Today is the final day of this Novena to St. Joseph. It concludes on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and is offered as a present to Maria Immaculata. The Novena serves also to mark formally the inclusion of reverence for St. Joseph in our daily prayers, following the example of Santa Teresa of Jesus and Sainte Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
9) a) Jesus is lost and found
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| Jesus is lost. J-J Tissot |
Whom once as lost thou didst deplore,
When from the Feast returning;
But in the Temple find once more,
'Midst doctors Him discerning. Hail Mary.
Quem ad festum transiens:
dolenter perdidisti:
sed mox templum adiens:
gaudenter repperisti. Ave Maria.
Thou didst notice with sorrow that Jesus was missing while returning from the Feast; but returning swiftly to the Temple, there didst thou find Him with joy.
Gospel account
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| Jesus is found in the Temple. J-J Tissot |
And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch, and when He was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. Thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. Not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him.
It came to pass, that, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. All that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and his answers. Seeing Him, they wondered. And His mother said to him: ‘Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.’ And He said to them: ‘How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?’ And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. [Luke ii]
Adoremus in æternum Sanctissimum Infantem!
9) b) The Hidden Life
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| The hidden life. J-J Tissot |
Whom thou didst bring up at thy side,
Due care and toil expending;
And for His food and needs provide,
His holy childhood tending. Hail Mary.
Quem manuum per opera:
sollicite nutrivisti:
et in aetate tenera:
in omnibus providisti. Ave Maria.
Thou didst carefully rear Him by the labour of thy hands; and in His tender years thou didst provide for Him in all things.
Gospel account
Jesus went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. His mother kept all these words in her heart. Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men. [Luke II]
Notes
Our Lord learned Joseph’s craft and worked with him until Joseph’s death. In the course of His work, Jesus would have handled hammers, nails and wood - the instruments of His Passion many years later. Here in his picture, Tissot shows Our Lord carrying wood on His shoulder, presaging the Via Crucis culminating in His redemptive death on the Cross. A seated Mary looks on; a close examination of the painting reveals Tissot has made the Holy Face of Jesus similar to that of His Mother.
Standing by the arch, Joseph watches his foster-son with a keen and thoughtful gaze. In his portrayal of Joseph with a white beard, Tissot has followed a traditional belief that Joseph was much older than Mary. This might explain why there are no references to him in the Gospels after the extract from Luke above.
The tradition continues by inferring that Joseph died whilst consoled by the presence of both Jesus and Mary. For this reason, many pray to St Joseph for a holy death:
Oratio, pro felici morte impetranda
Prayer asking for a happy death
O SAINT JOSEPH, thou left this life in the gentle embrace of thy sweet spouse Mary and thy adopted son Jesus. Help me, O holy Father, along with Jesus and Mary, that at the appointed time when death puts an end to my life; obtain for me the one thing I ask, that same solace, so that in those same arms of Jesus and Mary I may expire. Into your hands, O Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, living and dying I commend my spirit! Amen.
O S. IOSEPH! qui in suavissimo Iesu clientis tui, et dulcissimae sponsæ tuae Mariæ complexu ex hac vita emigrasti: succurre mihi, o S. Pater! cum Iesu et Maria, tunc potissimum, quando mors vitæ meæ finem imponet; illudque (quod unice peto) solatium mihi impetra, ut in iisdem sanctissimis Iesu et Mariæ brachiis exspirem. In manus vestras vivens et moriens commendo spiritum meum, Iesu, Maria, Ioseph! Amen.
Another prayer for the same end is the following one which I learned as a child. I have used the first person plural so as to offer the prayer on behalf of those souls whom the Lord committed to my charge:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph: we give you our hearts and our souls;
Jesus, Mary and Joseph: assist us in our last agonies;
Jesus, Mary and Joseph: may be breathe forth our souls in peace with you. Amen.
Conclusion
This post concludes with a further gift in honour Maria Immaculata and her spouse most chaste: a poem written by Ste Thérèse to St Joseph in 1894. I have attempted a translation into English, retaining the metre and rhyming scheme of the French original.
- 1 -
Joseph, votre admirable vie
Se passa dans l'humilité;
Mais de Jésus et de Marie
Vous contempliez la beauté!
Le Fils de Dieu dans son enfance,
Plus d'une fois, avec bonheur,
Soumis à votre obéissance
S'est reposé sur votre cœur!
Oh Joseph, how extraordinary,
Thy life was meek with humble duty
Yet Jesus and His mother Mary
Thou could'st admire in all their beauty.
The Son of God as child and youth
Full oftentimes with joy was bless'd
Obedient to thee in truth
Upon thy heart he'd gladly rest.
- 2 -
Comme vous dans la solitude
Nous servons Marie et Jésus;
Leur plaire est notre seule étude,
Nous ne désirons rien de plus.
Sainte Thérèse, Notre Mère,[1]
En vous se confiait toujours;
Elle assure que sa prière
Vous l'exauciez d'un prompt secours.
Like thee we too in solitude
Do serve the Lord and mother Mary;
Their pleasure our solicitude,
Our wish that we shall never vary.
Teresa, saint and founding Mother,1
Did ever place her trust in thee,
Assuring thou wouldst, like no other,
Bestow thine aid full speedily.
- 3 -
Quand l'épreuve sera finie,
Nous en avons le doux espoir,
Près de la divine Marie,
O Père, nous irons vous voir!
Alors nous lirons votre histoire
Inconnue au monde mortel;
Nous découvrirons votre gloire
Et la chanterons dans le ciel.
When trials of life at length subside
May tender hope our hearts enfold
And, keeping close by Mary’s side,
Oh Father, may we thee behold!
Then shall we learn thy secret story
Concealed while thou wast here below,
Discovering thy wondrous glory
The which to hymn for evermoe.
[1] St Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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