Did you know that we have a spiritual father? I’m not talking about God the Father, though He is also our Spiritual Father. I’m talking about a saint, a powerful saint, a saint we don’t know too much about besides a few lines in scripture and through tradition. Jesus’s foster father, St Joseph, is also our foster father, making him our spiritual father, someone we can all go to when we really need support from a father figure.
Different Fatherhood Than God’s
God the Father created us and everything else. So He is actually Our Father, in a very real and physical sense, as well as a spiritual sense. This fatherhood is different than our spiritual fatherhood with St Joseph because St Joseph was given his role as our father by God.
St Joseph didn’t have anything to do with us being created. But just like with Jesus, St Joseph takes on this fatherhood by choice with each and every one of us. So, in Heaven St Joseph looks upon us, praying for us, and guiding us to our ultimate good like a father would, that ultimate good being his son Jesus.
How Is He Our Father?
Inspired by the Gospel, the Fathers of the Church from the earliest centuries stressed that just as St Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, that is, the Church.
St John Paul II
Joseph, when he agreed to take care of Mary and Jesus, took on a very important role in the history of mankind. He agreed to take care of the savior of the world, as his own child. Jesus was his child!
As Catholics, we all become the body of Christ. We are all a part of Jesus. We are all one body, and this mystical reality makes it so that St Joseph is our own father too. Christ, who is the head of the body, respects the fatherhood of St Joseph and places him in the role of a spiritual father to all of us.
The Fatherly Virtues Of St Joseph
Knowing by experience St. Joseph’s astonishing influence with God, I would wish to persuade everyone to honor him with particular devotion. I have always seen those who honored him in a special manner make progress in virtue, for this heavenly protector favors in a striking manner the spiritual advancement of souls who commend themselves to him.
St Teresa of Avila
St Joseph was said to be a very virtuous man. This is especially true in the virtues of obedience, courage, silence, and humility. All of these are displayed in the Gospels. If he had hesitated when the angel told him to take his family and leave, Jesus and Mary could have been victims of Herod’s evilness. His courage and obedience saved the Savior of the world. Though he was a descendant of kings, he lived as a carpenter, doing hard labor and living in poverty. His humility provided for his family. St Joseph can help us be more obedient to God, courageous, silent, and humble. We need to only pray to our spiritual father and ask for his intercession.
He also had the virtue of chastity. The Blessed Virgin Mary, by her very nature as a woman born with no sin, was very beautiful. Yet when many lesser men would have demanded payment from their marital debt, St Joseph saw the value and importance of Mary’s virginity and he knew he was called to a life of living chastely. As faithful Catholics, when we need help with chastity we can readily call on St Joseph, appealing through his Chaste Heart. The Chaste Heart of St Joseph, like the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus, embodies St Joseph’s love for us. His Chaste Heart helps us live more chastely.
All of St Joseph’s virtues made him an incredible father to Our Lord. They also make him an incredible father to you. Building virtue is how we resist sin and embrace God, and St Joseph, through his intercession he can teach us to be virtuous people. He undoubtedly did this with Jesus too, as part of his vocation as Our Lord’s earthly father.
The Terror of Demons
It is a great blessing for souls to be under the protection of the saint whose name makes demons tremble and flee.
Blessed Bartolo Longo
St Joseph is referred to as the terror of demons in the Litany of St Joseph, and this title is affirmed by exorcists and saints throughout the Church’s history. Like a father protecting his child, St Joseph comes in to help us against our most attacks from the devil and his minions.
In temptations, fears, self-doubts, or whenever we feel the presence of evil, we can ask St Joseph to help. Exorcists report that St Joseph is a powerful intercessor against the forces of evil. Demons are really terrified of him. He is pure and virtuous, he was the protector of Christ, and he was his father.
His fatherly protection is a wonderful gift that all of us Catholics can appeal to in our dire battles against the forces of evil. So whenever we face the evils of the devil or this world, let us call out to our spiritual father to protect us and intercede for us.
Building A Devotion To St Joseph
First, it’s worth mentioning that we are in the Year of St Joseph, which ends on December 8th. This is a very special time to get closer to our spiritual father, and we can certainly receive many graces to do so. But even after this Year of St Joseph ends, we should continue to build a devotion.
A great idea is to go through a Consecration to St Joseph. There are three books I know of right now that can guide you through this, Consecration To St Joseph by Fr Donald Calloway, Custos by Devin Schadt, and St Joseph The Protector by Fr Mark Goring. Any one of these can help you grow in a deep relationship with St Joseph.
Another great idea is to have a medal of St Joseph around your neck at all times, as a constant reminder of who we can turn to. We should also get a statue of St Joseph, displayed in a place we can always see in our home.
We should also start praying the Litany of St Joseph more regularly, as this prayer calls upon St Joseph through many of his titles.
And we should talk to him as our father, and ask him for help in our spiritual journey toward Christ. He wants us to go to Christ, he will never deny us guidance in following that narrow path.
There are many more devotions and prayers to St Joseph. Those prayers and devotions will be covered in other articles since this article would end up becoming a book if I included all of them here!
The Saints On St Joseph
Saint Joseph. One cannot love Jesus and Mary without loving the Holy Patriarch.
St Josemaria Escriva
Some Saints are privileged to extend to us their patronage with particular efficacy in certain needs, but not in others; but our holy patron St. Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every necessity, in every undertaking.
St Thomas Aquinas
In Joseph … heads of the household are blessed with the unsurpassed model of fatherly watchfulness and care.
St Leo XIII
Saint Joseph, our father and lord, is a teacher of the interior life. Place yourself under his patronage and you’ll feel the effectiveness of his power.
St Josemaria Escriva
As he himself [Jesus] was subject to St. Joseph while on earth, recognizing in him the authority of foster father and guardian, so now in heaven he is pleased to grant all his requests.
St Teresa of Avila
Truly, I doubt not that the angels, wondering and adoring, came thronging in countless multitudes to that poor workshop to admire the humility of him who guarded that dear and divine child, and labored at his carpenter’s trade to support the son and the mother who were committed to his care.
St Frances de Sales
Whoever fails to find a Master to teach him how to pray, should choose this glorious Saint, and he will not go astray.
St Teresa of Avila