READING 1
Luke 2:8-19

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.

READING 2
From Rosarium Virginis Mariae x 10-11 by Pope St. John Paul II

Mary, model of contemplation. The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:7).

Thereafter Mary’s gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).

Mary’s memories. Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son’s side. In a way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.

REFLECTION

Mary gazed on the Heart of Jesus, her Son, with a contemplative vision. While she took in the events of His life with her human heart and felt at various moments the joy, anguish, confusion, sorrow and delight of what He was experiencing, she also gazed with eyes of faith. She took everything into her heart and pondered it, putting it together, with wonder and awe. She always sought to penetrate more deeply all the work of God that unfolded in her midst.

Mary continues to place all of God’s work in her heart, including the ways that grace unfolds in each person’s life. With a mother’s heart, she ponders the life events of each of her beloved children. As we approach her with childlike faith, she can help us to understand and accept more deeply all that God is doing in us. How much do you let Mary help you? Can you let her help you form a more contemplative gaze? Can you learn from her the mysteries of her Son and ponder them more deeply? Can you let her hold your heart and form it to be more like hers?

PRAYERS

O Holy Mary by John Henry Newman
Sub tuum praesidium
Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or
Litany of Loreto or
at least one decade of the Rosary or
Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

INTRODUCTION

“Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ.”¹

After first getting in touch with and preparing our hearts we then drew close to the heart of St. Joseph. We received from the loving protection and care of his virtuous fatherhood and we began to admire and even imitate his virtues. One of the decisions of St. Joseph that was most foundational and profoundly virtuous in his life was his entering into a marriage with the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. We will follow his lead and allow our hearts to enter into closer relationship with hers. In so doing we can learn her heartbeat, including her great dreams, her tender sensitivity, and her eager openness to God’s will. We will learn from her how to respond to God, how to contemplate him in his mysteries, how to make more room for God in our lives, how to embrace humility, how to receive from her compassion and how to be deeply formed by the Word. Ultimately we will learn from her how to give our “genoïto,” to God like she did, to give Him our “yes” with joyous desire.

This will be the perfect preparation for entering into the ultimate phase of our consecration, the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mary was perfectly consecrated to Him and she will lead us to make the most perfect consecration we can make as well.

Our prayers this week will consist of two short prayers — one is the most ancient prayer to our Lady, the Sub Tuum Praesidium, and one is a short prayer by St. John Henry Newman. As a slightly longer devotion, the Litany of the Immaculate Heart by Newman, the classic Litany of Loreto, a decade of the Rosary, of the Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary, will help us meditate at greater length on our Lady’s beautiful heart and her expansive love — for Jesus and for us.

1. St. Louis De Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. ↩︎

Day 20: A Perfect Response: Mary’s Heart of Undivided Love

READING 1
Luke 1:26-33

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

READING 2
From Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady by Fr. Joseph Langford, M.C.

When Mother Teresa speaks of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, she is pointing to the perfection of Mary’s love. How often she would speak of the desire to give “undivided love” to God and neighbor. The only one who had done this fully was Our Lady; she is the model, the goal, and the grace-filled means to achieve this ideal. Mother Teresa saw the heart of Our Lady as a model of all the virtues she held dear: humility, silence, thoughtfulness, haste in service.

When Mother Teresa speaks of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, she is pointing to the perfection of Mary’s love. How often she would speak of the desire to give “undivided love” to God and neighbor. The only one who had done this fully was Our Lady; she is the model, the goal, and the grace-filled means to achieve this ideal. Mother Teresa saw the heart of Our Lady as a model of all the virtues she held dear: humility, silence, thoughtfulness, haste in service.

Understandably then, Mother Teresa chose Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart as her patroness, and established its feast day as the titular feast of her religious order. While other Marian feasts celebrate some single event in the unfolding of Our Lady’s life, the feast of the Immaculate Heart points precisely to her inner life; not to something she did, but to the love with which she did everything. In the heart of Our Lady, Mother Teresa found a path and portal into the mystery of Jesus’ love for us. The heart of Our Lady represented for her mankind’s maximum response to God, our highest and fullest response to his thirst to love and be loved. The Immaculate Heart of Mary refers not only to Our Lady’s love and virtues, but also to her interior emptiness of self in imitation of Christ who “emptied himself” to save the human race. Our Lady’s heart is the most empty of all human hearts, the most empty of self and empty of pride, and therefore the most ready to give a heart’s welcome and shelter to those who are shelterless. Mother Teresa saw this as the condition both for receiving and giving God to the full.

