A story for every day...
Innocence recognized.
An only son, who supported his old mother, had an argument one Sunday with a neighbor; by misfortune, fire broke out in the neighbor’s house the very night following the quarrel. He hastened to accuse this young man of having set it. This one was, although innocent, arrested and put in prison; he had for only witness to his discharge, his old mother, at whom he had spent the night. As soon as he was in prison, he asked his guard to go and tell the priest who had taught him religion to pray to Saint Joseph for him; that nothing in the world would save him but the good God and this great Saint. Immediately, the good priest made all the children of his class pray. The young man remained in prison for three days in an anxiety that is difficult to describe. At all the interrogations that the imperial prosecutor made him undergo, he nevertheless showed so much calm, resignation and piety that his judges agreed, to the great astonishment of all, that his feelings were too religious for him to be an arsonist, and he was finally acquitted. On leaving the prison, this young man came directly to the priest his friend to thank him; he entered the oratory, and there, throwing himself at the feet of Saint Joseph, he gave thanks to his liberator.
Admirable resignation.
One can read with edification the following letter from the parish priest of La Guéronnière:
A dreadful storm came on July 18 of last year, throwing fear into our countryside. An immense cloud of ivory blackness covered the southern part of our parish. Soon hail fell in abundance and the hailstones were of frightening size. At this point, the harvest was literally crushed. There were no more ears of corn left standing, and the grains, mixed with the hailstones, covered the ground.
Great was the desolation of the farmers. The loss of some was complete, that of others was three quarters or half.
In these days, I was called near one of these sharecroppers sick; the poor woman was especially overwhelmed under the painful impression of the loss which she had just tested. How to feed, for a long year, many children?
I had to console her. Her husband was there. “Be calm and confident in the good God, I said to them; He will know how to compensate you well… Saint Joseph often suffered the anguish of a distress more painful for him, because he had to feed the divine treasure, Jesus, with which he was charged. – I do not ask,” replied the husband, a fervent Christian, a member of the Association of Saint Joseph, “I do not ask God for compensation except in paradise; when this ordeal would come back many more years, it will end, and we will not starve; but the reward in paradise will not end.” He added, “I should be very sorry, if I had complained of the good God or been displeased with Him. Is He not the master of us and of our goods?”
Saint Joseph’s life on earth was filled with trials of all kinds. His soul, though sore, conformed absolutely to the Will of God. The more his faith was put to the test, the more it was strengthened and the more his love for God increased. Let us beg this great Saint to obtain for us an unshakeable faith and a love that nothing can ever bring down.
