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Title: |
Quamquam Pluries
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Descr.: |
On Devotion To St. Joseph
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Pope: |
Pope Leo XIII
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Date: |
August 15, 1889
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To
Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Other Ordinaries, in Peace and Union with the Holy See.
1.
Although We have already many times ordered special prayers to be
offered up in the whole world, that the interests of Catholicism
might be insistently recommended to God, none will deem it matter
for surprise that We consider the present moment an opportune one
for again inculcating the same duty. During periods of stress and
trial - chiefly when every lawlessness of act seems permitted to
the powers of darkness - it has been the custom in the Church to
plead with special fervor and perseverance to God, her author and
protector, by recourse to the intercession of the saints - and
chiefly of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God - whose patronage has
ever been the most efficacious. The fruit of these pious prayers
and of the confidence reposed in the Divine goodness, has always,
sooner or later, been made apparent. Now, Venerable Brethren, you
know the times in which we live; they are scarcely less deplorable
for the Christian religion than the worst days, which in time past
were most full of misery to the Church. We see faith, the root of
all the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see charity
growing cold; the young generation daily growing in depravity of
morals and views; the Church of Jesus Christ attacked on every
side by open force or by craft; a relentless war waged against the
Sovereign Pontiff; and the very foundations of religion undermined
with a boldness which waxes daily in intensity. These things are,
indeed, so much a matter of notoriety that it is needless for Us
to expatiate on the depths to which society has sunk in these
days, or on the designs which now agitate the minds of men. In
circumstances so unhappy and troublous, human remedies are
insufficient, and it becomes necessary, as a sole resource, to beg
for assistance from the Divine power.
2.
This is the reason why We have considered it necessary to turn to
the Christian people and urge them to implore, with increased zeal
and constancy, the aid of Almighty God. At this proximity of the
month of October, which We have already consecrated to the Virgin
Mary, under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary, We earnestly
exhort the faithful to perform the exercises of this month with,
if possible, even more piety and constancy than heretofore. We
know that there is sure help in the maternal goodness of the
Virgin, and We are very certain that We shall never vainly place
Our trust in her. If, on innumerable occasions, she has displayed
her power in aid of the Christian world, why should We doubt that
she will now renew the assistance of her power and favor, if
humble and constant prayers are offered up on all sides to her?
Nay, We rather believe that her intervention will be the more
marvelous as she has permitted Us to pray to her, for so long a
time, with special appeals. But We entertain another object,
which, according to your wont, Venerable Brethren, you will
advance with fervor. That God may be more favorable to Our
prayers, and that He may come with bounty and promptitude to the
aid of His Church, We judge it of deep utility for the Christian
people, continually to invoke with great piety and trust, together
with the Virgin-Mother of God, her chaste Spouse, the Blessed
Joseph; and We regard it as most certain that this will be most
pleasing to the Virgin herself. On the subject of this devotion,
of which We speak publicly for the first time today, We know
without doubt that not only is the people inclined to it, but that
it is already established, and is advancing to full growth. We
have seen the devotion to St. Joseph, which in past times the
Roman Pontiffs have developed and gradually increased, grow into
greater proportions in Our time, particularly after Pius IX, of
happy memory, Our predecessor, proclaimed, yielding to the request
of a large number of bishops, this holy patriarch the patron of
the Catholic Church. And as, moreover, it is of high importance
that the devotion to St. Joseph should engraft itself upon the
daily pious practices of Catholics, We desire that the Christian
people should be urged to it above all by Our words and authority.
3.
The special motives for which St. Joseph has been proclaimed
Patron of the Church, and from which the Church looks for singular
benefit from his patronage and protection, are that Joseph was the
spouse of Mary and that he was reputed the father of Jesus Christ.
From these sources have sprung his dignity, his holiness, his
glory. In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty that
naught created can rank above it. But as Joseph has been united to
the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted
that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which
the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. For
marriage is the most intimate of all unions which from its essence
imparts a community of gifts between those that by it are joined
together. Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God
appointed him to be not only her life's companion, the witness of
her maidenhood, the protector of her honor, but also, by virtue of
the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And
Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since
by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed
as His father among men. Hence it came about that the Word of God
was humbly subject to Joseph, that He obeyed him, and that He
rendered to him all those offices that children are bound to
render to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the
obligation which nature lays upon the head of families, so that
Joseph became the guardian, the administrator, and the legal
defender of the divine house whose chief he was. And during the
whole course of his life he fulfilled those charges and those
duties. He set himself to protect with a mighty love and a daily
solicitude his spouse and the Divine Infant; regularly by his work
he earned what was necessary for the one and the other for
nourishment and clothing; he guarded from death the Child
threatened by a monarch's jealousy, and found for Him a refuge; in
the miseries of the journey and in the bitternesses of exile he
was ever the companion, the assistance, and the upholder of the
Virgin and of Jesus. Now the divine house which Joseph ruled with
the authority of a father, contained within its limits the
scarce-born Church. From the same fact that the most holy Virgin
is the mother of Jesus Christ is she the mother of all Christians
whom she bore on Mount Calvary amid the supreme throes of the
Redemption; Jesus Christ is, in a manner, the first-born of
Christians, who by the adoption and Redemption are his brothers.
