Virgin Mary statue ordered removed!

Virgin Mary, Holy Mother of God, pray for us!

HILLIARD, Ohio -- A statue of the Virgin Mary is causing rifts in a local neighborhood. Someone complained to the Hilliard Village Condo Association. The homeowner was told to get rid of the statue.

However, the homeowner is saying no. This statue has been in their yard for over a decade and they don't understand why it's an issue now.

The Condo Association said it's a violation of the rules and regulations handbook. A neighbor says this family is the only one being held accountable. They face a fifty dollar fine.

(This story is from last week, but I just found out about it! I don't know what the current situation is.)

Regina coeli laetare,
Alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare.
Alleluia,
Resurrexit,
Sicut dixit,
Alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum.
Alleluia.

Queen of Heaven rejoice,
Alleluia,
For He whom you merited to bear,
Alleluia,
Has risen,
as He said,
Alleluia.
Pray for us to God.
Alleluia.

"What is Truth?"

INRI – "Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum"
"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews"

Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?"

Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?"

Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world."

Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?"

Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice."

Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again, and told them, "I find no crime in him."
[...]
Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."
– John 18:33-38, 19:19

Pope Benedict XVI gave us a new mode of thinking about the struggles facing the Church of Christ in the 21st millennium when he coined the phrase "dictatorship of relativism" in a homily on the day before he became the Pope.

"Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be 'tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine', seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires."

This is not a new trivial slogan, but instead embodies a profound truth. He clearly states that there is a threat by the use of the word "dictatorship". And he defines the source of that threat which is "relativism".

In fact he exposes a truth which normally remains hidden just underneath of the surface of the cultural changes sweeping the globe. And he not only uncovers it, but he also simultaneously strips away its pleasant mask and reveals its grotesquely horrible face.

Relativism is not so much a new philosophy or religion that competes with the teachings of Christianity as it is a tactic or a strategy used in attacking Christianity. It does not directly deny Christian teachings, it simply smothers them by denying the absolute truth of those teaching. It is a subtle strategy of undermining Christianity which does not directly force individuals to abandon their faith, but instead gently guides them along a path which ultimately leads to either agnosticism or atheism.

Relativism simply states that there are no absolute truths when it comes to matters of religion which is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Relativism deflects this criticism by saying that it is unopposed to the individual clinging to his or her own personal beliefs, but that no group should be allowed to impose its beliefs on others.

While relativism hides behind a mask of tolerance, the purpose of this strategy is to weaken and undermine the religious beliefs of people. Tolerance is normally a virtue, but in this case tolerance is used to mask intolerance.

If relativism is not a philosophy but rather a strategy, then there must be a philosophy that is directing this strategy. Once one becomes aware of the way in which this strategy is employed to attack religion – and in particular Christianity – then it is not too hard to discern the group that most benefits from this strategy.

That group refers to itself as Humanists. They are sometimes referred to as "secular humanists". Of course "humanist" is a deceptive term which is designed to create in the mind a benevolent image. But like communism, humanism in practice is very different from humanism in theory.

Humanism is nothing other than a modern day invocation of the "cult of reason" that attempted to destroy Christianity during the French Revolution.

The Cult of Reason was explicitly humanocentric. Its goal was the perfection of mankind through the attainment of truth and liberty, made possible only by the exercise of the human faculty of reason. Though atheism was at the core of the cult, it defined itself as more than a mere rejection of gods: in the manner of conventional religion, it encouraged acts of congregational worship, with frequent and rigorous displays of devotion to Reason as an ideal.

This "cult of reason" which pretended to base itself on "truth and liberty" did not itself rely on reason to convince the people of France in the 1790s of its political correctness – instead it resorted to violence.

By the end of the decade, approximately thirty thousand priests had been forced to leave France, and others who did not leave were executed. Most French parishes were left without the services of a priest and deprived of the sacraments. Any non-juring priest faced the guillotine or deportation to French Guiana. By Easter 1794, few of France's forty thousand churches remained open; many had been closed, sold, destroyed, or converted to other uses.

Today's "cult of reason" replaces "congregational worship" with the political rally. Instead of a direct "devotion of Reason", humanism worships reason through the intercession of "human rights".

In fact you could say that people receive a sort of "daily communion" within the modern cult of reason through political talk shows and the "liturgy of the hours" of this cult is the hourly newscast, while the Sunday talk shows are a sort of "weekly mass".

