REDEMPTORIS CUSTOS (Guardian
Of The Redeemer)
Pope John Paul II
Apostolic Exhortation
of the Supreme Pontiff On 15 August 1989. To
Bishops, To Priests and Deacons, To Men and
Women Religious, and to all the Lay Faithful
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1. "Joseph did as the angel of
the Lord commanded him and took his wife"
(cf. Mt 1:24).
Inspired by the Gospel, the Fathers of the
Church from the earliest centuries stressed
that just as St. Joseph took loving care of
Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ's
upbringing,[1] he likewise watches over and
protects Christ's Mystical Body, that is, the
Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar
and model.
On the occasion of the centenary of Pope Leo
XIII's Encyclical Epistle Quamquam Pluries,[2]
and in line with the veneration given to St.
Joseph over the centuries, I wish to offer for
your consideration, dear brothers and sisters,
some reflections concerning him "into whose
custody God entrusted his most precious treasures."[3]
I gladly fulfill this pastoral duty so that
all may grow in devotion to the Patron of the
Universal Church and in love for the Savior
whom he served in such an exemplary manner.
In this way the whole Christian people not
only will turn to St. Joseph with greater fervor
and invoke his patronage with trust, but also
will always keep before their eyes his humble,
mature way of serving and of "taking part"
in the plan of salvation.[4]
I am convinced that by reflection upon the
way that Mary's spouse shared in the divine
mystery, the Church—on the road towards
the future with all of humanity—will be
enabled to discover ever anew her own identity
within this redemptive plan, which is founded
on the mystery of the Incarnation.
This is precisely the mystery in which Joseph
of Nazareth "shared" like no other
human being except Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate
Word. He shared in it with her; he was involved
in the same salvific event; he was the guardian
of the same love, through the power of which
the eternal Father "destined us to be his
sons through Jesus Christ" (Eph 1:5).
2. "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" (Mt 1:20-21).
In these words we find the core of biblical
truth about St. Joseph; they refer to that moment
in his life to which the Fathers of the Church
make special reference.
The Evangelist Matthew explains the significance
of this moment while also describing how Joseph
lived it. However, in order to understand fully
both its content and context, it is important
to keep in mind the parallel passage in the
Gospel of Luke. In Matthew we read: "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"
(Mt 1:18). However, the origin of Mary's pregnancy
"of the Holy Spirit" is described
more fully and explicitly in what Luke tells
us about the annunciation of Jesus' birth: "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"
(Lk 1:26-27). The angel's greeting: "Hail,
full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk
1:28) created an inner turmoil in Mary and also
moved her to reflect. Then the messenger reassured
the Virgin and at the same time revealed God's
special plan for 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" (Lk
1:30-32).
A little earlier the Gospel writer had stated
that at the moment of the Annunciation, Mary
was "betrothed to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David." The nature
of this "marriage" is explained indirectly
when Mary, after hearing what the messenger
says about the birth of the child, asks, "How
can this be, since I do not know man ? "
(Lk 1:34) The angel responds: "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; therefore
the child to be born will be called holy, the
Son of God" (Lk 1:35). Although Mary is
already "wedded" to Joseph, she will
remain a virgin, because the child conceived
in her at the Annunciation was conceived by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
At this point Luke's text coincides with Matthew
1:18 and serves to explain what we read there.
If, after her marriage to Joseph, Mary "is
found to be with child of the Holy Spirit,"
this fact corresponds to all that the Annunciation
means, in particular to Mary's final words:
"Let it be to me according to your word"
(Lk 1:38). In response to what is clearly the
plan of God, with the passing of days and weeks
Mary's "pregnancy" is visible to the
people and to Joseph; she appears before them
as one who must give birth and carry within
herself the mystery of motherhood.
3. In these circumstances, "her
husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling
to put her to shame, resolved to send her away
quietly" (Mt 1:19). He did not know how
to deal with Mary's "astonishing"
motherhood. He certainly sought an answer to
this unsettling question, but above all he sought
a way out of what was for him a difficult situation.
"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' "
(Mt 1:20-21).
There is a strict parallel between the "annunciation"
in Matthew's text and the one in Luke. The divine
messenger introduces Joseph to the mystery of
Mary's motherhood. While remaining a virgin,
she who by law is his "spouse" has
become a mother through the power of the Holy
Spirit. And when the Son in Mary's womb comes
into the world, he must receive the name Jesus.
This was a name known among the Israelites and
sometimes given to their sons. In this case,
however, it is the Son who, in accordance with
the divine promise, will bring to perfect fulfillment
the meaning of the name Jesus—Yehosua—which
means "God saves."
Joseph is visited by the messenger as "Mary's
spouse," as the one who in due time must
give this name to the Son to be born of the
Virgin of Nazareth who is married to him. It
is to Joseph, then, that the messenger turns,
entrusting to him the responsibilities of an
earthly father with regard to Mary's Son.
"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as
the angel of the Lord commanded him and took
Mary as his wife" (cf. Mt 1:24). He took
her in all the mystery of her motherhood. He
took her together with the Son who had come
into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In this way he showed a readiness of will like
Mary's with regard to what God asked of him
through the angel.
4. When, soon after the Annunciation,
Mary went to the house of Zechariah to visit
her kinswoman Elizabeth, even as she offered
her greeting she heard the words of Elizabeth,
who was "filled with the Holy Spirit"
(Lk 1:41). Besides offering a salutation which
recalled that of the angel at the Annunciation,
Elizabeth also said: "and blessed is she
who believed that there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her from the Lord"
(Lk 1:45). These words were the guiding thought
of the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, in which
I sought to deepen the teaching of the Second
Vatican Council, which stated: "The Blessed
Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith,
and faithfully preserved her union with her
Son even to the cross,"[5] "preceding"[6]
all those who follow Christ by faith.
