8th Meditation.
"And
Joseph, rising up from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had commanded him,
and took unto him his wife."
-Saint Matthew i. 24.
Here two things in the
conduct of Joseph strike me forcibly its simplicity and its promptitude. The
Angel has spoken: instantly, without question or hesitation, Joseph obeys:
Fecit sicut præcepit. Admirable simplicity! How this straightforwardness bears away
the palm from human prudence, with its many calculations-its sinuosities and
its deliberations. True, it is permissible to hesitate, and as already said, we
must suspend our judgment and reflect carefully when we are in doubt: Hæc eo
cogitante; but when once God has spoken, whether by the voice of Angel or of
man, by a ray of human intelligence or a feeling of the heart, arise and act:
Ex surgens fecit sicut præcepit. In the hour of anguish let silence be our
wisdom, and the voice of God our light; suddenly the darkness shall be
dispelledall obstacles will disappear; our desires and our designs will be
realised, and that far beyond our fondest expectations. Watchword. What it is
your duty to do, do it resolutely, promptly, and simply.
8. Saint Joseph and Saint Francis de
Sales.
Saint Francis de Sales being
at Lyons on the Feast of Saint Joseph, preached at the Carmelites. As soon as
the sermon was ended, the Superior of the Jesuits came to the Saint and
entreated him to preach at their church, dedicated to Saint Joseph. "I
confess," replied the amiable Prelate, "that two sermons a day are
rather beyond my powers; still, for love of Saint Joseph, I will do my
best." He did so, and it was well seen that Saint Joseph was his saint of
predilection. The Superior was about to thank him when the Prelate exclaimed:
"But, Father, do you not perceive how entirely I am devoted to Saint
Joseph ?"
This same Father being with
the good Bishop one day previous to his death, asked permission to make use of
his breviary, and remarked that in it there was but one picture, that of Saint
Joseph.
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