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Finally, something must be said of St. Joseph's predestination and
of his eminent sanctity. The doctrine according to which St. Joseph
among the saints in heaven is the highest after the Blessed Virgin
Mary, is the quasi-commonly accepted teaching in the Church,
especially from the sixteenth century.[2532] It was approved by
Leo XIII in proclaiming St. Joseph patron of the universal
Church, who wrote: "Certainly the dignity of Mary as the Mother
of God in heaven is so great that nothing greater can be attributed to
her. But, because there intervened between St. Joseph and the most
Blessed Virgin Mary a marital bond, there is no doubt that to the
most distinguished dignity whereby the Mother of God very far
surpasses all creatures, it came about that nobody is greater than
St. Joseph. Marriage is a partnership and a necessity that is the
greatest of all, which by its nature has added to it the mutual
communication of goods. Wherefore, if God gave Joseph as spouse to
the Virgin, He assuredly gave him not only as companion in life, as
witness of her virginity, guardian of her virtue, but also as sharer
by this conjugal bond in her high dignity."[2533]
The Church invokes St. Joseph immediately after the Blessed
Virgin Mary and before the apostles in the oration of the
Mass.[2534] She also addresses him with the following titles:
"St. Joseph, light of patriarchs, spouse of the Mother of God,
chaste guardian of the Virgin, foster father of the Son of God,
diligent protector of Christ, head of the holy family..., glory of
home life, guardian of virgins, pillar of families, solace of the
wretched, hope of the sick, patron of the dying, terror of demons,
protector of the holy Church, pray for us."[2535]
No one is greater among the saints after the Mother of the Savior.
But what is the principle of this doctrine about the excellence of
St. Joseph, admitted for the last five centuries? It is that
proportionate sanctity is required for an exceptional divine mission,
as in the case of Christ, His holy Mother, the apostles, founders
of orders, and others who are immediately chosen by God.
But Joseph was predestined for an exceptional mission, one that is
unique in the world and throughout all time, namely, that he should be
the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the foster father of the Son
of God, and that he should have in the guardianship of the Word
incarnate the heart of a father, full of benevolence and love. There
is nothing more exalted after the dignity of divine motherhood.
Therefore St. Joseph received sanctity in proportion to this
mission, and this sanctity increased until the end of his life. In
fact, St. Joseph was probably predestined to his exceptional mission
before he was predestined to glory, for there is no distinction between
his predestination and the decree of the Incarnation, which is
directed to the Incarnation not in a general way but as to something
individualized, namely, as concerning the incarnation of the Word by
the Virgin Mary "espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David,"[2536] This decree includes both Christ's
predestination to be the natural Son of God, predestination of Mary
to be the Mother of God, predestination of Joseph to the protection
of the Son incarnate and His Mother. Hence it can be said that just
as Christ was predestined to be the natural Son of God before He was
predestined to glory, and the Blessed Virgin to divine motherhood
before glory, so it seems that St. Joseph was first predestined to
his exceptional mission, on account of which he was afterward
predestined to a very high degree of glory and grace. The reason for
this conclusion is that Christ's predestination as man to be the
natural Son of God, precedes the predestination of any of the elect,
because Christ is the first of all the predestined.[2537] But
Christ's predestination to be the natural Son of God is nothing but
the decree of the Incarnation thus fulfilled here and now. But this
decree implies Mary's predestination to divine motherhood and
Joseph's predestination to the protection of the Son of God
incarnate and of His Mother.
Monsignor G. Sinibaldi says: "The mystery of St. Joseph is in
close relation with the order of the hypostatic union as so
constituted.... The cooperation of St. Joseph is not equal to
Mary's cooperation. Whereas Mary's cooperation is intrinsic,
physical, immediate, St. Joseph's is extrinsic, moral, through
Mary's mediation; but it is a true cooperation."[2538]
It has recently been asked exactly in what sense St. Joseph is
called father of Jesus, for example, when the Evangelist says:
"The child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents knew it
not.... And His mother said to Him: Son, why hast thou done so
to us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee
sorrowing."[2539]
Reply. St. Joseph is not called father in the strict sense. Three
things are required to be father in the strict sense, namely, that he
produce of his own substance, one like himself in species, and
principally, as St. Thomas shows in many places,[2540] that
the father gives to his son three things, namely, being,
nourishment, and education. If he gives being, he is already father
in the strict sense, even though his son be illegitimate; but to be
father in the full sense he must give not only being, but nourishment,
good education, and instruction. Father in the strict sense is
attributed analogically to the eternal Father because of the eternal
generation of His only-begotten Son, and to the earthly father
because of his temporal generation.
But many times the term "father, " is not attributed in the strict
sense as in the cases of adoptive father, spiritual father, foster
father intellectual father. Among these paternities not taken in the
strict sense the most exalted is the paternity of St. Joseph toward
Jesus. It is a paternity absolutely of its own kind, which
transcends common adoptive paternity and foster paternity. St.
Thomas says: "The child is not called the good of marriage only
inasmuch as it is the result of marriage, but inasmuch as it is
received and educated in marriage. And so the good of the Blessed
Virgin Mary's marriage was that child, not taken in the first
sense; neither a child born in adultery nor an adopted son who is
educated in matrimony is the good of marriage, because matrimony is not
ordered to the education of those, as this marriage between Mary and
Joseph was ordered especially to this, that the child be both received
and educated in marriage."[2541] Thus St. Joseph's
paternity was absolutely of its own kind and therefore Joseph received
from God, as Bossuet says, a paternal heart, so that with the
greatest of affection, he might take care of the Word incarnate, the
Son of God, who was truly and properly the Son of his consort, the
Blessed Virgin Mary.[2542]
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