Now at the beginning of this pilgrimage, the
faith of Mary meets the faith of Joseph. If
Elizabeth said of the Redeemer's Mother, "blessed
is she who believed," in a certain sense
this blessedness can be referred to Joseph as
well, since he responded positively to the word
of God when it was communicated to him at the
decisive moment. While it is true that Joseph
did not respond to the angel's "announcement"
in the same way as Mary, he "did as the
angel of the Lord commanded him and took his
wife." What he did is the clearest "obedience
of faith" (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26; 2 Cor 10:5-6).
One can say that what Joseph did united him
in an altogether special way to the faith of
Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the
very thing that she had already accepted at
the Annunciation. The Council teaches: "
"The obedience of faith" must be given
to God as he reveals himself. By this obedience
of faith man freely commits himself entirely
to God, making 'the full submission of his intellect
and will to God who reveals,' and willingly
assenting to the revelation given by him."[7]
This statement, which touches the very essence
of faith, is perfectly applicable to Joseph
of Nazareth.
5. Therefore he became a unique guardian
of the mystery "hidden for ages in God"
(Eph 3:9), as did Mary, in that decisive moment
which St. Paul calls "the fullness of time,"
when "God sent forth his Son, born of woman...to
redeem those who were under the law, so that
we might receive adoption as sons" (Gal
4:4-5). In the words of the Council: "It
pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to
reveal himself and to make known the mystery
of his will (cf. Eph 1:9). His will was that
men should have access to the Father, through
Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit,
and become sharers in the divine nature (cf.
Eph 2:18; 2 Pt 1 4)"[8]
Together with Mary, Joseph is the first guardian
of this divine mystery. Together with Mary,
and in relation to Mary, he shares in this final
phase of God 's self-revelation in Christ, and
he does so from the very beginning. Looking
at the gospel texts of both Matthew and Luke,
one can also say that Joseph is the first to
share in the faith of the Mother of God, and
that in doing so he supports his spouse in the
faith of the divine annunciation. He is also
the first to be placed by God on the path of
Mary's "pilgrimage of faith." It is
a path along which—especially at the time
of Calvary and Pentecost—Mary will precede
in a perfect way.[9]
6. The path that was Joseph's—his
pilgrimage of faith—ended first, that is
to say, before Mary stood at the foot of the
cross on Golgotha, and before the time after
Christ returned to the Father, when she was
present in the upper room on Pentecost, the
day the Church was manifested to the world,
having been born in the power of the Spirit
of truth. Nevertheless, Joseph's way of faith
moved in the same direction: it was totally
determined by the same mystery, of which he,
together with Mary, had been the first guardian.
The Incarnation and Redemption constitute an
organic and indissoluble unity, in which "the
plan of revelation is realized by words and
deeds which are intrinsically bound up with
each other."[10] Precisely because of this
unity, Pope John XXIII, who had a great devotion
to St. Joseph, directed that Joseph's name be
inserted in the Roman Canon of the Mass—which
is the perpetual memorial of redemption—after
the name of Mary and before the apostles, popes
and martyrs.[11]
7. As can be deduced from the gospel
texts, Joseph's marriage to Mary is the juridical
basis of his fatherhood. It was to assure fatherly
protection for Jesus that God chose Joseph to
be Mary's spouse. It follows that Joseph's fatherhood—a
relationship that places him as close as possible
to Christ, to whom every election and predestination
is ordered (cf. Rom 8:28-29)—comes to pass
through marriage to Mary, that is, through the
family.
While clearly affirming that Jesus was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that virginity
remained intact in the marriage (cf. Mt 1:18-25;
Lk 1:26-38), the evangelists refer to Joseph
as Mary's husband and to Mary as his wife (cf.
Mt 1:16, 18-20, 24; Lk 1:27; 2:5).
And while it is important for the Church to
profess the virginal conception of Jesus, it
is no less important to uphold Mary's marriage
to Joseph, because juridically Joseph's fatherhood
depends on it. Thus one understands why the
generations are listed according to the genealogy
of Joseph: "Why," St. Augustine asks,
"should they not be according to Joseph?
Was he not Mary's husband?... Scripture states,
through the authority of an angel, that he was
her husband. Do not fear, says the angel, to
take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was told
to name the child, although not born from his
seed. She will bear a son, the angel says, and
you will call him Jesus. Scripture recognizes
that Jesus is not born of Joseph's seed, since
in his concern about the origin of Mary's pregnancy,
Joseph is told that it is of the Holy Spirit.
Nonetheless, he is not deprived of his fatherly
authority from the moment that he is told to
name the child. Finally, even the Virgin Mary,
well aware that she has not conceived Christ
as a result of conjugal relations with Joseph,
still calls him Christ's father."[12]
The Son of Mary is also Joseph's Son by virtue
of the marriage bond that unites them: "By
reason of their faithful marriage both of them
deserve to be called Christ's parents, not only
his mother, but also his father, who was a parent
in the same way that he was the mother's spouse:
in mind, not in the flesh."[13] In this
marriage none of the requisites of marriage
were lacking: "In Christ's parents all
the goods of marriage were realized—offspring,
fidelity, the sacrament: the offspring being
the Lord Jesus himself; fidelity, since there
was no adultery: the sacrament, since there
was no divorce."[14]
Analyzing the nature of marriage, both St.
