Chapter 4 : Love – a third feature of the gratitude we owe the Mother of God
Continuing our translation of the 1845 reprint of Fr François Poiré’s Triple Crown of the Mother of God (1643 French edition).
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| Notre Dame des Grâces, Cotignac (Poggi, 2020) |
§ 6. The sixth sign of love: loving for love of Mary all those who belong to her, whether through family, marriage, or election ; wherein special mention is made of St Joachim, St Anne and St Joseph
23 He was Father through the power he enjoyed in virtue of being the true and lawful superior of the Mother and the Son (insofar as He was man). The divine Child respected this superiority throughout His life and showed greater obedience to St Joseph than any son ever did to his father. Here is what St Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna, has to say in this connection[1]:
As soon as the Creator of all things had scaled down His greatness into the smallness of our flesh, He wanted to have His own country just like other men and be considered an inhabitant of Judea. He who was the Father of all wanted to have His own father and mother; He wanted to invite people unto Him through love, attract people through charity, conquer hearts through affection and to win back through His humanity those who had been oppressed by tyranny, driven away by fear and cut off from God’s kind nature and generosity.
We should remember that the superiority of St Joseph has the authority of letters patent in Heaven itself guaranteeing his right. Consider, for example, what happened when it came to calling the Saviour by the name of Jesus : the commission was addressed to St Joseph[2] as well as to the Blessed Virgin[3]; and when their little infant had to be taken to Egypt to protect Him from Herod’s fury : the Angel spoke directly to St Joseph; or when they had to bring Him back to Nazareth : it was St Joseph who received the order[4]. To sum up : Joseph takes charge of everything and nothing is done without his authority.
Footnotes
[1] Serm. 150.
[2] And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins. Matt. i. 21.
[3] Matt. ii. 13. & 19-20.
[4] Matt. ii. 13. & 19-20.
24 He was also fFather in the sense of being the one who supplied food and other essentials for Jesus.
How loyal and prudent this man must have been, says the pious Saint Bernard[1], who alone was sought out by God to be a source of support for His Mother and a most faithful helper for the Angel of Great Counsel[2], supplying him with food and other necessaries.
Footnotes
[1] Homil. 3 super Missus.
[2] A reference to Our Lord in Isaiah ix. 6. of the Septuagint.
25 He was a Father through his love and through his affection. There never was a heart with fatherly tenderness comparable to that of Blessed St Joseph. Where could words be found to describe the emotions in Joseph’s heart when he gazed upon the Creator of all things as a newborn baby, when he saw His blood shed at the Circumcision, when he saw Him adored by the Magi and when he personally witnessed other mysteries which would so touch the hearts of those who could only picture them in their imaginations? Who could find words to speak of his ardent feelings when he held his Son, when he embraced Him and when he kissed this child so utterly heavenly and ablaze with the fire of divine love? When he dressed Him, when he carried Him, when he caressed Him and was caressed in return? When this little child, the delight of Heaven and earth, squeezed him with His tiny hands, when He kissed him with His holy lips, and when He made His first attempts to call him His Father? And, as He grew older, when He asked him for jobs to do, when He followed his instructions carefully, when He worked alongside him and whilst working would occasionally glance at him in a way which would inflame even the coldest hearts in the world with love? Whenever St Joseph came home after going out, his Son would embrace him warmly and prepare some refreshment which He would present to him with a demeanour that would enrapture the Angels of Heaven. What were the thoughts and feelings of Joseph when he saw this child sweeping the house, setting the table, answering the door and doing other chores with the same willingness that He did everything else? But when his Son began to speak from His sacred lips when He spoke to them of holy things and His speech was sweeter than honey and ambrosia, what person would not have felt his heart melting in happiness and would not have swooned with delight?
Going beyond this, consider what it must have been like to lead this life and to enjoy the presence of this company for the space of thirty whole years; to live such a long time amidst the innocent caresses of the Saviour’s childhood, amongst the self restraint and virtuousness of His adolescence, amongst the divine actions, examples and instruction which were His after He came of age ; and to enjoy the daily conversation and interaction with a Princess who was the sweetest , the most holy and the most accomplished there has ever been : was this nothing less than the equivalent of living for whole centuries in the company of the Blessed Spirits? Who would be able to describe, I mean truly describe, the gratitude of the Saviour towards St Joseph for all the toil and trouble he took for the sake of his Son? Who could tell how greatly God appreciated him, raising him to this dignity of Father, provider and guide for His only-begotten Son? If the love that the Redeemer of the world bore for St John expressed itself sufficiently in the way He commended His Holy Mother to him whilst he was dying on the Cross; if the affection He felt towards St Peter revealed itself sufficiently in the commission He gave him to feed his sheep; and if the Saints raise one another up to heaven as a result of such caresses and such commissions, just try to imagine how highly God must have esteemed St Joseph. To which of the Angels has the Word incarnate ever said: You are my Father, you are my Guide and my Superior, as having authority over me by the express commission that you received from my heavenly Father? It is this consideration which pulls me up short and makes me conclude that they are right who say that St Joseph yields in nothing to the glorious Spirits, since he is an Angel through his purity, an Archangel through his office, a Principality through his dominion, a Power through his commission, a Virtue through his actions, a Domination through his work, a Throne through his service, a Cherub through his knowledge and a Seraph through his love.
© Peter Bloor 2025
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.
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