Joe, the Holy Date Palm?

Today stands between the feasts of St. Francis de Sales (Jan. 24) and St. John Bosco (Jan. 31). In looking for something to share this week, I began my search for anything that St. John Bosco might have said about Joe. However, I really couldn't find anything, but I was inspired to look at what St. Francis de Sales had to say. After all, John Bosco had such a great devotion to Francis de Sales that he named the religious order that he established after de Sales: the Salesian Order. I came across a talk that de Sales gave, entitled On the Virtues of St. Joseph. You can read the talk here.

What struck me most about this talk was how Francis de Sales compared Joe to a date-palm tree, and it truly is an amazing comparison. He begins the talk by quoting Psalm 92:13, "The just shall flourish like the palm tree..." He basically compares Joe's three "primary" virtues (virginity, humility, and courage) with the date tree:

1. Virginity (pg. 366-371): The date-palm tree is either male or female (the male tree exclusively produces the pollen, and the female tree exclusively produces the flower). Therefore, "the male palm-tree does not bear fruit, and yet it is not unfruitful, for the female palm would bear no fruit without it, or without its aspects." Similarly, Joe does not produce children of his own (de Sales believed that Joe was a young-virgin spouse of Mary, pg. 369); yet, he is not unfruitful because Jesus becomes his son through his spousal relationship with Mary.
2. Humility (pg. 371-378): The date-palm tree does not produce flowers until summer-time. Francis de Sales interprets summer-time spiritually as one's entrance into heaven and the putting forth of flowers as the recognition of virtue. He says that the humble person does not try to make their virtue public, but tries to keep it hidden, and prefers that God will reveal the person's virtue after he or she has died. De Sales points out that the Sacred Scriptures do not directly reveal much about Joe because Joe truly lived a humble and hidden life (pg. 372-373).
3. Courage (pg. 378-383): The date-palm tree does not bend low the more it becomes laden with fruit; instead, the more fruit it has, the taller it seems to grow. This seems to correspond with the virtue of courage, which does not back away when given a heavier load, but rather, seems to grow even stronger. De Sales relates this to Joe who was given the very difficult task of providing for Jesus and Mary in the midst of dangers, poverty and uncertainty.

So, who knew that Joe could be compared to a date tree? 

In case you were wondering about the biological statements about date trees, consider this Encyclopedia Britannica article on date trees. To make the comparison even more interesting, this article concludes by stating that date-palm leaves are commonly used on Palm Sunday. What was proclaimed on Palm Sunday? “Hosanna to the Son of David..." (Matthew 21:30) 

And is not Joe a son of David? (Matthew 1:20)

Coincidence? I think not.

More Pictures from Mexico

So, here are the last set of pictures that I would like to share from my latest trip to Mexico:

 

 

 

  

La Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia, Mexico City, Mexico

As I mentioned last week, I just spent some time in Mexico. While there I visited la Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia (the Parish of the Holy Family), a Jesuit parish in Mexico City. The primary purpose of my visit was to visit the relics of Blessed Miguel Pro, a Mexican Jesuit priest who was martyred in 1927; the fact that the parish had the Holy Family as its patron was an additional bonus to the visit. Relative to the many other churches I visited, this one was certainly a young church - its construction began in 1910 and concluded in 1925. Naturally, there were many images of José. This week, I share a couple of my favorite pictures of this beautiful church:

 

 

 

 

 

A New Find in an Old Book

I have been blessed to be able to travel to Mexico for the last couple days, and I happened to come across a library that held a collection of books from several Franciscan Convents and had the opportunity to stop in to browse through a couple of very old books (I thought I died and went to heaven!). One of the books, Chronica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de Mexico by Fray Augustin de Vetancurt (published in 1697), included a long dedication to Joe. I took a picture, but if you don’t understand Spanish, here is, in part, my translation:

DEDICATION

GLORIOUS PATRIARCH SAINT JOSEPH, Spouse of the Spouse of God, Guardian of the mystical ark, Mary Most-Holy, presumed Father of Christ, Patron of this New Spain, my love and master, whom I serve unworthily, I have dedicated the Mexican Theater to our patron, and I return to dedicate this Chronicle, the fourth part of the Theater, in which the works of those great apostles, who established, and have enlightened the Provincia del Santo Evangelio, and preached the Catholic Faith in this Kingdom, whose Patron you are... Recieve with pleasing joy that which I offer to you—a devoted heart—not as a bribe, but as tribute. Perfect my offering because you gave me the will, not judging my offering by its size or weight, but by the desire and will with which I consecrate it. Enlighten my spirit, enhance my discourse, and sanctify my words because they direct the honor of your servants, the respect of the Faith, and the benefit of our souls to the greater honor and glory to God.

Father of Love

This is one of my absolutely favorite images of Joe.

There is just something very real about the image. I have had a lot of experience of newborns in my family, and from what I have observed, there are not many things that makes a new-mother happier than when the new-father gets up in the middle of the night to take care of the wailing child in order to allow his wife to rest. There is just something very manly and fatherly of Joe taking care of Jesus in the quiet of the night.

If I had to put a narrative to this picture, I don’t think I could express it any better than how Michael Card did in Joseph’s Song. If you were Joe and had the opportunity to hold our God in your arms, what would you say? Would you say the same to Him when you receive Him in the Holy Eucharist? I pray that I would.