Page 180 - Reflections on St. Joseph

disillusionment. By meditating together on the Holy Spouses Rosary, engaged couples may
prepare themselves for a sacramental union built upon faithful commitment and openness to
children. Married couples who struggle in their relationship may find healing through this
mutual prayer. Whatever the situation, couples who pray the Holy Spouses Rosary have powerful
help for growing in virtue. 42

9) Easily Understood and Practiced by the Faithful:
While all the previous eight elements are most important to us, this ninth element is the one
that has the most impact for the more universal acceptance of devotion to St. Joseph. We
have so many beautiful age-old devotions, such as the annual St. Joseph Novena, the
Wednesday recitation of the Seven Sorrows and Joys, the various popular celebrations of the
Feasts of St. Joseph, and so on. Many groups practice their favorite devotion according to
their own particular spiritual heritage.

While certain liturgical feasts honoring St. Joseph are celebrated by the universal Church,
there is not a single devotion to St. Joseph that can claim universal practice. Why is this? It
is due partly to the individual particular spiritual traditions of each religious congregation
or fraternity, partly to the failure of many St. Joseph devotions to focus on the mystery of
Christ and on Joseph’s relationship with Mary, and partly due to failure to use a form of
prayer easily accessible to common people.

If we really want to spread devotion to St. Joseph, we must get beyond this. Of all popular
devotions, the most universally practiced, easily learned, and most often continued is the Rosary,
prayed individually and in groups, in Church, in the car, or in bed. It “is a prayer loved by countless
Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium.” The five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary are where
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St. Joseph belongs. Nothing of the Marian Rosary is lost by the Prayer of the Holy Spouses Rosary.
Rather, Marian devotion is completed by honoring her in her role as Spouse, and by fuller
contemplation of the ten Mysteries of the Incarnation and Hidden Life.

Learning this devotion is quite easy and requires little effort at memorization. Ordinary rosary
beads are used. Repetition of the single short Holy Spouses Prayer quickly takes hold after
prayerfully reading the rosary only a few times. Continuation of the devotion does not tire or bore
people, since the Mystery upon which one gazes with Mary and Joseph is inexhaustible.

Concluding Appeal:

I end by repeating again the appeal to try praying the Holy Spouses Rosary regularly over a
period of time long enough to let it grow on you. Pray it also in your family, group, or
community. Use the single Holy Spouses Prayer frequently to begin meetings or ministries.
Once you have tried this, then judge for yourselves if this is not “the best tool for the popular
spread of a Christocentric Josephology.” Please consider joining together in a united promotion
of the Holy Spouses Rosary as the universal St. Joseph devotion of the Church. The Guardian of
Life and Love and his Most Holy Spouse will help bring renewal to our wounded world.

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Reflections on st. joseph