Reflection

Mary’s heart is the maximum response to God’s thirst for our love. Marked by humility, silence, thoughtfulness and service, her heart ultimately expresses the way she did everything—with the greatest love. The heart represents her inner life and also symbolizes a shelter she opens up to us and to others.

When you hold up your heart next to our Lady’s, how maximal is your response to God? With how much love do you carry out the various duties of your day? How is your humility? Silence? Thoughtfulness? Haste in service? How much room have you made in your heart for God and for others? In answering these questions, do not allow shame or regret to enter in, but to the degree that you fall short, only let yourself feel your need and be confident in Mary’s maternal response to those needs, especially coming from her littlest children.

Prayers

O Holy Mary by John Henry Newman
Sub tuum praesidium
Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or
Litany of Loreto or
at least one decade of the Rosary or
Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

READING 1
Matthew 2:19-23

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

READING 2
From the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde by Pope Francis

At the end of every account in which Joseph plays a role, the Gospel tells us that he gets up, takes the child and his mother, and does what God commanded him (cf. Mt 1:24; 2:14.21). Indeed, Jesus and Mary his Mother are the most precious treasure of our faith.¹ In the divine plan of salvation, the Son is inseparable from his Mother, from Mary, who “advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son until she stood at the cross” (Lumen Gentium 58).

We should always consider whether we ourselves are protecting Jesus and Mary, for they are also mysteriously entrusted to our own responsibility, care and safekeeping. The Son of the Almighty came into our world in a state of great vulnerability. He needed to be defended, protected, cared for and raised by Joseph. God trusted Joseph, as did Mary, who found in him someone who would not only save her life, but would always provide for her and her child. In this sense, Saint Joseph could not be other than the Guardian of the Church, for the Church is the continuation of the Body of Christ in history, even as Mary’s motherhood is reflected in the motherhood of the Church (CCC 963-970). In his continued protection of the Church, Joseph continues to protect the child and his mother, and we too, by our love for the Church, continue to love the child and his mother.

That child would go on to say: “As you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Consequently, every poor, needy, suffering or dying person, every stranger, every prisoner, every infirm person is “the child” whom Joseph continues to protect. For this reason, Saint Joseph is invoked as protector of the unfortunate, the needy, exiles, the afflicted, the poor and the dying. Consequently, the Church cannot fail to show a special love for the least of our brothers and sisters, for Jesus showed a particular concern for them and personally identified with them. From Saint Joseph, we must learn that same care and responsibility. We must learn to love the child and his mother, to love the sacraments and charity, to love the Church and the poor. Each of these realities is always the child and his mother.

REFLECTION

When Pope Francis visited the United States, he had lunch in Washington D.C. at a homeless shelter, and when he talked to the homeless men there he told them about St. Joseph, who was also homeless. In the Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis added several invocations to the Litany of Saint Joseph to reflect St. Joseph’s special love for the poor, including “Support in difficulties,” “Patron of exiles,” “Patron of the afflicted,” and “Patron of the poor.”

When we look at the amount of need, we can spontaneously desire to help as many as possible. And then we can get caught up in a numbers game that leads us to neglect the care for a few for the sake of caring for many. In this way, St. Joseph is always a great teacher for us. He primarily cared for just two. He poured out his life for a child and his mother. This helps us to believe that St. Joseph will show that care for each one of us individually, no matter how unimportant we might feel. It also reminds us that each person is a little Jesus and worthy of all our love and attention. Ultimately we must be faithful to whatever the Lord is asking and some are asked to minister to more, some to less, but each one is infinitely precious.

This reminds us of the epitaph on St. Ignatius’s tomb: “Non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est,” which translates to “Not to be restrained by what is greatest, yet to be contained by what is least—that is divine.” That is the freedom of St. Joseph who moved with freedom among the greats of this world and always found, served, and loved God in the littlest ones. And so we can ask ourselves: how well do we let St. Joseph care for the little parts of our own heart? And then how well do we care for the little ones God brings to us? How important to us is each child and each mother? Do we get lost in a numbers game? Will we give everything for just one little one?

Now as we come to the end of this week, we make a consecration to St. Joseph. That will be our first big step towards consecrating our hearts to the heart of Joseph and Mary before consecrating our heart to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We may want to continue renewing this consecration throughout the remainder of the preparation as well.

PRAYERS

Act of Consecration to St. Joseph

1. Cf. S. Rituum Congregatio, Quemadmodum Deus (8 December 1870): AAS 6 (1870-1871),
   193; Bl. Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Inclytum Patriarcham (7 July 1871): l.c., 324-327. ↩︎

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

READING 1
Matthew 2:13-15

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”

READING 2
From the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos x 31 by Pope St. John Paul II

The Church transforms these needs into prayer. Recalling that God wished to entrust the beginnings of our redemption to the faithful care of St. Joseph, she asks God to grant that she may faithfully cooperate in the work of salvation; that she may receive the same faithfulness and purity of heart that inspired Joseph in serving the Incarnate World; and that she may walk before God in the ways of holiness and justice, following Joseph’s example and through his intercession.