Augustine and St. Thomas always identify it
with an "indivisible union of souls,"
a "union of hearts," with "consent."[15]
These elements are found in an exemplary manner
in the marriage of Mary and Joseph. At the culmination
of the history of salvation, when God reveals
his love for humanity through the gift of the
Word, it is precisely the marriage of Mary and
Joseph that brings to realization in full "freedom"
the "spousal gift of self" in receiving
and expressing such a love.[16] "In this
great undertaking which is the renewal of all
things in Christ, marriage—it too purified
and renewed—becomes a new reality, a sacrament
of the New Covenant. We see that at the beginning
of the New Testament, as at the beginning of
the Old, there is a married couple. But whereas
Adam and Eve were the source of evil which was
unleashed on the world, Joseph and Mary are
the summit from which holiness spreads all over
the earth. The Savior began the work of salvation
by this virginal and holy union, wherein is
manifested his all-powerful will to purify and
sanctify the family—that sanctuary of love
and cradle of life."[17]
How much the family of today can learn from
this! "The essence and role of the family
are in the final analysis specified by love.
Hence the family has the mission to guard, reveal
and communicate love, and this is a living reflection
of and a real sharing in God's love for humanity
and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church
his bride."[18] This being the case, it
is in the Holy Family, the original "Church
in miniature (Ecclesia domestica),"[19]
that every Christian family must be reflected.
"Through God's mysterious design, it was
in that family that the Son of God spent long
years of a hidden life. It is therefore the
prototype and example for all Christian families."[20]
8. St. Joseph was called by God to serve
the person and mission of Jesus directly through
the exercise of his fatherhood. It is precisely
in this way that, as the Church's Liturgy teaches,
he "cooperated in the fullness of time
in the great mystery of salvation" and
is truly a "minister of salvation."[21]
His fatherhood is expressed concretely "in
his having made his life a service, a sacrifice
to the mystery of the Incarnation and to the
redemptive mission connected with it; in having
used the legal authority which was his over
the Holy Family in order to make a total gift
of self, of his life and work; in having turned
his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman
oblation of self, an oblation of his heart and
all his abilities into love placed at the service
of the Messiah growing up in his house."[22]
In recalling that "the beginnings of our
redemption" were entrusted "to the
faithful care of Joseph,"[23] the Liturgy
specifies that "God placed him at the head
of his family, as a faithful and prudent servant,
so that with fatherly care he might watch over
his only begotten Son."[24] Leo XIII emphasized
the sublime nature of this mission: "He
among all stands out in his august dignity,
since by divine disposition he was guardian,
and according to human opinion, father of God's
Son. Whence it followed that the Word of God
was subjected to Joseph, he obeyed him and rendered
to him that honor and reverence that children
owe to their father."[25]
Since it is inconceivable that such a sublime
task would not be matched by the necessary qualities
to adequately fulfill it, we must recognize
that Joseph showed Jesus "by a special
gift from heaven, all the natural love, all
the affectionate solicitude that a father's
heart can know."[26]
Besides fatherly authority over Jesus, God
also gave Joseph a share in the corresponding
love, the love that has its origin in the Father
"from whom every family in heaven and on
earth is named" (Eph 3:15).
The Gospels clearly describe the fatherly responsibility
of Joseph toward Jesus. For salvation—which
comes through the humanity of Jesus—is
realized in actions which are an everyday part
of family life, in keeping with that "condescension"
which is inherent in the economy of the Incarnation.
The gospel writers carefully show how in the
life of Jesus nothing was left to chance, but
how everything took place according to God's
predetermined plan. The oft-repeated formula,
"This happened, so that there might be
fulfilled...," in reference to a particular
event in the Old Testament, serves to emphasize
the unity and continuity of the plan which is
fulfilled in Christ.
With the Incarnation, the "promises"
and "figures" of the Old Testament
become "reality": places, persons,
events and rites interrelate according to precise
divine commands communicated by angels and received
by creatures who are particularly sensitive
to the voice of God. Mary is the Lord's humble
servant, prepared from eternity for the task
of being the Mother of God. Joseph is the one
whom God chose to be the "overseer of the
Lord's birth,"[27] the one who has the
responsibility to look after the Son of God's
"ordained" entry into the world, in
accordance with divine dispositions and human
laws. All of the so-called "private"
or "hidden" life of Jesus is entrusted
to Joseph's guardianship.
9. Journeying to Bethlehem for the census
in obedience to the orders of legitimate authority,
Joseph fulfilled for the child the significant
task of officially inserting the name "Jesus,
son of Joseph of Nazareth" (cf. Jn 1:45)
in the registry of the Roman Empire. This registration
clearly shows that Jesus belongs to the human
race as a man among men, a citizen of this world,
subject to laws and civil institutions, but
also "savior of the world." Origen
gives a good description of the theological
significance, by no means marginal, of this
historical fact: —"Since the first
census of the whole world took place under Caesar
Augustus, and among all the others Joseph too
went to register together with Mary his wife,
who was with child, and since Jesus was born
before the census was completed: to the person
who makes a careful examination it will appear
that a kind of mystery is expressed in the fact
that at the time when all people in the world
presented themselves to be counted, Christ too
should be counted. By being registered with
everyone, he could sanctify everyone; inscribed
with the whole world in the census, he offered
to the world communion with himself, and after
presenting himself he wrote all the people of
the world in the book of the living, so that
as many as believed in him could then be written
in heaven with the saints of God, to whom be
glory and power for ever and ever. Amen."[28]
10. As guardian of the mystery "hidden
for ages in the mind of God," which begins
to unfold before his eyes "in the fullness
of time," Joseph, together with Mary, is
a privileged witness to the birth of the Son
of God into the world on Christmas night in
Bethlehem. Luke writes: "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" (Lk 2:6-7).