What we are beginning to see now is a new phase in the strategy of the humanists. Having accomplished their goal of deceiving Christians into relinquishing power through their strategy of relativism, the humanist forces no longer feel the need to be "tolerant". Instead they have begun to impose their humanist monofaith on society and have openly declared their disdain for Christianity.

Their "holy trinity" is something like Science, Evolution and Human Rights – where Science is "the father", Evolution is "the son", and Human Rights is "the holy spirit".

Back in the Old Testament days of the French Revolution, they only had "the father" – Science aka Reason. Then in the mid 1800's "the prophet" Charles Darwin gave birth to "the son" – Evolution. And finally their version of "the holy spirit" descended in the late 1900's in the form of the "human rights" movement.

Anyone who "blasphemes" this unholy humanist trinity is subject to being ritually "stoned to death" in the public media.

And while it would seem that conservative Republicans are not part of this cult, I am not convinced that most of them are doing anything more than giving lip service to their opposition to the humanist movement. In contrast the Vatican fully identified this enemy long ago and has been uncompromisingly waging war against it.

In the meantime we have a President who while he claims to be a Christian, is openly championing every one of the dogmas of the humanist agenda. He is what I would call a "closet humanist". There is nothing to suggest that Obama is a Christian other than his public statements. And even though he keeps repeating this assertion, the majority of the US population is not convinced.

One thing that is known for certain is that Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was a humanist. We know this from Obama's own book "Dreams from My Father" where he says, "she was a lonely witness for secular humanism [in Muslim Indonesia]". She has been described by her own daughter as an agnostic, and by her best friend in high school as an atheist.

Obama's own religious tendencies seem to be determined more by political expediency than by any deeply held belief. Even a fundamental Christian belief like the sanctity of marriage is given a humanist interpretation by the "Christian" Obama.

The genius of the Obama presidential campaign was not in what he said, but what he did not say. He left a lot of blank spaces in his statements and let the listener fill in those spaces with what he or she wanted to hear. So Christians could hear Obama speaking on marriage and come out believing that what he said was in agreement with their beliefs, while a humanist who was more in tune with the Obama message would understand the full meaning of his statements.

Here for example is Obama's reply when asked during the presidential campaign to define marriage.

WARREN: Define marriage.

OBAMA: I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian — for me — for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix. But –

WARREN: Would you support a Constitutional Amendment with that definition?

OBAMA: No, I would not.

WARREN: Why not?

OBAMA: Because historically — because historically, we have not defined marriage in our constitution. It’s been a matter of state law. That has been our tradition. I mean, let’s break it down. The reason that people think there needs to be a constitutional amendment, some people believe, is because of the concern that — about same-sex marriage. I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage, but I do believe in civil unions. I do believe that we should not — that for gay partners to want to visit each other in the hospital for the state to say, you know what, that’s all right, I don’t think in any way inhibits my core beliefs about what marriage are. I think my faith is strong enough and my marriage is strong enough that I can afford those civil rights to others, even if I have a different perspective or different view.

Anyone, who believes the issue of "gay marriage" is going to end at "civil unions" has not been paying attention to the news lately. That is just the bait.

Notice how Obama introduces "civil rights" into the argument. It is through the ever widening definition of "human rights" (aka "civil rights") that the humanists advance their agenda. Obama uses the tactic of portraying the non-Christian minority as victims that are unjustly persecuted by Christians for their beliefs.

What Obama does not say is that "civil unions" is just a step in a larger gay agenda which demands that Christians abandon their beliefs that homosexual sex (and any other sex outside of marriage) is immoral.

And not coincidentally the name of the leading group that is fighting to impose "gay marriage" on America is the HRC – the Human Rights Campaign – which describes itself as the nations largest "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization". Confused? You probably thought that "human rights" was about justice for poor people in developing nations.

Finally, here is a sample of President Obama's enthusiastic speech at a "Human Rights Campaign" dinner in 2009. I haven't listened to the whole speech but somehow, I don't think that during this speech he threw in the line, "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix."