One hundred years ago, Pope Leo XIII had already exhorted the Catholic world to pray for the protection of St. Joseph, Patron of the whole Church. The Encyclical [of Pope Leo XIII] Quamquam Pluries appealed to Joseph’s “fatherly love…for the child Jesus” and commended to him, as “the provident guardian of the divine Family,” “the beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by his blood.” Since that time—as I recalled at the beginning of this Exhortation—the Church has implored the protection of St. Joseph on the basis of “that sacred bond of charity which united him to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God,” and the Church has commended to Joseph all of her cares, including those dangers which threaten the human family.

Even today we have many reasons to pray in a similar way: “Most beloved father, dispel the evil of falsehood and sin…graciously assist us from heaven in our struggle with the powers of darkness…and just as once you saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend God’s holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.” Today we still have good reason to commend everyone to St. Joseph.

REFLECTION

In the Litany of St. Joseph he is called “Terror of demons.” This title often captures people’s attention and stirs their fascination. St. Joseph protects us from evil. The greatest protection from evil is in humility and charity. St. Joseph brings us to the lowest place and he holds us close to Jesus, the source of all love. Joseph is sometimes depicted carrying a lantern from when he led the Holy Family out of Bethlehem by night. Joseph brings light of purity that dispels the power of darkness, and the light of honesty that eliminates falsehood.

Joseph’s protection and intercession is not a magic talisman but rather requires our cooperation. We must want to be honest, pure, humble, and virtuous. We must want to place the love of God before all else and continually choose Him whenever there is a conflict between Him and the enticements of this world. But how do we develop such desires? As we pray to St. Joseph and deepen our friendship with him, our desire to be like him will continue to grow.

What are the places in your life that still need to be transformed? In what ways do you suffer from the darkness of evil, falsehood and the power of sin? Where do you need the protection of St. Joseph in your life? How is he teaching you to become more like him?

PRAYERS

Litany of St. Joseph or
Ancient Prayer of St. Joseph or
Ad te beate Ioseph

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

READING 1
Matthew 1:18-25

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 send her away 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 fulfill 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.

READING 2
From the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos x 19 by Pope St. John Paul II

In the words of the “annunciation” by night, Joseph not only heard the divine truth concerning his wife’s indescribable vocation; he also heard once again the truth about his own vocation. This “just” man, who, in the spirit of the noblest traditions of the Chosen People, loved the Virgin of Nazareth and was bound to her by a husband’s love, was once again called by God to this love.

“Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife” into his home (Mt 1:24); what was conceived in Mary was “of the Holy Spirit.” From expressions such as these are we not to suppose that his love as a man was also given new birth by the Holy Spirit? Are we not to think that the love of God which has been poured forth into the human heart through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rm 5:5) molds every human love to perfection? This love of God also molds-in a completely unique way-the love of husband and wife, deepening within it everything of human worth and beauty, everything that bespeaks an exclusive gift of self, a covenant between persons, and an authentic communion according to the model of the Blessed Trinity.

“Joseph. . .took his wife; but he knew her not, until she had borne a son” (Mt 1:24-25). These words indicate another kind of closeness in marriage. The deep spiritual closeness arising from marital union and the interpersonal contact between man and woman have their definitive origin in the Spirit, the Giver of Life (cf. Jn 6:63). Joseph, in obedience to the Spirit, found in the Spirit the source of love, the conjugal love which he experienced as a man. And this love proved to be greater than this “just man” could ever have expected within the limits of his human heart.

REFLECTION

St. John Paul II invites us into a profoundly sacred space in the marital love between Joseph and Mary. Although a fearful approach would make their virginity a barrier between them, Pope John Paul II has no hesitation in speaking of the greatness of their love. As the Catechism taught in the passages on chastity, the virtuously chaste man or woman is able to experience even greater intimacy, closeness, and tenderness. From this perspective of a man with a fully developed heart, we are invited to imagine the intimate love he shared with both Jesus and Mary. Following God’s law does not limit, but rather intensifies our capacity for love. Indeed, we will find the fullness of God’s law exemplified in the Heart of Jesus which is a burning furnace of love.

How do imagine Joseph demonstrated his love for Mary? How about his love for Jesus? What things did they speak about? What graces did they share? What tender gestures did they exchange? What was it like to enter their house in Nazareth? What can we learn from Joseph about how to love Jesus and Mary more fully?