Joseph was an eyewitness to this birth, which
took place in conditions that, humanly speaking,
were embarrassing—a first announcement
of that "self-emptying" (cf. Phil
2:5-8) which Christ freely accepted for the
forgiveness of sins. Joseph also witnessed the
adoration of the shepherds who arrived at Jesus'
birthplace after the angel had brought them
the great and happy news (cf. Lk 2:15-16). Later
he also witnessed the homage of the magi who
came from the East (cf. Mt 2:11).
11. A son's circumcision was the first
religious obligation of a father, and with this
ceremony (cf. Lk 2:21) Joseph exercised his
right and duty with regard to Jesus.
The principle which holds that all the rites
of the Old Testament are a shadow of the reality
(cf. Heb 9:9f; 10:1) serves to explain why Jesus
would accept them. As with all the other rites,
circumcision too is "fulfilled" in
Jesus. God's covenant with Abraham, of which
circumcision was the sign (cf. Gn 17:13), reaches
its full effect and perfect realization in Jesus,
who is the "yes" of all the ancient
promises (cf. 2 Cor 1:20).
12. At the circumcision Joseph names
the child "Jesus." This is the only
name in which there is salvation (cf. Acts 4:12).
Its significance had been revealed to Joseph
at the moment of his "annunciation":
"You shall call the child Jesus, for he
will save his people from their sins" (cf.
Mt 1:21). In conferring the name, Joseph declares
his own legal fatherhood over Jesus, and in
speaking the name he proclaims the child's mission
as Savior.
13. This rite, to which Luke refers
(2:22ff.), includes the ransom of the first-born
and sheds light on the subsequent stay of Jesus
in the Temple at the age of twelve.
The ransoming of the first-born is another
obligation of the father, and it is fulfilled
by Joseph. Represented in the first-born is
the people of the covenant, ransomed from slavery
in order to belong to God. Here too, Jesus—who
is the true "price" of ransom (cf.
1 Cor 6:20; 7:23; 1 Pt 1:19)— not only
"fulfills" the Old Testament rite,
but at the same time transcends it, since he
is not a subject to be redeemed, but the very
author of redemption.
The gospel writer notes that "his father
and his mother marveled at what was said about
him" (Lk 2:23), in particular at what Simeon
said in his canticle to God, when he referred
to Jesus as the "salvation which you have
prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light
for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory
to your people Israel" and as a "sign
that is spoken against" (cf. Lk 2:30-34).
14. After the presentation in the Temple
the Evangelist Luke notes: "And when they
had performed everything according to the law
of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to
their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew
and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the
favor of God was upon him" (Lk 2:39-40).
But according to Matthew's text, a very important
event took place before the return to Galilee,
an event in which divine providence once again
had recourse to Joseph. We read: "Now when
[the magi] 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'" (Mt 2:13). Herod learned
from the magi who came from the East about the
birth of the "king of the Jews" (Mt
2:2). And when the magi departed, he "sent
and killed all the male children in Bethlehem
and in all that region who were two years old
or under" (Mt 2:16). By killing them all,
he wished to kill the new-born "king of
the Jews" whom he had heard about. And
so, Joseph, having been warned in a dream, "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'" (Mt 2:14-15; cf. Hos
11:1).
And so Jesus' way back to Nazareth from Bethlehem
passed through Egypt. Just as Israel had followed
the path of the exodus "from the condition
of slavery" in order to begin the Old Covenant,
so Joseph, guardian and cooperator in the providential
mystery of God, even in exile watched over the
one who brings about the New Covenant.
15. From the time of the Annunciation,
both Joseph and Mary found themselves, in a
certain sense, at the heart of the mystery hidden
for ages in the mind of God, a mystery which
had taken on flesh: "The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14). He dwelt
among men, within the surroundings of the Holy
Family of Nazareth—one of many families
in this small town in Galilee, one of the many
families of the land of Israel. There Jesus
"grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him" (Lk
2:40). The Gospels summarize in a few words
the long period of the "hidden" life,
during which Jesus prepared himself for his
messianic mission. Only one episode from this
"hidden time" is described in the
Gospel of Luke: the Passover in Jerusalem when
Jesus was twelve years old. Together with Mary
and Joseph, Jesus took part in the feast as
a young pilgrim. "And when the feast was
ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus
stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did
not know it" (Lk 2:43). After a day's journey,
they noticed his absence and began to search
"among their kinsfolk and acquaintances."
"After three days they found him in the
temple, sitting among the teachers, listening
to them and asking them questions; and all who
heard him were amazed at his understanding and
his answers" (Lk 2:47). Mary asked: "Son,
why have you treated us so? Behold, your father
and I have been looking for you anxiously"
(Lk 2:48). The answer Jesus gave was such that
"they did not understand the saying which
he spoke to them." He had said, "How
is it that you sought me? Did you not know that
I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49-50)
Joseph, of whom Mary had just used the words
"your father," heard this answer.
That, after all, is what all the people said
and thought: Jesus was "the son (as was
supposed) of Joseph" (Lk 3:23). Nonetheless,
the reply of Jesus in the Temple brought once
again to the mind of his "presumed father"
what he had heard on that night twelve years
earlier: "Joseph...do not fear to take
Mary your wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit." From that
time onwards he knew that he was a guardian
of the mystery of God, and it was precisely
this mystery that the twelve-year-old Jesus
brought to mind: "I must be in my Father's
house."
16. The growth of Jesus "in wisdom
and in stature, and in favor with God and man"
(Lk 2:52) took place within the Holy Family
under the eyes of Joseph, who had the important
task of "raising" Jesus, that is,
feeding, clothing and educating him in the Law
and in a trade, in keeping with the duties of
a father.
