to them.

Aelred, abbot of Rieval, in his sermon on losing the

child Jesus in the temple, observes that this his conduct

to his parents is a true representation of that which he

shows us, whilst he often withdraws himself for a short

time from us to make us seek him the more earnestly.

He thus describes the sentiments of his holy parents on

this occasion: “Let us consider what was the happiness

of that blessed company, in the way to Jerusalem, to

whom it was granted to behold his face, to hear his

sweet words, to see in him the signs of divine wisdom

and virtue; and in their mutual discourse to receive the

influence of his saving truths and example. The old and

young admire him. I believe boys of his age were struck

with astonishment at the gravity of his manners and

words. I believe such rays of grace darted from his

blessed countenance as drew on him the eyes, ears, and

hearts of everyone. And what tears do they shed when

he is not with them.” He goes on considering what must

be the grief of his parents when they had lost him;

Cor Jesu-March 2017 11

what their sentiments, and how earnest their search;

but what their joy when they found him again.

“Discover to me,” says he, “O my Lady, Mother of

my God, what were your sentiments, what your aston-

ishment and your joy when you saw him again, and

sitting, not amongst boys, but amidst the doctors of the

law; when you saw every one's eyes fixed on him, every

one's ears listening to him, great and small, learned

and unlearned, intent only on his words and motions!

You now say: „I have found him whom I love. I will

hold him, and will no more let him part from me.‟

Hold him, sweet Lady, hold him fast; rush on his neck,

dwell on his embraces, and compensate the three days'

absence by multiplied delights in your present enjoyment

of him. You tell him that you and his father sought him

in grief. For what did you grieve? not for fear of hunger

or want in him whom you knew to be God; but I believe

you grieved to see yourself deprived of the delights of his

presence even for a short time; for the Lord Jesus is so

sweet to those who taste him, that his shortest absence

is a subject of the greatest grief to them.”

This mystery is an emblem of the devout soul, and

Jesus sometimes withdrawing himself, and leaving her

in dryness, that she may be more earnest in seeking him.

But above all, how eagerly ought the soul which has

lost God by sin, to seek him again, and how bitterly

ought she to deplore her extreme misfortune!

As no further mention is made of St. Joseph, he must

have died before the marriage of Cana, and the beginn-

ing of our divine Saviour's ministry. We cannot doubt

but he had the happiness of Jesus and Mary attending

at his death, praying by him, assisting and comforting

him in his last moments. Whence he is particularly

invoked for the great grace of a happy death, and the

spiritual presence of Jesus in that tremendous hour.

The Church reads the history of the patriarch Joseph

on his festival, who was styled the saviour of Egypt,

which he delivered from perishing by famine; and was

appointed the faithful master of the household of Putiphar,

and of that of Pharoah and his kingdom. But our great

saint was chosen by God the saviour of the life of him

who was the true Saviour of the souls of men, rescuing

him from the tyranny of Herod. He is now glorified in

heaven, as the guardian and keeper of his Lord on earth.

As Pharoah said to the Egyptians in their distress: “Go

to Joseph” so may we confidently address ourselves to

the mediation of him, to whom God, made man, was

subject and obedient on earth.

The holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pre-

sents to us the most perfect model of heavenly conver-

sation on earth. How did those two seraphim, Mary

and Joseph, live in their poor cottage! They always

enjoyed the presence of Jesus, always burning with the

most ardent love for him, inviolably attached to his

sacred person, always employed and living only for

him. What were their transports in beholding him,

their devotion in listening to him, and their joy in

possessing him! O heavenly life! O anticipation of the

heavenly bliss! O divine conversation! We may imitate

them, and share some degree of this advantage, by con-

versing often with Jesus, and by the contemplation of

his most amiable goodness, kindling the fire of his holy

love in our breasts. The effects of this love, if it be sin-

cere, will necessarily appear in our putting on his spirit,

and in imitating his example and virtues, and in our

studying to walk continually in the divine presence,

finding God everywhere, and esteeming all the lime

lost which we do not spend with God, or for his honor.

“I chose the glorious St. Joseph for my patron, and I commend myself in all things

singularly to his intercession. I do not remember ever to have asked of God anything by

him which I did not obtain. I never knew any one, who, by invoking him, did not

advance exceedingly in virtue; for he assists in a wonderful manner all who address

themselves to him.” - St. Theresa of Avila

12 Cor Jesu-March 2017

INFORMATION CORNER

Society

of

St. Pius X

Rev. Fr. Therasian Babu (Prior)

Rev. Fr. John Hattrup

Br. Francis

8A/3, Annie Nagar, Seevalaperi Road Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli - 627 002. Ph. [91] 462 2586201.

Consoling

Sisters of

the Sacred

Heart

Sr. Maria Immaculata

(Mother Prioress)

Opp: Government High School Burkitmanagarm,

Tirunelveli - 627 351.

Ph. [91] 462 2583255.

Reparation

Sisters

of the

Immaculate

Heart

Sr. Maria Agatha (Mother Prioress)

Plot No. 5/6, “R.S. Bhavan”

7th Main Road, Senthil Nagar

KTC Nagar, Maharaja Nagar P.O.

Tirunelveli - 627 011.

Mass Times

Sundays 7.30 am

Weekdays 7.15 am

Second Class Feasts (Sung Mass) 7.00 am

Rosary (Daily) 6.30 pm

Benediction (every Thursday & Second Class Feast) 6.30 pm

Holy Hour (every 1st Friday) 6.30 pm

Vespers & Benediction (every Sunday) 5.30 pm

Mass Stipends

Individual Rs. 200/-

Novena (9 Masses) Rs. 2000/-

Gregorian Mass (30 Masses) Rs. 8000/-

(Sorry, currently we are unable to take any Gregorian Masses)

Date

05th March - 2017 07:30 Fr. TB

11:30 Fr. TB

17:30 Fr. JH

11:30 Fr. JH

07:30 Fr. JH

18:00 Fr. TB

12:30 Fr. BW

07:30 Fr. BW

12th March - 2017 07:30 Fr. TB

11:30 Fr. TB

07:30 Fr. JH

11:30 Fr. JH

18:00 Fr. TB

07:30 Fr. BW

17:00 Fr. BW

19th March - 2017 07:30 Fr. TB

11:30 Fr. TB

07:30 Fr. JH

17:00 Fr. JH

18:00 Fr. TB

26th March - 2017 07.30 Fr. TB

11:30 Fr. TB

07:30 Fr. JH

11:30 Fr. JH

18:00 Fr. TB

07:30 Fr. KS

17:00 Fr. KS

Pa

lay

am

ko

tta

i

N

ag

erc

oil

A

sa

rip

all

am

C

hri

stu

raja

pu

ram

T

uti

co

rin

T

ric

hy

C

he

nn

ai

ALL INDIA SCHEDULE

S

ing

am

pa

rai

Fr. Therasian Babu Fr. John Hattrup Fr. Benoit Wailliez Fr. Karl Stehlin