PRAYERS

Litany of St. Joseph or
Ancient Prayer of St. Joseph or
Ad te beate Ioseph

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

READING 1
John 15:12-15

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

READING 2
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2338 The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.

2339 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. “Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.”¹

2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. “Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity.”²

2341 The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason.

2342 Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life. The effort required can be more intense in certain periods, such as when the personality is being formed during childhood and adolescence.

2343 Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin. “Man… day by day builds himself up through his many free decisions; and so he knows, loves, and accomplishes moral good by stages of growth.”³

2344 Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is “an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of society.” Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.

2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort. The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.

2346 Charity is the form of all the virtues. Under its influence, chastity appears as a school of the gift of the person. Self-mastery is ordered to the gift of self. Chastity leads him who practices it to become a witness to his neighbor of God’s fidelity and loving kindness.

2347 The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends, who has given himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine estate. Chastity is a promise of immortality.

Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one’s neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to spiritual communion.

REFLECTION

At the Last Supper, Jesus taught His disciples what true friendship means: totality of self-gift even to the degree of laying down my life for my friend; totality of trust, even to the point that I do whatever my friend tells me; totality of self-revelation, even to the point that I entrust my whole heart to my friend.

The Program for Priestly Formation 6^th edition sets out friendship with Jesus as one of the goals of seminary formation. How do we develop such great heights of friendship? The Catechism teaches us that it goes along with the virtue of chastity, which “blossoms in friendship.” Chastity is the virtue that governs our personal relationships, particularly in the dimensions of intimacy. Intimacy is based on the sharing of our interior lives. We have intimacy when heart speaks to heart, when the inside of me is inside of you and the inside of you is inside of me. Our capacity to take another into our heart is a uniquely human quality, made in the image of God (cf. John 17).

This requires a path of self-knowledge. We have to grow in awareness of what is in our hearts and how we are affected by our relationships as well as by the culture. It also requires self-mastery, in our ability to freely choose to receive or not, to share or not, to trust or not. It requires self-gift, in our ability to discern and then actually to give ourselves to another and open ourselves to the gift of another. All this we can learn from St. Joseph’s Most Chaste Heart.

How well do you know yourself? How free are you interiorly? How far along the path of self-mastery and self-gift have you come? How are your relationships? How developed is the virtue of chastity in your life? How is your friendship with Jesus? How is your friendship with others?

PRAYERS

Litany of St. Joseph or
Ancient Prayer of St. Joseph or
Ad te beate Ioseph

1. Gaudium et Spes x 17. ↩︎
2. St. Augustine, Confessions 10, 29, 40.s x 17. ↩︎
3. Familiaris Consortio 23. ↩︎

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

READING 1
Luke 14:7-11

Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

READING 2
From a Sermon on St. Joseph by St. Francis de Sales

But if St. Joseph was careful to keep his virtues hidden under the shelter of his most holy humility, he took special care to conceal the precious pearl of his virginity; it is for this reason that he consented to be married, so that no one might know it, and that, under the holy veil of marriage, he might live more hidden. By this, virgins and those who wish to live chastely are taught that it is not enough for them to be virgins, if they are not humble, and if they do not enclose their purity in the precious box of humility; for otherwise it will happen to them as to foolish virgins, who, for want of humility and merciful charity, were shut out from the marriage feast of the Bridegroom [Matthew 25:1-12], and thus were forced to go to the marriage of the world, where they do not observe the counsel of the heavenly Spouse, who says that it is necessary to be humble to enter the wedding feast, I mean that it is necessary that one practice humility: for, He says, in going to a marriage feast, or “being invited to a marriage feast, take the lowest place” [Luke 14: 8,10]. By this we see how necessary humility is for the preservation of virginity, since undoubtedly no will be admitted to the heavenly banquet and to the nuptial feast that God prepares for virgins in the celestial dwelling place, unless they be accompanied by this virtue.

REFLECTION

Humility protects all the virtues, including chastity. Charity is the form of the virtues, giving them their height, direction and purpose. Humility is the ground of the virtues, providing their safe and stable foundation. Dietrich von Hildebrand, in his great work Transformation in Christ, enumerates several attitudes that mitigate against humility: pride that hates goodness, is blind to value, isolates and divides, turns freedom into license, and refuses all submission as such. With lesser forms of pride, we might reject the sovereignty of God, consider ourselves more valuable because of our virtues, consider our virtues as being due to ourselves instead of God. He also notes the dangers of vanity and haughtiness in which we display our own virtues or hold ourselves above submission to other persons, respectively. The humility of St. Joseph is a great teacher for us and uniting our heart with his can help us, by God’s grace, to grow in all the virtues for the sake of Jesus and Mary.