-----

[UPDATE]

Just after I finished writing this article, I did a search in the news for "humanist" and found this interesting (and somewhat funny, but vulgar) video in which Bill Maher says that President Obama is only pretending to be a Christian but is really a secular humanist. And Bill Maher should know because he is a certifiable secular humanist himself. It's strange how uncomfortable people seem to be with that label. At one point the conversation strays to the belief by some that Obama is a Muslim. This draws the reaction, "do they know what a Muslim is?" (laughter follows) Oh, but these panelist do not seem to have any idea what a secular humanist is. "You mean like agnostic?" Well, sort of. Along with Maher, it's likely that everyone in that panel would find that they are more in tune with humanist philosophy than the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Abortion and eugenics

But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying:

"Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more."
 – Jeremiah 11:19

"The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb."

This is the billboard that caused so much controversy in New York City – not a sexist depiction of women used in a sales pitch; not a gratuitous depiction of violence; it does not contain obscene language.

All of those are commonplace in billboard advertising – as if that makes such practices excusable. But this pro-life billboard contained none of those images or messages. So why were some New Yorkers so offended by the message of this billboard? What explains the intensity of the reactions by pro-abortion advocates?

A New York Daily News called it a "racial anti-abortion billboard", and quoted the Rev. Al Sharpton as saying, "The billboard was offensive, especially during Black History Month, and I had intended to hold a press conference Friday in front of the billboard to protest the message of racial profiling and against a woman's right to choose."

Under intense political pressure the sign came down.

Symbolically, the message was "aborted"; the child was silenced.

The message which the sign attempted to communicate is that there is a strong link between abortion and eugenics. This has been true historically and it is still true today.

No woman wants to think that her individual "choice" of abortion is somehow linked to a broader eugenic campaign. Perhaps this explains the reaction of some women to this image. The intention is not to point fingers at individuals and to cast blame. We are all victims of the culture of death in which we live.

Whether through the use of contraception or through our promiscuous sexual behavior, we all contribute to the spread of this culture and the resulting loss of morality and of innocent life. Who shall cast the first stone?

“It is an outrageous act of censorship that this billboard was taken down,” said Dr. Alveda King in a press release Friday.  “This billboard should be posted in every city of the country. And it should provoke outrage in the African-American community-not because it is racist, but because of the truth it reveals; the truth that is being kept from the African-American community.”

“Black people in New York and all over the country should be outraged at the numbers of black babies we lose every single day to abortion. An astonishing 60 percent of African-American pregnancies in the five boroughs of New York City end in abortion. That’s unfathomable!”

Many are not aware of the history of Planned Parenthood. Its founder, Margaret Sanger, was clear about her pro-eugenic views. She strongly believed in "population control" and held racist views which led to her creating "women's health clinics" to provide contraception in areas which were poor and non-white.

Along with eugenicists Clarence Gamble she started the "Negro Project" in 1939.

According to the project proposal, widely believed to have been written by Gamble, “The mass of Negroes, particularly in the South, still breed carelessly and disastrously, with the result that the [population] increase among Negroes…is from that portion…least intelligent and fit, and least able to rear children properly.”

The project was to hire three or four “colored Ministers, preferably with social service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities” to travel through the South and propagandize for birth control. As the project proposal stated, “The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal.”

In a remarkably frank letter to Gamble, Sanger wrote that “We do not want Word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

Gamble in turn proposed that the ministers enlist the aid of black physicians and attempt to organize a “Negro Birth Control Committee” in each community. In a private memo concerning the “Colored Steering Committee,” Gamble wrote that “There is great danger that [the project] will fail because the Negroes think it a plan for extermination. Hence let’s appear to let the colored run it.…”

Despite Gamble’s professed concern for the health and well-being of the indigent Negroes he was targeting, he clashed with South Carolina’s Public Health Director who wanted to provide general health services along with the contraceptive agenda being pushed by Sanger and Gamble. Gamble wrote Sanger that he did not want his funds to be “diluted with a lot of general health work.”

Then as now Planned Parenthood targets minority neighborhoods. And then as now they don't allow their funds to be "diluted" by providing general health services.

In order to get the general public to buy into their agenda, PP presents themselves as helping the poor. They use sex to sell their message by encouraging a promiscuous lifestyle. They claim that the contraceptives – that they peddle like snake oil – will allow all of us to lead a carefree promiscuous lifestyle, and that this will bring us happiness. What this lifestyle really leads to is an increase in sexually transmitted diseases and a spiritual emptiness.

And when contraception fails, as it does over one million times a year in the United States, then Planned Parenthood stands ready to provide the ultimate in contraceptive "choice". The "choice" to terminate the life of an unborn child.

