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This exercise, to be made in preparation for the feast of St. Joseph on March 19, begins today. Let us unite in praying for Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI as he prepares to retire, as well as for the conclave in which the new Pope will be elected. And please remember my family in your prayers as we are faced with major decisions.
Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and
helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans,
the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly
on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so
I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth,
do I go for help and protection.
Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my
earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask. I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our
nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.
I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the
inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born.
Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth
to the world's Redeemer in a cave.
I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which
declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great
love for us. I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the
life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to
flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering,
weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during
your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it
by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows. I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother
for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the
comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask
it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to
depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy
which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell,
entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors. I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you
have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me
and obtain for me what I ask.
(make your request)
Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the
plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to
me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
The holy bishop speaks:
Consider first, that fasting, according to the present discipline of
the Church, implies three things. First, we are to abstain from flesh
meat on fasting days; secondly, we are to eat but one meal in the day;
and thirdly, we are not to take that meal till about noon. The ancient
discipline of the Church was more rigorous, both in point of the
abstinence, and in not allowing the meal in Lent till the evening. These
regulations are calculated to mortify the sensual appetite by penance
and self-denial. If you find some difficulty in the observance of them,
offer it up to God for your sins. Fasting is not designed to please, but
to punish. Your diligent compliance on this occasion with the laws of
your mother the Church will also give an additional value to your
mortifications, from the virtue of obedience.
Consider 2ndly, that we must not content ourselves with the outward
observance of these regulations that relate to our diet on fasting days,
but we must principally have regard to the inward spirit, and what we
may call the very soul of the fast, which is a penitential spirit;
without this the outward observance is but like a carcass without life.
This penitential spirit implies a deep sense of the guilt of our sins; a
horror and a hearty sorrow for them; a sincere desire to return to God,
and to renounce our sinful ways for the future; and particularly a
readiness of mind to make the best satisfaction we are capable of to
divine justice by penancing ourselves for our sins. Fasting, performed
in this spirit, cannot fail of moving God to mercy. O my soul, let thy
fasting be always animated with this spirit
Consider 3rdly, that fervent prayer and alms-deeds also, according
to each one’s ability, ought to be the inseparable companions of our
fasting. These three sisters should go hand-in-hand, Tob. xii. 8, to
help us in our warfare against our three mortal enemies, the flesh, the
world, and the devil. The practice of these three eminent good works we
must oppose to that triple concupiscence which reigns in the world, and
by means of which Satan maintains his unhappy reign. By fasting we
overcome the lusts of the flesh by alms-deeds we subdue the lusts of the
eyes, by which we are apt to covet the mammon of the world, and its
empty toys; and by fervent and humble prayer we conquer the pride of
life, and put to flight the devil, the king of pride. O let us never
forget to call in these powerful auxiliaries to help us in our warfare.
Let alms-deeds and prayer ever accompany our fasts.
Conclude to follow these rules, if you desire your fast should be
acceptable; if you fail in them, it will not be such a fast as God hath
chosen. (Read entire post.)
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