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
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