In the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Church venerates
the memory of Mary the ever Virgin Mother of
God and the memory of St. Joseph,[29] because
"he fed him whom the faithful must eat
as the bread of eternal life."[30]
For his part, Jesus "was obedient to them"
(Lk 2:51), respectfully returning the affection
of his "parents." In this way he wished
to sanctify the obligations of the family and
of work, which he performed at the side of Joseph.
17. In the course of that pilgrimage
of faith which was his life, Joseph, like Mary,
remained faithful to God's call until the end.
While Mary's life was the bringing to fullness
of that fiat first spoken at the Annunciation,
at the moment of Joseph's own "annunciation"
he said nothing; instead he simply "did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him"
(Mt 1:24). And this first "doing "
became the beginning of "Joseph's way."
The Gospels do not record any word ever spoken
by Joseph along that way. But the silence of
Joseph has its own special eloquence, for thanks
to that silence we can understand the truth
of the Gospel's judgment that he was "a
just man" (Mt 1:19).
One must come to understand this truth, for
it contains one of the most important testimonies
concerning man and his vocation. Through many
generations the Church has read this testimony
with ever greater attention and with deeper
understanding, drawing, as it were, "what
is new and what is old" (Mt 13:52) from
the storehouse of the noble figure of Joseph.
18. Above all, the "just"
man of Nazareth possesses the clear characteristics
of a husband. Luke refers to Mary as "a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph"
(Lk 1:27). Even before the "mystery hidden
for ages" (Eph 3:9) began to be fulfilled,
the Gospels set before us the image of husband
and wife. According to Jewish custom, marriage
took place in two stages: first, the legal,
or true marriage was celebrated, and then, only
after a certain period of time, the husband
brought the wife into his own house. Thus, before
he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her "husband."
Mary, however, preserved her deep desire to
give herself exclusively to God. One may well
ask how this desire of Mary's could be reconciled
with a "wedding." The answer can only
come from the saving events as they unfold,
from the special action of God himself. From
the moment of the Annunciation, Mary knew that
she was to fulfill her virginal desire to give
herself exclusively and fully to God precisely
by becoming the Mother of God's Son. Becoming
a Mother by the power of the Holy Spirit was
the form taken by her gift of self: a form which
God himself expected of the Virgin Mary, who
was "betrothed" to Joseph. Mary uttered
her fiat. The fact that Mary was "betrothed"
to Joseph was part of the very plan of God.
This is pointed out by Luke and especially by
Matthew. The words spoken to Joseph are very
significant: "Do not fear to take Mary
your wife, for that which has been conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20).
These words explain the mystery of Joseph's
wife: In her motherhood Mary is a virgin. In
her, "the Son of the Most High" assumed
a human body and became "the Son of Man."
Addressing Joseph through the words of the
angel, God speaks to him as the husband of the
Virgin of Nazareth. What took place in her through
the power of the Holy Spirit also confirmed
in a special way the marriage bond which already
existed between Joseph and Mary. God's messenger
was clear in what he said to Joseph: "Do
not fear to take Mary your wife into your home."
Hence, what had taken place earlier, namely,
Joseph's marriage to Mary, happened in accord
with God's will and was meant to endure. In
her divine motherhood Mary had to continue to
live as "a virgin, the wife of her husband"
(cf. Lk 1:27).
19. 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.
20. In the Liturgy, Mary is celebrated
as "united to Joseph, the just man, by
a bond of marital and virginal love."[31]
There are really two kinds of love here, both
of which together represent the mystery of the
Church—virgin and spouse—as symbolized
in the marriage of Mary and Joseph. "Virginity
or celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of God
not only does not contradict the dignity of
marriage but presupposes and confirms it. Marriage
and virginity are two ways of expressing and
living the one mystery of the Covenant of God
with his people,"[32] the Covenant which
is a communion of love between God and human
beings.
Through his complete self-sacrifice, Joseph
expressed his generous love for the Mother of
God, and gave her a husband's "gift of
self." Even though he decided to draw back
so as not to interfere in the plan of God which
was coming to pass in Mary, Joseph obeyed the
explicit command of the angel and took Mary
into his home, while respecting the fact that
she belonged exclusively to God.
On the other hand, it was from his marriage
to Mary that Joseph derived his singular dignity
and his rights in regard to Jesus. "It
is certain that the dignity of the Mother of
God is so exalted that nothing could be more
sublime; yet because Mary was united to Joseph
by the bond of marriage, there can be no doubt
but that Joseph approached as no other person
ever could that eminent dignity whereby the
Mother of God towers above all creatures. Since
marriage is the highest degree of association
and friendship, involving by its very nature
a communion of goods, it follows that God, by
giving Joseph to the Virgin, did not give him
to her only as a companion for life, a witness
of her virginity and protector of her honor:
he also gave Joseph to Mary in order that he
might share, through the marriage pact, in her
own sublime greatness."[33]
21. This bond of charity was the core
of the Holy Family's life, first in the poverty
of Bethlehem, then in their exile in Egypt,
and later in the house of Nazareth. The Church
deeply venerates this Family, and proposes it
as the model of all families. Inserted directly
in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Family
of Nazareth has its own special mystery. And
in this mystery, as in the Incarnation, one
finds a true fatherhood: the human form of the
family of the Son of God, a true human family,
formed by the divine mystery. In this family,
Joseph is the father: his fatherhood is not
one that derives from begetting offspring; but
neither is it an "apparent" or merely
"substitute" fatherhood. Rather, it
is one that fully shares in authentic human
fatherhood and the mission of a father in the
family. This is a consequence of the hypostatic
union: humanity taken up into the unity of the
Divine Person of the Word—Son, Jesus Christ.