We are being lied to and deceived. The sexual "freedom" which we are sold is not freedom at all – instead it is a slavery to our baser instincts. This depravity gnaws away at our closest personal relationships and weakens our marriages.

True freedom lies in surrendering our lives to God. The Apostle St. Paul says, "for when I am weak, then I am strong." It is when we stop trying to run our lives in opposition to God and finally surrender and become servants of God that He will give us true strength to lead our lives according to His will.

Chastity is a virtue. And abstinence strengthens the body and soul. It requires no pharmacist prescription to abstain; only earnest prayer to God. Nothing could be more natural or more healthy. Being a virgin is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be proud of. Marriage is not simply a legal contract, but a God given sacrament.

Every child is a gift from God.

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Related articles:

• Maafa 21 Black Genocide In The 21st Century
• Nancy Pelosi offers no apologies for being pro-abortion
• Planned Parenthood means forced abortions for Chinese women
• Agnostica Eugenica Transhumana - A Dragon's tail
• Of Mice and Men and "values clarification"

Slaying the abortion dragon

Then she [Judith] took the head out of the bag and showed it to them, and said, "See, here is the head of Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, and here is the canopy beneath which he lay in his drunken stupor. The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a woman. As the Lord lives, who has protected me in the way I went, it was my face that tricked him to his destruction, and yet he committed no act of sin with me, to defile and shame me."

All the people were greatly astonished, and bowed down and worshiped God, and said with one accord, "Blessed art thou, our God, who hast brought into contempt this day the enemies of thy people." And Uzziah said to her, "O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies.
 – Judith 13:15-18

The Virgin Mary crushing the Serpent

I was thinking more about Lila Rose and the controversy over the tactics of her Live Action organization in attacking the abortion industry giant, Planned Parenthood.

I happened to read the story of Judith from the Bible and immediately saw a connection there. Judith used deception to destroy the enemy of the Hebrew people that was threatening their very existence as a people. She killed the captain of the army that was besieging her town and cut off his head. While this is certainly a grotesque image, it is celebrated by the Hebrews because it leads to the ultimate victory of their people. (See the biblical quote at the top of this article.)

Traditionally, the Virgin Mary is depicted as crushing the head of the serpent. This arises from an interpretation of Genesis 3:15 but is also seen in the apparition of Our Lady of Graces. This vision appeared to St. Catherine Labouré in 1830. Her visions are also the source of the Miraculous Medal.

The Miraculous Medal

The Old Testament heroine Judith is associated with the Virgin Mary because she is called "blessed among women" and because she beheads the enemy of God's chosen people. She also is chaste and never remarries after her husband dies.

The comparison of Lila Rose to Judith is pretty obvious in that Lila has chosen to use a form of deception to defeat the enemy – in this case Planned Parenthood. I'm not trying to turn Lila into a saint, but I think the attacks on her from the likes of Mark Shea at the National Catholic Register are a bit excessive.

We should definitely be praying for Lila and Live Action, because they have taken a path which is fraught with danger. There is temptation lying in wait all around them. So far, they have done an admirable job of resisting those temptations and staying true to their intended mission.

Father Frank Pavone has written a timely article titled "Let the youth teach us about pro-life" which seems to be a discreet endorsement of Live Action. He never mentions Lila Rose or her organization by name, but speaks of the courage and straight forward approach of young pro-lifers.

But most important for us as adults is to understand what will happen when we recruit more youth into the pro-life effort. They will challenge us. They will remind us of things that we have perhaps forgotten, and will even be able to teach us a new way of activism, and even a new way of thinking.
[...]
Is there not truth in this “straight-line thinking?” Sure, we can teach our youth about the “how-to,” which is not always so simple. But we can also learn to re-focus our attention and energy on fundamental things which, in the end, simply have to be said and done. Maybe we’ve become too complicated; maybe we’re making the “it’s not so simple” lines into easy excuses for cowardice or a lack of confidence.

As I mentioned in a previous article, Lila Rose has converted to Catholicism. It's interesting to contemplate how her name relates to the Catholic symbolism for the Virgin Mary. Roses are very closely associated with our Blessed Mother. And the lily [Lila] is a symbol of purity and virginity. So let us have faith that Lila will be guided by of the light of the Stella Maris – Star of the Sea.

