A story for every day...

A homeowner was having cellars dug under his house. The masons had claimed that the soil was strong enough to support the existing party wall, and they had neglected the most basic precautions in shoring it up. One Saturday night, just as they were about to leave, the basement began to collapse into the trench, and then it collapsed, causing the party wall and the galley to collapse with a frightful crash into the excavated cellars. The building remained suspended in the air; the house, overloaded with a weight of about 30,000 kilograms, began to crack. Night had fallen; a huge crowd, attracted by the sound of the collapse, surrounded the house and anxiously awaited the terrible consequences that would inevitably follow.

There was only one way of salvation: it was to have recourse to the divine mercy to obtain a miracle! It was urged to Saint Joseph, to the Blessed Virgin and to Saint Benedict; someone threw the medal of Saint Joseph into the gaping abyss. The owners promised that if the house did not collapse, they would attribute it to the obvious protection of the Saint whose name they bear, and that they would make the miracle known everywhere.

However, the movements and cracking of the roof indicated, in a notorious and sinister way, that the collapse was imminent, when five brave men, found in time, arrived at once. They, at the risk of their lives, penetrated the depths of the cellar and proceeded to shore up the roof, with the help of lanterns, and by placing the props on the rubble formed of stones, broken beams, boards and furniture piled up there in a jumble.

The good Lord gave them the courage, hardly conceivable, to remain in this critical position, under a certain, inevitable danger, which was to reach them invincibly and suddenly. But the house, thanks to the holy protectors invoked, was able to be supported in time: it remained standing, and after six weeks of clearing and work, new walls replaced the props, and today everything is safe; no accident happened to anyone, and we all deeply thank the good God and our great Saints.

All the witnesses of this catastrophe have unanimously attributed to a miracle this delay, which allowed the men of courage to become the manifest auxiliaries of the power of God.

In dangers, in contradictions, let us put all our trust in God, for He is the Master of all; at the same time let us make all our efforts as if success depended solely on us. Help yourself and Heaven will help you!