Saint Joseph, Nurturing Father
In 2024, we celebrate the 400th anniversary of Canada’s dedication to Saint Joseph. Many religious institutes and congregations in Quebec have a deep affection for him, often tracing it back to the very beginnings of their existence. We have invited them to share with us the role that Saint Joseph plays in their history.
Recognizing already that Saint Joseph had the mission on Earth to watch over Jesus as a father, Pope Pie IX proclaimed him the patron of the universal Church in 1870. If Mary is the Mother of the Church, Saint Joseph would henceforth be its Protector or “Nurturing Father,” as was said at the time.
When in 1880 and 1881, Foundress Mother Marie Élisabeth (1840-1881) turned to Saint Joseph to pray and have others pray to him, it was indeed in the capacity of “Protector” or “Nurturing Father” that she did so. Many of her letters to her sisters from Saint-Gabriel, Saint-Godefroi, and Port-Daniel bear witness to this.
To the sisters of Saint-Gabriel, she first made this request in early 1880: “Have your students say novenas to Saint Joseph, and tell them that if we receive the graces we ask for, we will provide them with everything they need for class.”
She writes to them a little later: « Dites à vos enfants qu’ils prient beaucoup saint Joseph, s’il m’exauce je pourrai leur fournir plusieurs choses nécessaires. »
She asks them again the following year: “Tell your children to pray a lot to Saint Joseph; if he answers my prayers, I will be able to provide them with many necessary things.”
At the beginning of 1881, she addresses the sisters of Saint-Godefroi as follows: “Pray a lot to Saint Joseph to obtain a grace that I am asking for; if I receive it, I will come to see you next summer and bring each of you a nice little gift.”
A few days later, she makes a similar request to the sisters of Port-Daniel. Thinking of their students, she first writes this to them: “continue to have them pray to Saint Joseph for our financial needs, as we are in great difficulty at this time.”
She adds: “May the children pray a lot to Saint Joseph for our grace, and promise each of them a nice gift if we receive it.”
Text taken from the Positio on the virtues and reputation for holiness 1998, Chapter VII. Spiritual Journey of the Servant of God (pp. 438 and 439), book only avaible in French
