FRIEND IN SUFFERING:
Saint Joseph, your share of suffering was very great because of your close union with the Divine Saviour.
All the mysteries of His life were more or less mysteries of suffering. Poverty pressed upon you, and the
cross of labor followed you everywhere. Nor were you spared domestic crosses, owing to misunderstandings in
regard to the holiest and most cherished of all beings, Jesus and Mary, who were all to you. Keen must have
been the suffering caused by the uncertainty regarding Mary's virginity; by the bestowal of the name of
Jesus, which pointed to future misfortune. Deeply painful must have been the prophecy of Simeon, the flight
into Egypt, the disappearance of Jesus at the Paschal feast. To these sufferings were surely added interior
sorrow at the sight of the sins of your own people.
You bore all this suffering in a truly Christ-like manner, and in this you are our example. No sound of
complaint or impatience escaped you -- you were, indeed, the silent saint! You submitted to all in the
spirit of faith, humility, confidence, and love. You cheerfully bore all in union with and for the Saviour
and His Mother, knowing well that true love is a crucified love. But God never forsook you in your trials.
The trials, too, disappeared and were changed at last into consolation and joy.
It seems that God had purposely intended your life to be filled with suffering as well as consolation to
keep before my eyes the truth that my life on earth is but a succession of joys and sorrows, and that I
must gratefully accept whatever God sends me, and during the time of consolation prepare for suffering.
Teach me to bear my cross in the spirit of faith, of confidence, and of gratitude toward God. In a happy
eternity, I shall thank God fervently for the sufferings which He deigned to send me during my pilgrimage
on earth, and which after your example I endured with patience and heartfelt love for Jesus and Mary.
You were truly the martyr of the hidden life. This was God's Will, for the holier a person is, the more he
is tried for the love and glory of God. If suffering is the flowering of God's grace in a soul and the
triumph of the soul's love for God, being the greatest of saints after Mary, you suffered more than any of
the martyrs.
Because you have experienced the sufferings of this valley of tears, you are most kind and sympathetic
toward those in need. Down through the ages souls have turned to you in distress and have always found you
a faithful friend in suffering. You have graciously heard their prayers in their needs even though it
demanded a miracle. Having been so intimately united with Jesus and Mary in life, your intercession with
Them is most powerful.
Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being able to suffer for Jesus and Mary. As a token of your
own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to bear my suffering patiently for love of Jesus and Mary.
Grant that I may unite the sufferings, works and disappointments of life with the sacrifice of Jesus in the
Mass, and share like you in Mary's spirit of sacrifice.
NOVENA PRAYER
ovena
