What did a disciple of the Apostle St. John who Jesus made the son of
His Mother Mary on the cross say about the Holy Family vs. Satan?
The disciple of St. John named St. Ignatius (30-107) wrote:
"[U]nknown to thee [Satan]; the virginity of Mary; the wonderful birth;
Who it was that became incarnate... the removal into Egypt and return
from that country to the same region... the name [Joseph] of the father
given to Him who did not beget."
(The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians, Chap.
VIII. - Continuation: Ignorance of Satan, American Reprint of Edinburgh
Edition)
God the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, choose to defeat Satan by
blinding him in ignorance of Jesus' Incarnation, Mary's Virginity and
Joseph's Name as well as by the saint's protection of the Holy Family.
On this Feast of the Holy Family it seemed like a good time to write about the head of the Holy Family.
One of the best book on St. Joseph is titled "Joseph, Shadow of the Father" by Fr. Andrew Doze.
I think that the general thesis of Doze's book is correct:
Which is that devotion to Our Lady, as being the best way to Jesus, can't be separated from devotion to St. Joseph.
Fr. Doze who was a chaplain at Lourdes wrote it is through St. Joseph that we "experience" Jesus through Mary:
"St. John of the Cross [wrote]... 'God grants her [Mary] the favor of
attaining to being deiform and united in the Most Holy Trinity, wherein
she becomes God by participation, how is it a thing incredible that she
should perform her work of understanding, knowledge and love in the
Trinity, together with It, like the Trinity Itself, by a mode of
participation, which God effects in the soul Itself?'"9
"It pleased God that Joseph should be the first to have experienced
these wonders in Mary. As for us, it is in Joseph and Mary that we are
called to experience them."
(Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father, Pages 83-84 and Footnote 9: The
Complete Works of St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, 38, vol. 2,
p. 160)
Next, here is St. Francis de Sales's hard to find St. Joseph prayer:
Render Possible for us the most Impossible Things
"Glorious St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, grant us thy paternal protection,
we beseech thee by the Heart of Jesus Christ. O thou whose power extends
to all our necessities and can render possible for us the impossible
things, open thy fatherly eyes to the needs of thy children."
"In the trouble and distress which afflicts us, we confidently have
recourse to thee. Deign to take under your charitable charge this
important and difficult matter, cause of our worries. Makes its happy
outcome be for God's glory and for the good of His devoted servants.
Amen."
If you are troubled in any way remember to go to the humble Joseph
because he and Mary are the Royal Road of King David to Jesus who can't
resist their requests because he loves them so much and because of the
Commandment to honor your parents.
Lastly, the great scholar Fr. Doze said go to St. Joseph who listened to the Voice of God through the angels of God.
In this confusing times of the Francis Crisis go to Joseph and he will
help you even if you are confused and don't understand at the moment
what to do:
"Normally, one understands and then does; in the case of Joseph, one does and then understands."
Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis's Amoris Laetitia.