Stella Maris – Star of the Sea

Related articles:

• Lila Rose and the Crusade for Life
• Agnostica Eugenica Transhumana - A Dragon's tail

The end of "one man, one woman"?

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.
– Genesis 2:21-24

Amongst all the slogans of "hope" in the Obama campaign, I don't recall any campaign pledges to redefine marriage. Do you?

Here is this shocking breaking news story as reported by MSNBC.

In a major reversal, the Obama administration has notified Congress that it will no longer defend the federal law that says marriage can exist only between a man and a woman.

Attorney General Eric Holder says he has recommended, and the president has agreed, that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex couples who are legally married but whose status is not recognized by the federal government.

"Given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination," Holder wrote in a statement, the administration has concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation must be subject to a higher constitutional standard than ordinary laws. And the federal Defense of Marriage Act does not meet that test, he says.

Read the full statement here.

Here's the immediate practical effect of this change:

-The Defense of Marriage Act remains in effect unless a federal court strikes it down or Congress repeals it.

-The government will stop defending the law in two court cases, in New York and Connecticut, where the law has been challenged, and in any other cases challenging the law.

-If the law is to be defended, members of Congress would have to step up and join those lawsuits.

In the statement, Holder argued that the legal landscape has changed since the Defense of Marriage Act was passed 15 years ago and signed into law by President Clinton. He mentioned the Supreme Court's ruling striking down criminal laws against homosexuality, the repeal of the military's Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy, and the fact that several lower courts have found the DOMA law unconstitutional.

The repeal of Don't Ask/Don't Tell was couched as a minor change in the way that the military treated homosexuals. We were told Don't Worry/Be Happy.

Christians who warned of the repercussions of such a decision were called alarmist. This is the way that the Humanist agenda is imposed on society – by small incremental steps. At each step if we look further ahead down the road to the logical conclusion we are ridiculed as being reactionary.

I wonder how many people that voted for Obama are right now wishing that they could reverse the clock and undo that gross error? Whether you are Christian or not, you can not help but realize the profound change that this signifies for the American culture.

It is quite amazing to me that while any number of serious political and economic issues that face the United States remain in an unresolved state of stalemate, the Humanist agenda continues its death march forward.

Related articles:

• Gay "marriage": war against religion
• The attack of the "humanists"
• The Manhattan Declaration
• Prop 8 Round 3
• On marriage
• Pope Leo XIII on marriage

Lila Rose and the Crusade for Life

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?

If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works."

Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
 – James 2:14-18

Lila Rose

Last night I found myself praying for Lila Rose. She is the founder of Live Action which has so effectively targeted Planned Parenthood's abortion clinics.

Lila has come under attack – not just from the supporters of abortion, but also from those who are in support of Life. Why? Because her organization has used "sting" tactics to target PP.

The big controversy in the Catholic media is whether it is a sin to use lies as a way to reveal the truth about Planned Parenthood.

I have to confess to being one of those that found this type of sting tactic distasteful. And I have to be honest and say that if it wasn't for the fact that Live Action has been effective in exposing PP that I could easily dismiss her group as an immature and amateurish lot.

But consider the fruits of her work. Didn't Jesus say that "you will know them by their fruits"? Planned Parenthood is writhing in pain like a great and wounded dragon. It is bellowing smoke and fire, as its supporters rush in to save the wounded monster.

"You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."
 – Matthew 7:16-18

And as you are reading this, you can be sure that the pro-abortion forces are plotting the demise of Lila Rose. They are looking through every detail of her past life searching for a chink in her armor, because a large part of the success of Live Action is Lila Rose herself.

She is a young, beautiful and articulate woman. She should be wholeheartedly embracing the promiscuous lifestyle afforded by the contraceptive culture. In the eyes of her enemies, there is something wrong with her. Why hasn't she been seduced by the earthly temptations of pleasure, wealth and success that have been offered to her, like most of the previous generation?

So I'm praying for Lila Rose. She has found a way to bring to national attention the fact that Planned Parenthood clinics performs more than 300,000 of the one million abortions in the United States annually. A fact which had been previously hidden from public scrutiny.

It is when we are successful that we are most subject to temptation. The times when we are desperate and downcast are usually the times that we turn to help from God.

Lila will find herself in these days being presented with many opportunities. There will also be financial rewards offered to her and I pray that God will help her to discern and choose what is best.

As Christians, let's not be Pharisees and look only at the letter of the law. Let us look instead to God and try to understand his Divine Plan.