Together with human nature, all that is human,
and especially the family—as the first
dimension of man's existence in the world—is
also taken up in Christ. Within this context,
Joseph's human fatherhood was also "taken
up" in the mystery of Christ's Incarnation.
On the basis of this principle, the words which
Mary spoke to the twelve-year-old Jesus in the
Temple take on their full significance: "Your
father and l.. .have been looking for you."
This is no conventional phrase: Mary's words
to Jesus show the complete reality of the Incarnation
present in the mystery of the Family of Nazareth.
From the beginning, Joseph accepted with the
"obedience of faith" his human fatherhood
over Jesus. And thus, following the light of
the Holy Spirit who gives himself to human beings
through faith, he certainly came to discover
ever more fully the indescribable gift that
was his human fatherhood.
22. Work was the daily expression of
love in the life of the Family of Nazareth.
The Gospel specifies the kind of work Joseph
did in order to support his family: he was a
carpenter. This simple word sums up Joseph's
entire life. For Jesus, these were hidden years,
the years to which Luke refers after recounting
the episode that occurred in the Temple: "And
he went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them" (Lk 2:51). This
"submission" or obedience of Jesus
in the house of Nazareth should be understood
as a sharing in the work of Joseph. Having learned
the work of his presumed father, he was known
as "the carpenter's son." If the Family
of Nazareth is an example and model for human
families, in the order of salvation and holiness,
so too, by analogy, is Jesus' work at the side
of Joseph the carpenter. In our own day, the
Church has emphasized this by instituting the
liturgical memorial of St. Joseph the Worker
on May 1. Human work, and especially manual
labor, receive special prominence in the Gospel.
Along with the humanity of the Son of God, work
too has been taken up in the mystery of the
Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a
special way. At the workbench where he plied
his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought
human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption.
23. In the human growth of Jesus "in
wisdom, age and grace," the virtue of industriousness
played a notable role, since "work is a
human good" which "transforms nature"
and makes man "in a sense, more human."[34]
The importance of work in human life demands
that its meaning be known and assimilated in
order to "help all people to come closer
to God, the Creator and Redeemer, to participate
in his salvific plan for man and the world,
and to deepen...friendship with Christ in their
lives, by accepting, through faith, a living
participation in his threefold mission as Priest,
Prophet and King."[35]
24. What is crucially important here
is the sanctification of daily life, a sanctification
which each person must acquire according to
his or her own state, and one which can be promoted
according to a model accessible to all people:
"St. Joseph is the model of those humble
ones that Christianity raises up to great destinies;...he
is the proof that in order to be a good and
genuine follower of Christ, there is no need
of great things—it is enough to have the
common, simple and human virtues, but they need
to be true and authentic."[36]
25. The same aura of silence that envelops
everything else about Joseph also shrouds his
work as a carpenter in the house of Nazareth.
It is, however, a silence that reveals in a
special way the inner portrait of the man. The
Gospels speak exclusively of what Joseph "did."
Still, they allow us to discover in his "actions"—shrouded
in silence as they are—an aura of deep
contemplation. This explains, for example, why
St. Teresa of Jesus, the great reformer of the
Carmelites, promoted the renewal of veneration
to St. Joseph in Western Christianity.
26. The total sacrifice, whereby Joseph
surrendered his whole existence to the demands
of the Messiah's coming into his home, becomes
understandable only in the light of his profound
interior life. It was from this interior life
that "very singular commands and consolations
came, bringing him also the logic and strength
that belong to simple and clear souls, and giving
him the power of making great decisions—such
as the decision to put his liberty immediately
at the disposition of the divine designs, to
make over to them also his legitimate human
calling, his conjugal happiness, to accept the
conditions, the responsibility and the burden
of a family, but, through an incomparable virginal
love, to renounce that natural conjugal love
that is the foundation and[37] nourishment of
the family.
This submission to God, this readiness of will
to dedicate oneself to all that serves him,
is really nothing less than that exercise of
devotion which constitutes one expression of
the virtue of religion.[38]
27. The communion of life between Joseph
and Jesus leads us to consider once again the
mystery of the Incarnation, precisely in reference
to the humanity of Jesus as the efficacious
instrument of his divinity for the purpose of
sanctifying man: "By virtue of his divinity,
Christ's human actions were salvific for us,
causing grace within us, either by merit or
by a certain efficacy."[39]
Among those actions, the gospel writers highlight
those which have to do with the Paschal Mystery,
but they also underscore the importance of physical
contact with Jesus for healing (cf. for example,
Mk 1:41), and the influence Jesus exercised
upon John the Baptist when they were both in
their mothers' wombs (cf. Lk 1:41-44).
As we have seen, the apostolic witness did
not neglect the story of Jesus' birth, his circumcision,
his presentation in the Temple, his flight into
Egypt and his hidden life in Nazareth. It recognized
the "mystery" of grace present in
each of these saving "acts," inasmuch
as they all share the same source of love: the
divinity of Christ. If through Christ's humanity
this love shone on all mankind, the first beneficiaries
were undoubtedly those whom the divine will
had most intimately associated with itself:
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Joseph, his presumed
father.[40]
Why should the "fatherly" love of
Joseph not have had an influence upon the "filial"
love of Jesus? And vice versa, why should the
"filial" love of Jesus not have had
an influence upon the "fatherly" love
of Joseph, thus leading to a further deepening
of their unique relationship? Those souls most
sensitive to the impulses of divine love have
rightly seen in Joseph a brilliant example of
the interior life.
Furthermore, in Joseph, the apparent tension
between the active and the contemplative life
finds an ideal harmony that is only possible
for those who possess the perfection of charity.
