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When we pray the Litany of St. Joseph, we recite: Patron of the Dying, pray for us. St. Joseph is also known as the Patron of a Happy Death. There’s no mention in Sacred Scripture about how or when St. Joseph died. The last time the Gospels mention St. Joseph is right after he and Mary find the twelve-year-old Jesus teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. One can deduce that St. Joseph died sometime between then and when Jesus begins public ministry, some eighteen years later.

Sacred writers agree in saying that the intercession of St. Joseph is an efficacious means of overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and propagating the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Indeed this fact is borne out by numerous evidences a result of which is that the holy Patriarch has come to be invoked by Holy Church with the title terror of demons. Missionaries in [pagan] countries are unanimous in acknowledging the help they have derived from St. Joseph to that effect.

Our good and loving God knows well the challenge posed by His call to “be Holy as He is Holy.” He understands and sympathizes with our fallen nature, and sends us an abundance of grace to overcome the temptations of this transient world. In St. Joseph, God offers us an outstanding illustration of personal purity.

St. Joseph was many things to his family. He was a husband, father, protector, teacher, and prayer for Jesus and Mary. Above all, St. Joseph was primarily a servant of God. Joseph teaches us that if we want to fulfill our vocation and family responsibilities, we must turn to God for guidance, inspiration, and all the graces and virtues we need.

This is a beautiful title that reminds us that St. Joseph was fully human–talented, hard-working, with an eye for beauty and quality. At our baptism, God gives us spiritual gifts (charisms), which are special abilities to enable us to be channels of God’s love and presence in the world. Some are given the charism of craftsmanship which empowers an individual to be an effective channel of God’s grace to others through artistic or creative work that beautifies and/or orders the physical world. It is quite possible that St. Joseph had the charism of craftsmanship.

For some, domestic life is a secondary consideration. Most parents understand that they are to work hard to provide the material necessities for their families. However, Catholic men and women also have the responsibility to build the domestic Church.

St. Joseph probably didn’t see himself becoming a central character in the history of salvation and being given a title like “Protector of the Holy Church.” Yet, because he responded in faith to protect and provide for the Holy Family, the Church teaches that God has called him to protect and provide for the Body of Christ, which is the Church. 

God has healed many people through the intercession of St. Joseph. In 1847 when a typhoid epidemic threatened the village of Bytown in Ontario (now Ottawa), the chaplain placed a statue of St. Joseph in the church where people gathered each day. The disease quickly disappeared.

Comforting the Afflicted, sometimes called Comforting the Sorrowful, is a spiritual work of mercy because it refers to our need to support each other emotionally and spiritually. God’s mercy towards us is not merely given for our own comfort in affliction, but so that we might also display His mercy as we comfort others.

You’ve heard it over and over. “Patience is a virtue.” Finding peace and calm in our days can be very challenging with all of the different demands and pressures on us. When something is out of our control, when we cannot have something instantly, when we are struggling with the same problem or issue, or when we are dealing with someone else’s faults, our patience can wear quite thin.