Was it right for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath? Were Joseph and Mary correct in concealing the true nature of their Son's birth?

Let's support this Children's Crusade. Lila's generation are the survivors of the contraceptive culture. They have a personal stake in this fight. Their unborn brothers and sisters are the victims of this war.

I leave you with an interview of Lila Rose from "One Billion Stories" about her conversion to Catholicism.

The mystery of the Holy Family

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
 – Matthew 1:18-25

I don't think that most of us often spend the time to really contemplate the full mystery of the Holy Family. First there is the mystery of the Virgin birth of Jesus Christ. This is a matter of faith which challenges our intellect to bend to the authority of God. From this mystery arises the even greater mystery of the Holy Trinity.

The full mystery of the Holy Family cannot begin to be appreciated until we contemplate the role of St. Joseph. The Bible does not tell us very much about this "just man", but what it does say hints at a much greater truth.

Recently I found myself praying to St. Joseph for courage and strength. I don't know how that happened. But when I turned to him, it seemed that he lifted me up and took me in his arms – just as he must have done many times with the infant Jesus.

Joseph – the man to whom angels appeared in dreams – is the earthly father of Our Lord. He is the spouse of the Virgin Mary. Theirs is a heavenly matrimony, unencumbered by earthly desires. In Mary and in Joseph we see holiness manifested. Their love of God is so absolute and so complete that they both were willing to sacrifice everything in order to fulfill the destinies that God had planned for them.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Pope Pius IX (Pio Nono) declared St. Joseph to be the Patron of the Universal Church in 1870. March is the month that the Catholic Church dedicates to St. Joseph. This was established officially in an encyclical about St. Joseph written by Pope Leo XIII in 1889 titled "Quamquam Pluries". One hundred years later, Pope John Paul II wrote another encyclical on St. Joseph titled "Redemptoris Custos" in honor of the earlier one by Pope Leo XIII.

The 19th of March, which is just one month away, is the Feast of St. Joseph. According to Canon Law, this is a Holy Day of Obligation. But it is up to the bishops of a country as to how these days are observed. Sadly, the feast of St. Joseph has been given a secondary status and is not celebrated as a day of obligation in the United States.

Nonetheless, Pope Leo XIII had this recommendation in 1889, which I think is as valid today as it was then...

It is a salutary practice and very praiseworthy, already established in some countries, to consecrate the month of March to the honour 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 honour of their heavenly patron, as though it were a day of Obligation.

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[I found these prayers to St. Joseph which I liked in a comment section. They are apparently written by Susan E. Stone, since I found them on her Catholic Meditations blog. The blog hasn't been updated in a few years. The last entry I could find from Susan anywhere online was around 2007.]

Saint Joseph,
gentle protector of our Lady,
guardian and teacher of Jesus in his youth,
patron of fathers everywhere,
guardian of families,
helper of all those who work,
thank you for being who you are,
gentle,
kind,
understanding,
and oh so patient.

Saint Joseph,
how often we take you for granted,
and you sit there, in the shadows,
doing the work
that God has asked you to do,
with the skilled hands of a patient craftsman.

On this day,
I wish to honor you for who you are,
and what you have done,
and let me say thank you
for being willing to answer the call of God,
for loving and caring for our Lady,
for loving and caring for our Lord,
for loving and caring for us, your foster children.

Amen.

O Saint Joseph,
Patron of the family,
protector of women and children,
guardian of the church,
how often I turn to you in times of need,
You, who God chose to be the foster father of our Lord,
You, of the kind and merciful heart,
who, when learning the news about our Lady being with child,
and not knowing the Father,
would not make her a spectacle, either,
You, of the faithful heart,
who stood beside her all the way to Bethlehem,
and guarded Jesus and Mary
on the road to Egypt,
who searched diligently for him
when the child Jesus stayed behind at the temple,
who raised our Lord as a good father,
caring for him, teaching him,
guiding him in the ways of being a man,
O Saint Joseph,
I love you for the example you set,
for the way you are so willing to help,
for your willingness to follow God's requests,
for having been there with our Lord when he was a child.

Saint Joseph,
in this my time of need,
pray for me.
Be thou my foster father as well,
and guide me always in the paths of righteousness
that lead me to your foster son, Jesus.

Saint Joseph, pray for me
Now, and at the hour of my death, Amen.