Following St. Augustine's well-known distinction
between the love of the truth (caritas veritatis)
and the practical demands of love (necessitas
caritatis),[41] we can say that Joseph experienced
both love of the truth—that pure contemplative
love of the divine Truth which radiated from
the humanity of Christ—and the demands
of love—that equally pure and selfless
love required for his vocation to safeguard
and develop the humanity of Jesus, which was
inseparably linked to his divinity.
28. At a difficult time in the Church's
history, Pope Pius IX, wishing to place her
under the powerful patronage of the holy patriarch
Joseph, declared him "Patron of the Catholic
Church."[42] For Pius IX this was no idle
gesture, since by virtue of the sublime dignity
which God has granted to his most faithful servant
Joseph, "the Church, after the Blessed
Virgin, his spouse, has always held him in great
honor and showered him with praise, having recourse
to him amid tribulations."[43]
What are the reasons for such great confidence?
Leo XIII explained it in this way: "The
reasons why St. Joseph must be considered the
special patron of the Church, and the Church
in turn draws exceeding hope from his care and
patronage, chiefly arise from his having been
the husband of Mary and the presumed father
of Jesus..., Joseph was in his day the lawful
and natural guardian, head and defender of the
Holy Family.... It is thus fitting and most
worthy of Joseph's dignity that, in the same
way that he once kept unceasing holy watch over
the family of Nazareth, so now does he protect
and defend with his heavenly patronage the Church
of Christ."[44]
29. This patronage must be invoked as
ever necessary for the Church, not only as a
defense against all dangers, but also, and indeed
primarily, as an impetus for her renewed commitment
to evangelization in the world and to re-evangelization
in those lands and nations where—as I wrote
in the Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles
Laici—"religion and the Christian
life were formerly flourishing and...are now
put to a hard test."[45] In order to bring
the first proclamation of Christ, or to bring
it anew wherever it has been neglected or forgotten,
the Church has need of special "power from
on high" (cf. Lk 24:49; Acts 1:8): a gift
of the Spirit of the Lord, a gift which is not
unrelated to the intercession and example of
his saints.
30. Besides trusting in Joseph's sure
protection, the Church also trusts in his noble
example, which transcends all individual states
of life and serves as a model for the entire
Christian community, whatever the condition
and duties of each of its members may be.
As the Constitution on Divine Revelation of
the Second Vatican Council has said, the basic
attitude of the entire Church must be that of
"hearing the word of God with reverence,"[46]
an absolute readiness to serve faithfully God's
salvific will revealed in Jesus. Already at
the beginning of human redemption, after Mary,
we find the model of obedience made incarnate
in St. Joseph, the man known for having faithfully
carried out God's commands.
Pope Paul VI invited us to invoke Joseph's
patronage "as the Church has been wont
to do in these recent times, for herself in
the first place, with a spontaneous theological
reflection on the marriage of divine and human
action in the great economy of the Redemption,
in which economy the first—the divine one—is
wholly sufficient unto itself, while the second—the
human action which is ours—though capable
of nothing (cf. Jn 15:5), is never dispensed
from a humble but conditional and ennobling
collaboration. The Church also calls upon Joseph
as her protector because of a profound and ever
present desire to reinvigorate her ancient life
with true evangelical virtues, such as shine
forth in St. Joseph."[47]
31. 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 Word; and that she may
walk before God in the ways of holiness and
justice, following Joseph's example and through
his intercession.[48]
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 Epistle 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."[49] Today we still
have good reason to commend everyone to St.
Joseph.
32. It is my heartfelt wish that these
reflections on the person of St. Joseph will
renew in us the prayerful devotion which my
Predecessor called for a century ago. Our prayers
and the very person of Joseph have renewed significance
for the Church in our day in light of the Third
Christian Millennium.
The Second Vatican Council made all of us sensitive
once again to the "great things which God
has done," and to that "economy of
salvation" of which St. Joseph was a special
minister. Commending ourselves, then, to the
protection of him to whose custody God "entrusted
his greatest and most precious treasures,"[50]
let us at the same time learn from him how to
be servants of the "economy of salvation."
May St. Joseph become for all of us an exceptional
teacher in the service of Christ's saving mission,
a mission which is the responsibility of each
and every member of the Church: husbands and
wives, parents, those who live by the work of
their hands or by any other kind of work, those
called to the contemplative life and those called
to the apostolate.
This just man, who bore within himself the
entire heritage of the Old Covenant, was also
brought into the "beginning" of the
New and Eternal Covenant in Jesus Christ. May
he show us the paths of this saving Covenant
as we stand at the threshold of the next millennium,
in which there must be a continuation and further
development of the "fullness of time"
that belongs to the ineffable mystery of the
Incarnation of the Word.
May St. Joseph obtain for the Church and for
the world, as well as for each of us, the blessing
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Given at Rome, in St. Peter's, on 15 August—the
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary—in the year 1989, the eleventh of
my Pontificate.
ENDNOTES
l. Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses,
IV, 23, l: S. Ch. 100/2, pp. 692-694.
2. Leo XIII Encyclical Epistle Quamquam
pluries (August 15, 1889): Leonis XIII PM Acta,
IX (1890), pp. 175-182.
3. Sacror. Rituum Congreg., Decr. Quemadmodum
Deus (December 8, 1870): Pii IX P.M Acta, pars
I, vol. V, p. 282; Pius IX, Apostolic Letter
Inclytum Patriarcham (July 7, 1871): loc. cit.,
pp. 331-335.
