A story for every day...

For a long time, I had known that saint Joseph was the advocate of desperate causes; that is why, having a settlement to make in which the greatest difficulties arose, after having consulted the lawyers, who assured me that a trial was almost indispensable, I resolved to turn to saint Joseph and to implore his help. Everything seemed to be against me, for all the heirs were determined to come to a trial; alone against all, I threw myself at the feet of the Patron of the universal Church, and I begged him to stop this scandalous trial, which was to reveal the most secret things of our family to an ill-disposed public, and perhaps even bring about the ruin of my meagre fortune and cast a shadow on the future of my family.

In this perplexity, I turned my eyes towards Saint Joseph and began a novena in his honor, during which I had the holy sacrifice of the Mass offered, always for the same intention. The novena was hardly over when the heirs were all in agreement, and far from seeking to divulge the family secrets, they were the first to ask that everything be arranged between true brothers.

This is a first testimony of the tenderness of Saint Joseph towards his unworthy servant; but it will not be the last. In fact, God had given me a son, on whom I rested all my hopes and whose happiness and sanctification I ardently desired. However, this poor child was always preoccupied about the kind of life he should embrace. Sometimes he gave himself entirely to God, and sometimes the attractions of the world made him change his mind. In his indecision, I advised him to turn to Saint Joseph, to whom he always had a great devotion. In the meantime, he fell ill, and the illness with which he was afflicted would, according to the doctor, take him away from my affection. However, the illness was still increasing, and soon I was going to lose all hope of seeing him come back to life. There, as always, I turned my eyes to Saint Joseph, and I begged him to have pity on my child.

The latter, also full of confidence in his patron Saint, promised Our Lady of Fourvière and Saint Joseph to devote himself to the religious life if he obtained from their powerful intercession the recovery of his health. A few days after this solemn promise, I noticed that the sick man was getting better and that the illness was diminishing. Finally, after eight days, he was in perfect health. Now it was only a matter of fulfilling his promise, and he was faithful to it. In spite of all the ties, all the affections that attached him to the world, he had the courage to abandon everything, even his old mother, to go beyond the great seas to make Mary and Joseph known and loved.

Marie-Jeanne D.

If Saint Joseph is quick to help us in our temporal needs, how much more ardently does he work to ensure our eternal salvation!