And for such reasons the Blessed Patriarch looks upon the
multitude of Christians who make up the Church as confided
specially to his trust - this limitless family spread over the
earth, over which, because he is the spouse of Mary and the father
of Jesus Christ he holds, as it were, a paternal authority. It is,
then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to
all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his
protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly
patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.
4.
You well understand, Venerable Brethren, that these considerations
are confirmed by the opinion held by a large number of the
Fathers, to which the sacred liturgy gives its sanction, that the
Joseph of ancient times, son of the patriarch Jacob, was the type
of St. Joseph, and the former by his glory prefigured the
greatness of the future guardian of the Holy Family. And in truth,
beyond the fact that the same name - a point the significance of
which has never been denied - was given to each, you well know the
points of likeness that exist between them; namely, that the first
Joseph won the favor and especial goodwill of his master, and that
through Joseph's administration his household came to prosperity
and wealth; that (still more important) he presided over the
kingdom with great power, and, in a time when the harvests failed,
he provided for all the needs of the Egyptians with so much wisdom
that the King decreed to him the title "Savior of the
world." Thus it is that We may prefigure the new in the old
patriarch. And as the first caused the prosperity of his master's
domestic interests and at the same time rendered great services to
the whole kingdom, so the second, destined to be the guardian of
the Christian religion, should be regarded as the protector and
defender of the Church, which is truly the house of the Lord and
the kingdom of God on earth. These are the reasons why men of
every rank and country should fly to the trust and guard of the
blessed Joseph. Fathers of families find in Joseph the best
personification of paternal solicitude and vigilance; spouses a
perfect example of love, of peace, and of conjugal fidelity;
virgins at the same time find in him the model and protector of
virginal integrity. The noble of birth will learn of Joseph how to
guard their dignity even in misfortune; the rich will understand,
by his lessons, what are the goods most to be desired and won at
the price of their labor. As to workmen, artisans, and persons of
lesser degree, their recourse to Joseph is a special right, and
his example is for their particular imitation. For Joseph, of
royal blood, united by marriage to the greatest and holiest of
women, reputed the father of the Son of God, passed his life in
labor, and won by the toil of the artisan the needful support of
his family. It is, then, true that the condition of the lowly has
nothing shameful in it, and the work of the laborer is not only
not dishonoring, but can, if virtue be joined to it, be singularly
ennobled. Joseph, content with his slight possessions, bore the
trials consequent on a fortune so slender, with greatness of soul,
in imitation of his Son, who having put on the form of a slave,
being the Lord of life, subjected himself of his own free-will to
the spoliation and loss of everything.
5.
Through these considerations, the poor and those who live by the
labor of their hands should be of good heart and learn to be just.
If they win the right of emerging from poverty and obtaining a
better rank by lawful means, reason and justice uphold them in
changing the order established, in the first instance, for them by
the Providence of God. But recourse to force and struggles by
seditious paths to obtain such ends are madnesses which only
aggravate the evil which they aim to suppress. Let the poor, then,
if they would be wise, trust not to the promises of seditious men,
but rather to the example and patronage of the Blessed Joseph, and
to the maternal charity of the Church, which each day takes an
increasing compassion on their lot.
6.
This is the reason why - trusting much to your zeal and episcopal
authority, Venerable Brethren, and not doubting that the good and
pious faithful will run beyond the mere letter of the law - We
prescribe that during the whole month of October, at the
recitation of the Rosary, for which We have already legislated, a
prayer to St. Joseph be added, the formula of which will be sent
with this letter, and that this custom should be repeated every
year. To those who recite this prayer, We grant for each time an
indulgence of seven years and seven Lents. It is a salutary
practice and very praiseworthy, already established in some
countries, to consecrate the month of March to the honor of the
holy Patriarch by daily exercises of piety. Where this custom
cannot be easily established, it is as least desirable, that
before the feast-day, in the principal church of each parish, a
triduo of prayer be celebrated. In those lands where the 19th of
March - the Feast of St. Joseph - is not a Festival of Obligation,
We exhort the faithful to sanctify it as far as possible by
private pious practices, in honor of their heavenly patron, as
though it were a day of Obligation.
7.
And in token of heavenly favors, and in witness of Our goodwill,
We grant most lovingly in the Lord, to you, Venerable Brethren, to
your clergy and to your people, the Apostolic blessing.
Given
from the Vatican, August 15th, 1889, the 11th year of Our
Pontificate.
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