In what ways is your humility threatened? Which attitudes listed by von Hildebrand resonate with you as potential dangers? What makes it difficult for you to take the lowest place, as instructed by Jesus?

PRAYERS

Litany of St. Joseph or
Ancient Prayer of St. Joseph or
Ad te beate Ioseph

Copyright © 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey

READING 1
Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

READING 2
From a Sermon on St. Joseph by St. Francis de Sales

It is certainly with very good reason that St. Joseph is said to resemble the palm tree, for he was always strong, courageous, constant, and persevering. There is a great difference between constancy and perseverance, and between strength and courage. We call those constant who stand firm and prepared to suffer the assaults of their enemies, without weakening or losing courage during the combat; but perseverance chiefly concerns a certain interior weariness that comes upon us amidst the lengthy duration of our sufferings, which is as powerful an enemy as can be encountered. Now perseverance makes us despise this enemy in such a way that we remain victorious by a continual evenness and submission to the will of God. Strength is what makes us powerfully resist the attacks of our enemies; but courage is a virtue that makes one not only hold oneself in readiness to fight or to resist when the occasion presents itself, but also to attack the enemy at the moment when it is least expected. Now our glorious St. Joseph was endowed with all these virtues, and he practiced them marvelously well.

You understand, then, how exalted was the dignity of St. Joseph, and how full he was of all sorts of virtues; nevertheless, he was more abject and humble than one can say or imagine. One example alone suffices to make it well understood. He goes into his own country and to his own town of Bethlehem, and no one was turned away from all the inns but himself, at least as far as we know; thus he was forced to retire and to take his chaste Spouse into a stable, among the oxen and asses [Luke 2:4-7]. Oh, to what extremity was his abjection and his humility reduced! His humility was the reason, thus St. Bernard explains it, that he wanted to leave Our Lady when he saw that she was with child; for St. Bernard says that he held this conversation with himself: “And what is this? I know that she is a virgin, for we have made a vow together to keep virginity and purity, which she would not on any account break; yet I see that she is with child and that she is a mother: how can it be that maternity is found in virginity and that virginity does not prevent maternity? O God!, he said to himself, must she not be that glorious ‘Virgin,’ of whom the prophets declare that ‘shall conceive’ and be the Mother of the Messiah [Isaiah 7:14]? Oh, if it be so, God forbid that I should remain with her, I who am so unworthy. It is better that I leave her secretly on account of my unworthiness, and that I do not remain any longer in her company.” An admirable feeling of humility, making St. Peter cry out in the boat in which he was with Our Lord, when Peter saw His almighty power manifested in the great draught of fishes on His only commanding that they cast their nets into the sea: “O Lord,” he said, completely overwhelmed by a feeling of humility like St. Joseph, “depart from me, for I am a sinful man” [Luke 5:8], and hence I am not worthy to be with You. I know well, he meant to say, that if I throw myself into the sea, I shall perish; but, You, who are all powerful, will walk upon the waters without danger; therefore, I entreat You to depart from me, and not that I should depart from You.

REFLECTION

St. Francis de Sales was a great lover and admirer of St. Joseph. He held St. Joseph in very high esteem and presented him unhesitatingly as a great example for our imitation. Here he lauds St. Joseph’s constancy, perseverance, courage and strength. He distinguishes those four qualities, but together they provide a picture of stability and trustworthiness in the face of any kind of adversity. St. Joseph can teach us that kind of stability as well in the midst of the trials we are subjected to in this world. As the prevailing philosophies and political ideologies drift farther away from Christianity, our faith is threatened. We know there were more martyrs in the twentieth century than all previous centuries combined. It takes constancy, perseverance, strength and courage to be a follower of Christ.

Even more importantly, though, it takes humility. Joseph found himself in a lofty place, to be the man closest to Jesus at His Incarnation and for the majority of His earthly life. Aware that this honor was not one he could choose for himself, St. Francis de Sales (following St. Bernard) explains Joseph’s decision to release Mary from him, to give her leave to depart from him. But it is the same humility that accepts the calling when it is presented to him clearly by the angel in the dream: “You shall name him Jesus,” telling him in this way that he was to be the earthly father who would foster Jesus’s earthly life. How is your heart? Constant? Persevering? Strong? Courageous? Humble? Do you refuse to grasp at honors and yet are ready to accept them if it is God’s will? Are you ready to answer God’s call for you?

PRAYERS

Litany of St. Joseph or
Ancient Prayer of St. Joseph or
Ad te beate Ioseph

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