Skip to main content

St. Francis de Sale: ON THE VIRTUES OF ST. JOSEPH

https://archive.org/stream/spiritualconfere00franuoft/spiritualconfere00franuoft_djvu.txt

ON THE VIRTUES OF ST. JOSEPH (i) 

The just shall flourish like the palm-tree* Thus does 
Holy Church make us sing on every feast-day of 
her saintly Confessors; but as the palm-tree has a 
great variety of special properties beyond all other 
trees — of which, indeed, it is the prince and king, as 
much on account of its beauty as of the excellence 
of its fruit — so there are also many varieties of 
justice. Although all the just may be just and 
equal in justice, nevertheless there is a great dis- 
proportion between the individual acts of their 
justice. This is figured by the robe of the Patri- 
arch Joseph, which descended to his feet, and was 
embroidered with a rich variety of flowers.t Every 
just man has the robe of justice which descends to 
his feet ; J that is to say, all the faculties and 
powers of his soul are covered with justice, and its 
interior and exterior represent justice itself, being 
just in all their impulses and in all their actions, 
internal as well as external. Yet, nevertheless, we 
must admit that each robe is embroidered with 
different beautiful varieties of flowers, the diversity 

(i) Sermon 'preached by our Blessed Father on the Feast of St. Joseph, 

* Ps. xci. 13. f Gen. xxxvii. 3; xli. 42. 

X Isa. lxi. 10 ; Bar. v. 2. 
364 



The Virtues of St. Joseph 365 

of which does not make them less pleasing or less 
worthy of admiration and commendation. The 
great St. Paul, the first hermit, was just with a 
most perfect justice, and yet it is undoubted that 
he never exercised so much charity towards the 
poor as St. John, who was called the Almoner on 
that account; nor had he ever any opportunities of 
practising hospitality, and therefore he did not pos- 
sess that virtue in so high a degree as did many 
other saints. He had all the virtues, but not all 
of them in an equally high degree. Some of the 
saints excelled in one virtue, some in another, and 
although all have saved their souls, they have done 
so in very different ways, there being as many 
different kinds of sanctity as there are saints. 

This being presupposed, I will introduce my 
subject by observing that the palm-tree, among a 
great number of peculiar properties, has three 
special ones, which also belong in a remarkable 
manner to the Saint whose Feast we are keeping ; 
that Saint of whom Holy Church bids us say that 
he is like to the palm-tree. Oh, what a great saint ' 
is the glorious St. Joseph ! He is not only a Patri- 
arch, but the chief and leader of Patriarchs ; he is 
not simply a Confessor, but more than a Confessor, 
for in him are enshrined the worth of Bishops, the 
generosity of Martyrs, and of all the other saints. 
It is, therefore, with reason that he is compared to 
the palm, which is the king of trees, and which has 
the properties of virginity, humility, courage and 
constancy, in all which virtues the glorious St. 
Joseph excelled so greatly. If we may venture to 
make comparisons, many would maintain that he 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Might Biden be a Liar & Predator like McCarrick?

September 15, 2020   Everyone knows that sexual predator ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick is a liar. His whole life was a lie of betrayal of the most sacred vows he took and the violation of the moral tenets of the Catholic faith which he desecrated. Most people don't realize that part of this desecration of lies included lying for "gravely sinful" Democrats like Joe Biden. McCarrick protected Biden when then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to be Pope Benedict XVI) wrote that bishops were not to admit to Communion politicians like "gravely sinful" Biden who supports the killing of unborn babies. McCarrick lied for politicians like Biden by ignoring the important parts of the Ratzinger letter and told bishops not to ignore the Catholic Church law.  Last year, Fr. Robert Morey denied Holy Communion to the “gravely sinful” Biden following a "2004 decree signed jointly by the bishops of

My good friend ( now deceased ), Mother Teresa of the Still River Mass convent , called me years before the McLucas story broke.

https://akacatholic.com/cmtv-vs-sspx/ Latest Comments 2Vermont JULY 30, 2019 I think the only thing I would add here is what seems like MV’S obsession with things of a sexual nature. Tom A JULY 30, 2019 He, like many, defend the institution with the zeal that should be used to defend the Faith. Sad. What Mr. Voris fails to admit is that it is the institution of the conciliar fake church that is the biggest enemy of the Faith. Lynda JULY 30, 2019 Blinded by secular values and prestige of man. coastalfarm JULY 30, 2019 Please see the article “Unmarked building, quiet legal help for accused priests” Dryden, Mich. (AP) for the priest Mr. Voris defends, Rev.Eduard Perrone of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church also known as Assumption Grotto, is co-founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii. This non-profit organization takes in accused priests and gives them shelter, legal defense, transportation, etc. Opus Bono claims to have helped over 8,000 priests and has raised over $8 million 2002-201

The Biben Lying Machine: "Joe , do you know what else is a Sin besides Killing Babies? Lying... "

October 09, 2020   It appears that Joe Biden was even a lying machine in 2008 according to the post " Media Ignores Biden Repeatedly Lies During 'Meet the Press' Interview" on the Weasel Zippers website: Joe Biden Repeatedly Lies During "Meet the Press" Interview, Claims he Doesn't Support Taxpayer Funded Abortions.....   Joe, do you know what else is a sin besides killing babies? Lying... ... Joe Biden repeatedly made the claim in a Sunday interview on the NBC political show "Meet the Press" that he opposes taxpayer funding of abortions. However, a look at his voting record over the years reveals numerous instances where Barack Obama's pro-abortion running mate did exactly that. "I don't support public, public funding. I don't, because that flips the burden. That's then telling me I have to accept a different view," he said on the program. As recently as February, Biden voted against an amendmen