This is part of the Consecration to St. Joseph Set

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DAY 4: Saint Louis de Montfort coined the phrase “To Jesus through Mary.”  If St. Louis were preaching today, he would most likely be heard extolling the wonders of St. Joseph as well.

DAY 4: God, the Son, Redeemer of the World, Have Mercy on Us

The holy example of Jesus Christ who, while upon earth, honored St. Joseph so highly and was obedient to him during his life should be sufficient to inflame the hearts of all with devotion to this saint. — St. Alphonsus Liguori

Are you familiar with the phrase “To Jesus through Mary”? It’s a wonderful expression of devotion coined in the early 18th century by St. Louis de Montfort. In his book True Devotion to Mary, St. Louis taught that Mary is the surest, easiest, and fastest way of going to Jesus. To instill this message in people’s hearts, St. Louis fervently promoted the rosary and Marian consecration. What is interesting, though, is that in all of St. Louis’ writings, he only mentions St. Joseph a few times. Why is that? Didn’t he love St. Joseph? Oh yes, St. Louis de Montfort loved St. Joseph very much. Every saint loves St. Joseph. The reason he didn’t offer any significant teaching on St. Joseph is because the Church had not yet developed a theology of St. Joseph.

An understanding of the greatness of St. Joseph did not begin to flourish in the devotional life of the Church until the mid-19th century, 100 years after St. Louis de Montfort lived. Were St. Louis de Mont-fort preaching in the streets of France today, he would most likely be heard extolling the wonders of St. Joseph. He might even add St. Joseph to his famous phrase, and say, “To Jesus through Mary and Joseph!” Jesus wants you to know and love his mother and his father.

Mary and Joseph form the most faithful image of Jesus; and for this reason I can formulate the shortest path to holiness: “For me, to live is Jesus, it is Mary and Joseph.” — Venerable Francis Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận

The two greatest saints in Christianity are Mary and St. Joseph. Consecration to St. Joseph flows naturally from baptismal consecration to Jesus Christ and filial consecration to Mary. Indeed, consecration to St. Joseph, your spiritual father, allows you to be consecrated to each person of the Holy Family!

In our day, marriage and family are under attack. Jesus and Mary want you to be consecrated to St. Joseph because there is no father or husband who knows more about the sacredness of marriage and the family or the self-sacrificing love required of fathers and husbands than St. Joseph. His paternal mission continues from heaven. He is our guardian, loving protector, and fearless defender. He is the model of saintly fatherhood. After Christ, St. Joseph is the model of heroic manhood and the defender of marriage, chastity, and life itself. Con-secration to St. Joseph is the key to overcoming the anthropological confusion so prevalent in our times. Under the watchful, steadfast love and care of St. Joseph, all ideologies and idols will crumble and fall before Jesus Christ!

How thou [St. Joseph] didst rejoice to have always near you God himself, and to see the idols of the Egyptians fall prostrate to the ground before him. — Blessed Januarius Maria Sarnelli

Consecration to st. Joseph will increase your love for Jesus! The entire life and mission of St. Joseph points to Jesus. Saint Joseph never points to himself. His role is to lead everyone to Jesus, just as Mary does. Mary was predestined to be the Immaculate Mother of the Savior; St. Joseph was predestined to be the earthly father of the Savior and your spiritual father. Your spiritual father has been given all the graces necessary to complete his mission, a mission that includes increasing your relationship with Jesus.

Joseph carried Jesus Christ first to Egypt, then to Judea, and so traced for us the path of the apostles who preached his name to the Jews and to the Gentiles.— St. Hilary of Poitiers

Saint Joseph was the guardian of Jesus and Mary. He was naturally also the one who introduced those souls eager to approach them more closely. — Blessed Jean Joseph Lataste

Privileges of Devotion to St. Joseph

Love St. Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul, because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has most loved our Blessed Lady and been closest to God. He is the person who has most loved God, after our Mother. He deserves your affection, and it will do you good to get to know him, because he is the Master of the interior life, and has great power before the Lord and before the Mother of God. — St. Josemaría Escrivá

Jesus wants you to love St. Joseph. Our Lady wants you to love St. Joseph. They both want this so that your virtue and holiness may increase. No matter what your vocation or state in life may be, you will be blessed if you maintain a fervent devotion to St. Joseph. The privileges of devotion to St. Joseph are tremendous, and they are yours for the taking!

Devotion to St. Joseph is powerful because he gives his protec-tion, his example, and his blessing. — St. George Preca

Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph loved St. Joseph and received extraordinary graces from heaven because of her reliance on his intercession. Anna Maria Tauscher van den Bosch (her name before she entered religious life) was born in Germany in 1855. She was raised in a staunchly Protestant family, and her father was a Lutheran minister. Over time, Anna Maria fell in love with the teachings of Catholicism and made it known to her father that she wanted to become a Catholic. Her father was not happy with her decision at all, telling her that he was ashamed of her for abandoning her Protestant upbringing. He didn’t even want her living in his house anymore.

On one occasion, when she was living on her own but before she was yet a Catholic, her father visited her in an attempt to dissuade her from joining the Catholic Church. On that visit, he discovered a book on St. Joseph in her room. After a quick look at the book, he put it down, and later that night at dinner, he ridiculed and mocked St. Joseph in front of his daughter. In her autobiography, Anna Maria recounts the event. She writes:

During the dinner my father said: “How can anyone pray to such an outlandish man?” This expression, “outlandish” or “foreign” made a deep impression on me. I thought more and more of St. Joseph, and I conceived such a great, tender devotion to dear Father St. Joseph, as I called him, that I thought I ought to make reparation for the coldness of all unbelievers toward him.

