Page 167 - Reflections on St. Joseph

his writings, both the Letters and the Teachings, the style of life of St. Joseph which he will
propose to himself, to his friends, to his Oblates, and in the testimonies of those to whom he
gave spiritual direction.

The second time, from his Letters in which he turns to St. Joseph with a prayer is during the days
preceding the Feast of March 19, 1869, in a letter to his friend Fr. Giuseppe Riccio (Letter 37): “O
glorious Patriarch Joseph, do not forget us who go about dragging this miserable flesh through our earthly
exile. You who after the blessed Virgin, were the first to hold in your arms Jesus the Redeemer, be the
exemplar of our ministry, which like your own, is a ministry of intimate relationship to the Divine Word.
May you teach us, and assist us and make us worthy members of the Holy Family...”. It is a prayer that has
become a definite part of our spiritual patrimony. It has illuminated generations of Oblates of St.
Joseph. It is the prayer which is foundational for our Josephite Marellian spirituality, because it
establishes the essence of what it means to have St. Joseph as our exemplar: St. Joseph, as the prayer
says, is the example of our ministry, which like his own, is a ministry of having an intimate
relationship to the Word of God made man, Jesus. It is due to this, in a perfect symmetry, that St.
Joseph is for us a Teacher, that he assists us - that he is our protector. He introduces us worthily into
the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the fullness of His House. All of this is the “intimate
relationship”, an emotional intimacy and a spiritual intimacy - “You, who after the blessed Virgin,
were the first to hold in your arms Jesus the Redeemer”.

The third prayer is but an invocation to St. Joseph, an ejaculation: “Sancte Joseph, ora pro nobis” found
in Letter 41, once again to his friend Fr. Giuseppe Riccio, written a few days after the preceding one -
March 28, 1869.

The fourth prayer is like a seal, a summing up written by him in a lengthy letter from October
25, 1872 to Canon Cerrutti (Letter 83) on the foundation of the Company of St. Joseph. It occurs
following the intentions and explanations
given to the Canon - particularly regarding
the interests of Jesus, the building of the
Kingdom, the means, virtues and principles -
and at the end, a prayer, the theological
dimension which sums up everything:
“Sancte Joseph Custos Jesu et Protector noster
accipe nos comites tuos in ministeriis quae in
terris persolvere meruisti” - St Joseph, Guardian
of Jesus and our Protector, welcome us as your
companions in the ministries you merited to
undertake on the earth.

The fifth prayer of St. Joseph Marello to St. Joseph
from among the Letters, is specifically for us
Oblates of St. Joseph. Written to Fr. Giovanni
Battista Cortona, it is an invocation to St. Joseph
in preparation for the Feast of St. Joseph on
March 19. On March 8, 1891, St. Joseph Marello,
then Bishop of Acqui, writes: “Let us therefore say
to our Great Patriarch: Behold us all for You and
You be all for us. You point the way, you uphold us
in every step, you lead us where Divine Providence
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desires that we arrive, whether the path be long or
Reflections on st. joseph