Description
The twelfth edition of Calx Mariae is dedicated to St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church and Protector of the Family.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Quemadmodum Deus, the decree of Pope Pius IX that acclaimed St Joseph as the Patron of the Universal Church, a “Special Year of St Joseph” has been instituted to run from 8 Dec 2020 until 8 Dec 2021. In an extraordinary move, the Apostolic Penitentiary has offered us the opportunity to gain numerous indulgences during this time by honouring St Joseph. And the graces promised to those who observe the Year of St Joseph are indeed much needed today.
The global state of emergency has lasted over a year. Our patience has been tried, yet “in your patience you shall possess your souls”. (Lk. 21:19)
We can only be patient with what is undesired in the hope that it will change. While the overall desire seems to be for things to get “back to normal”, few of us would argue that things were normal before the crisis began. If we don’t desire what we had before, nor what we have now, what do we want?
Whatever we think of the crisis we can be certain that revolutionary forces manipulate it to their advantage. As Prof. de Mattei writes “the final goal of the Revolution … is not a ‘new world order’ but organised chaos.” Revolution, he believes, “aims at undoing the work of creation and the Redemption to form the social reign of the demon, a hell on earth which prefigures that of eternity, just as the social reign of Christ, Christian civilisation, prefigures the heavenly Kingdom. In this sense the Revolution has its essence in disorder, whereas Christian civilisation is order par excellence.” This is the order we desire, the cause which our ideas and actions must serve. Ultimately, society needs Christ – Omnia Instaurare in Christo, as St Pius X plainly reminds us in Notre Charge Apostolique. What aids this cause should be pursued, what hinders it must be abandoned.
In Lent especially, we seek to restore order within our souls while exercising patience with external disorder. St Joseph can surely help us in this task. St Joseph’s life was filled with emergencies: his concern for Mary when she was found to be with child (Mt. 1:19), providing a place for Jesus’ birth (Lk. 2:7), the stark prophecy of Simeon (Lk. 2:34), the flight into Egypt and protecting the Holy Family in a pagan land (Mt. 2:14, 22), losing the Holy Child (Lk. 2:45) – what we know of his life are all moments of crisis.
There is no better guide for us today than St Joseph. No-one has been in greater need of God’s help and no-one on earth has relied more faithfully on His assistance. In his love for Jesus and Mary he is unsurpassed.
The year of St Joseph offers powerful graces in our own time of great convulsions. Today thousands of unborn children are slaughtered; marriage is defiled by divorce, adultery, contraception and propagation of homosexuality; and children are robbed of their innocence. Worst of all, the pope himself is responsible for the spread of errors which risk leading countless souls towards damnation. It may not be surprising then, that Pope Francis has dedicated this year not only to the glorious St Joseph, but also to Amoris Laetitia, the most controversial document on the family in the history of the Church – and yet it is merely the logical conclusion of Vatican II’s rejection of the authentic teaching on the family. Both the abandoned schema on the family and Amoris Laetitia are discussed in this edition of Calx Mariae.
However, in every attack on the family or the Church, St Joseph is our protector. Because God entrusted him with the most precious portion of His flock, Jesus and Mary, the Church recognises him as the guardian of all Christendom. In this holy time of Lent, let us seek fervently the graces granted through the intercession of St Joseph, the Mirror of Patience, especially for the fulfilment of the promise of Fatima: the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