After converting to Catholicism, Anna Maria’s supervisor at work, a Lutheran, fired her because she had become a Catholic. He was so mean that after he had fired her, he continued to speak ill of her to others so that she was unable to find work anywhere. As a result, Anna Maria had no money and no place to live. Her great love for St. Joseph was not diminished, though. She daily sought comfort in the love of her Father St. Joseph. Eventually, she was given permission to move into an Augustinian convent and do menial tasks as a way of paying for her room and meals. She wrote:

The recollection of my father asking how anyone could pray to such an “outlandish” person sank deep into my heart, and out of it came a great love for him [St. Joseph] and also a great trust in him. I entrusted myself more and more to his paternal care, and many times did St. Joseph prove his solicitude for me.

Anna Maria eventually became a nun, taking the name Sr. Maria Teresa of St. Joseph. In time, she would found a new religious community, the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. She would also establish charitable institutes around the world. For the remainder of her life, she always referred to St. Joseph as “Father St. Joseph.” She attributed everything she was able to accomplish to the intercession of St. Joseph, her spiritual father. Pope Benedict XVI beatified her in 2006.

In the 17th century, Venerable Mary of Ágreda wrote about the extraordinary graces God gives to those who are devoted to St. Joseph. Venerable Mary of Ágreda was a mystic and the acclaimed author of a work detailing the life of the Virgin Mary, titled The Mys-tical City of God. Her work is truly a devotional masterpiece. In the book, she wrote extensively about St. Joseph and was given many insights into the blessings that await those who are devoted to St. Joseph. She wrote:

I have been informed concerning certain privileges conferred upon St. Joseph by the Most High on account of his great holiness, which are especially important to those who ask his intercession in a proper manner. In virtue of these special privi-leges the intercession of St. Joseph is most powerful: 

First, for attaining the virtue of purity and overcom-ing the sensual inclinations of the flesh;
Second, for procuring powerful help to escape sin and return to the friendship of God;
Third, for increasing the love and devotion to most holy Mary;
Fourth, for securing the grace of a happy death and protection against the demons in that hour;
Fifth, for filling the demons with terror at the mere mention of his name by his clients;
Sixth, for gaining health of body and assistance in all kinds of difficulties;
Seventh, for securing issue of children in families.

These and many other favors God confers upon those who prop-erly and with good disposition seek the intercession of the spouse of our Queen, St. Joseph. I beseech all the faithful children of the Church to be very devoted to him and they will experience these favors in reality, if they dispose themselves as they should in order to receive and merit them.

The seven privileges of devotion to St. Joseph are stupendous! Venerable Mary of Ágreda heard Our Lady herself speak about them, saying:

My daughter, although thou hast described my spouse, St. Joseph, as the most noble among the princes and saints of the heavenly Jerusalem; yet neither canst thou properly manifest his eminent sanctity, nor can any of the mortals know it fully before they arrive at the vision of the Divinity. Then all of them will be filled with wonder and praise as the Lord will make them capable of understanding. On the last day, when all men shall be judged, the damned will bitterly bewail their sins, which prevented them from appreciating this powerful means of their salvation, and availing themselves, as they easily could have, of this intercessor to gain the friendship of the just Judge. The whole human race has much undervalued the privileges and prerogatives conceded to my blessed spouse and they know not what his intercession with God is able to do.

That which my spouse asks of the Lord in heaven is granted upon the earth and on his intercession depend many and extraordinary favors for men, if they do not make themselves unworthy of receiving them. All these privileges were to be a reward for the amiable perfection of this wonderful saint and for his great virtues, for divine clemency is favorably drawn forth by them and looks upon St. Joseph with generous liberality, ready to shower down its marvelous mercies upon all those who avail themselves of his intercession.

In the 20th century, Blessed Concepción Cabrera de Armida, a famed mystic from Mexico, wrote meditations for the purpose of instructing and inspiring the faithful. In one meditation, Blessed Concepción offered a perspective on the importance of devotion to St. Joseph, placing the following words on the lips of Our Lady:

Love him [St. Joseph], my child, and make him much loved. If you seek to please me, you cannot do anything that makes me happier than to have a filial devotion to him, to give him honor in your home, and to imitate his virtues. Take him as the patron of your interior and spiritual life, and you will advance greatly towards perfection.

Pray the Litany of St. Joseph:

Lord, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven,  have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Noble Offspring of David,  pray for us.
Light of Patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Guardian of the Redeemer, pray for us.
Chaste Guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster-Father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Zealous Defender of Christ, pray for us.
Servant of Christ, pray for us.
Minister of Salvation, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.

Joseph Most Just, pray for us.
Joseph Most Chaste,  pray for us.
Joseph Most Prudent,  pray for us.
Joseph Most Courageous,  pray for us.
Joseph Most Obedient, pray for us.
Joseph Most Faithful, pray for us.

Mirror of Patience, pray for us.
Lover of Poverty, pray for us.
Model of Workmen, pray for us.
Glory of Domestic Life, pray for us.
Guardian of Virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of Families, pray for us.
Support in Difficulties, pray for us.
Comfort of the Afflicted, pray for us.
Hope of the Sick, pray for us.
Patron of Exiles,  pray for us.
Patron of the Afflicted, pray for us.
Patron of the Poor, pray for us.
Patron of the Dying, pray for us.
Terror of Demons,  pray for us.
Protector of the Holy Church, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. He has made him lord of his household,
R. And prince over all his possessions.

Let us pray. O God, who, in your loving providence, chose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most Holy Mother, grant us the favor of having him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our protector. You, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

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