4. Cf. St. John Chrysostom, In Matth.
Hom. V, 3: PG 57, 57f. The Fathers of the Church
and the Popes, on the basis of their common
name, also saw in Joseph of Egypt a prototype
of Joseph of Nazareth, inasmuch as the former
foreshadowed in some way the ministry and greatness
of the latter, who was guardian of God the Father's
most precious treasures—the Incarnate Word
and his most holy Mother: cf., for example,
St. Bernard, Super "Missus est," Hom.
II, 16: S. Bernardi Opera, Ed. Cist., IV, 33f.;
Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam pluries
(August 15, 1889): loc. cit., p. 179.
5. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium,
58.
6. Cf. ibid., 63.
7. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,
Dei Verbum, 5.
8. Ibid., 2.
9. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium,
63.
10. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,
Dei Verbum, 2.
11. Sacred Congregation of Rites, Decree
Novis hisce temporibus (November 13, 1962):
AAS 54 (1962), p. 873.
12. St. Augustine, Sermo 51, 10, 16:
PL 38, 342.
13. St. Augustine, De nuptiis et concupiscentia,
I, 11, 12: PL 44, 421; cf. De consensu evangelistarum,
II, 1, 2: PL 34, 1071;Contra Faustum, III 2:
PL 42. 214.
14. St. Augustine, De nuptiis et concupiscentia,
I, 11, 13: PL 44, 421; cf. Contra lulianum,
V, 12, 46: PL 44, 810.
15. Cf. St. Augustine, Contra Faustum,
XXIII, 8: PL 42, 470f.; De consensu evangelistarum,
II, 1, 3: PL 34, 1072; Sermo, 51, 13, 21: PL
38, 344f.; St. Thomas. Summa Theol., m, 4. 29,
a. 2 in conclus.
16. Cf. Discourses of January 9, 16,
February 20, 1980: Insegnamenti, III/I (1980),
pp. 88-92; 148-152; 428-431.
17. Paul VI, Discourse to the "Equipes
Notre-Dame" Movement (May 4, 1970). n.
7: AAS 62 (1970), p. 431. Similar praise of
the Family of Nazareth as a perfect example
of domestic life can be found, for example,
in Leo XIII, Apostolic Letter Neminem fugit
(June 14, 1892); Leonis XIII PM Acta, XII (1892),
p. 149f.; Benedict XV, Motu Proprio Bonum sane
(July 25, 1920): AAS 12 (1920), pp. 313-317.
18. Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris
Consortio (November 22, 1981), 17: AAS 74 (1982),
p. 100.
19. Ibid., 49: loc. cit., p. 140; cf.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 11;
Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam
Actuositatem, 11.
20. Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris
Consortio (November 22, 1981), 85: loc. cit.,
pp. 189f.
21. Cf. St. John Chrysostom, In Matth.
Hom. V, 3: PG 57, 57f.
22. Paul VI, Discourse (March 19, 1966):
Insegnamenti, IV (1966), p. 110.
23. Cf. Roman Missal, Collect for the
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
24. Cf. ibid., Preface for the Solemnity
of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
25. Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam
pluries (August 15, 1889): loc. cit., p. 178.
26. Pius XII, Radio Message to Catholic
School Students in the United States of America
(February 19, 1958): AAS 50 (1958), p. 174.
27. Origen, Hom. XIII in Lucam, 7: S.
Ch. 87. pp. 214f.
28. Origen, Hom. XI in Lucam, 6: S.
Ch. 87, pp. 196f.
29. Cf. Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer
1.
30. Sacror. Rituum Congreg., Decr. Quemadmodum
Deus (December 8, 1870): loc. cit., p. 282.
31. Collectio Missatum de Beata Maria
Virgine, 1, "Sancta Maria de Nazareth,'
Praefatio.
32. Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris
Consortio (November 22, 1981), 16:
33. Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle Quamquam
pluries (August 15, 1889): loc. cit., pp. 177f.
34. Cf. Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens
(September 14, 1981), 9: AAS 73 (1981), pp.
599f.
35. Ibid., 24: loc. cit., p. 638. The
Popes in recent times have constantly presented
St. Joseph as the "model" of workers
and laborers; Cf., for example, Leo XIII Encyclical
Epistle Quamquam pluries (August 15, 1889):
loc. cit., p. 180; Benedict XV, Motu proprio
Bonum sane (July 25, 1920): loc. cit. pp. 314-316:
Pius XII, Discourse (March 11, 1945), 4: AAS
37 (1945), p. 72: Discourse (May 1 1955): AAS
47 (1955), p. 406; John XXIII, Radio Address
(May 1, 1960): AAS 52 (1960), p. 398.
36. Paul VI, Discourse (March 19, 1969):
Insegnamenti, VII (1969), p. 1268.
37. Ibid.: loc. cit., p. 1267.
38. Cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theol. II-II,
q. 82, a. 3, ad 2.
39. Ibid., III q. 8, a. 1, ad 1.
40. Cf. Pius XII. Encyclical Letter
Haurietis aquas (May 15, 1956), III AAS 48 (1956),
pp. 329f.
41. Cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theol. II-II,
q. 182, a. 1, ad 3.
42. Cf. Sacror. Rituum Congreg., Decr.
Quemadmodum Deus (December 8, 1870): loc. cit.,
p. 283.
43. Ibid.: loc. cit., pp. 282f.
44. Leo XIII Encyclical Epistle Quamquam
pluries (August 15, 1889): loc. cit., pp. 177-179.
45. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Christifideles Laici (December 30, 1988). 34:
AAS 81 (1989), p. 456.
46. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,
Dei Verbum, 1.
47. Paul VI, Discourse (March 19, 1969):
Insegnamenti, VII (1969), p. 1269.
48. Cf. Roman Missal, Collect, Prayer
over the Gifts for the Solemnity of St. Joseph,
Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Prayer after
Commu
