Fr. Vidko Podrzaj

In Fatima, Portugal, on October 13, 1917, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta saw the Holy Family. St. Joseph held the Child Jesus in his arms. Both were arrayed in red robes and stood at the left of the sun. The right hand of each was raised, blessing with the sign of the cross which both did three times over the 70,000 people gathered that day. At the right side of the sun was Our Lady in a white garment with a sky-blue mantle. The Child Jesus appeared to be about two years old. Lucia afterwards saw the Sorrowful Mother of God and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel after which came the renowned “Miracle of the Sun,” a sign given to mankind in this apocalyptic age which may be nearing the end times. The fact that St. Joseph and the Child Jesus were blessing with a sign of the cross is very meaningful and important. This emphasizes the fact that St. Joseph has a very important place in the redemption of mankind and our individual salvation. This vision granted to the children at Fatima had as its purpose to persuade us to develop a piety towards St. Joseph in our life and give him the place that God the Father wishes us to give him. This is because St. Joseph is the lawful foster father of Jesus and as this he is a reflection of God’s Fatherhood for all mankind and every parent.

Hierarchy of Persons and Authority

According to the hierarchy of persons in the Holy Family, Our Lord Jesus had first place, Mary second, and St. Joseph third. But according to hierarchy of authority, St. Joseph as lawful husband and father of the family had first place, Mary second, and Jesus Christ, Child of Mary and foster son of St. Joseph, third place. Why is hierarchy of authority so important in our Catholic families? The life of the Church Militant is warfare. This warfare is the life of every Catholic and Catholic family that wishes to go to heaven. Every army has its general, its officers, and its common soldiers. Among them must be a strong hierarchy of authority, and without it no army can hope to win in battle. Catholic families must be united in fighting for their earthly survival in service of the salvation of all the members of that family. Enemies which threaten this earthly survival and resulting salvation are hell, a godless world, and the very sinfulness of the members of any family. If a family wants to wage effective warfare and win this life or death battle for salvation, there must be, as in the best armies, a strong hierarchy of authority. God established such hierarchy when He gave the family a father to be its head. As exemplified by the hierarchy of authority in the Holy Family, the wife follows him, and the children come after her. Only by upholding and living this hierarchy of authority can a family survive and be redeemed. Hell wants to destroy hierarchy of authority for it is exactly this which enables the family to successfully fight and binds its members in loving and respectful harmony and concord. By announcing its deceitful motto of equality of authority between father, mother, and children, Hell destroys the family. Mothers become breadwinners (out of greed), children are sent to surrogate mothers, and fathers give up their authority to the godless State. To further destroy the family Hell propagates contraception, divorce, abortion, euthanasia, nursing homes for the elders, and equality of heirs resulting in single-generation families and destruction of family possessions. Numerous used to be the multi-generational Catholic families of Christendom which were the foundation cells of the Catholic Church and Catholic States. Without such Catholic States, there can be no true or lasting peace nor normalcy of life. God only blesses where there is the true Faith and life in obedience to God’s commandments.

Significance of the Vision

Recall that in the vision by the Fatima seers, Jesus was held by St. Joseph and both offered blessing to the world by the sign of the cross. Recall that the Blessed Virgin Mary promised that true world peace would be established if Russia were consecrated to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope in union with the world’s bishops. What role has St. Joseph in all this? I believe his help invaluable. Without St. Joseph protecting her, Our Lady might not have brought Our Lord Jesus Christ to the light of day nor would she have been able to live safely with Him. Perhaps the accomplishment of Our Lord’s mission might have been threatened. God prepared St. Joseph from eternity to be the holy spouse and family father who made it possible for Jesus and Mary to fulfill their missions. The task of St. Joseph 2,000 years ago continues today. Without him there will be no consecration of Russia and no peace in the world. We must return him to his rightful place in the plan of salvation which God’s Providence has given him. In the same manner, we must re-establish authority to fathers and husbands, otherwise families will not live in a holy manner nor walk the path leading to heaven. We recognize the Sacred Heart of Jesus by its cross, wound, the crown of thorns encircling it, and its flames of charity’s fire. The Heart of Our Lady is usually encircled with flowers–though at Fatima with thorns–and pierced with a sword, and even sometimes seven of them. Radiating from her Heart are flames of charity similar to those pouring from the Sacred Heart. This is the case also with the Heart of St. Joseph (see Fr. Podržaj’s homemade holy card, p.17) from which appear flames symbolizing his pure and dutiful love for the Trinity, the Holy Family, and mankind itself. The most recognizable and characteristic sign of the Heart of this Patriarch of patriarchs is the golden anchor figured within it, a symbol of the theological virtue of Hope. A cross is the symbol of Faith (Our Lord Jesus Christ), a heart is a symbol of Charity (the Virgin Mary), and an anchor for St. Joseph is the symbol of Hope, which connects Faith to Love. St. Joseph is also patron of the dying. In our last hour, hope in the mercy of God is important and decisive for all eternity. The anchor is gold in color to symbolize eternity and indestructibility. As it is impossible to separate the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, so it is impossible to separate the three Hearts of the Holy Family–Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We honor all three of them, recommend them, ought to consecrate ourselves to them, and follow their examples to repair for our sins and those of others.

St. Joseph, Pillar of Families

May husbands and fathers of families consecrate themselves to St. Joseph under his title of “Pillar of Families,” that they may know how to be pillars and heads of numerous strong and invincible Catholic families, the foundation of a healthy Catholic Church and State. No house should be without a picture or a statue of St. Joseph nor should a day pass that we don’t recommend ourselves to his patronage. Along with St. Michael the Archangel, St. Joseph is co-patron of the universal Catholic Church. As he cared for the Head of the Catholic Church in His lifetime, let us go confidently now to him in these confused times asking his intercession for the Mystical Body, in favor of the Latin Mass, Catholic doctrine, and Catholic morality.

St. Joseph, the King

St. Joseph was of the tribe of David, the kingly line of Israel. As the lawful husband of the Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus Christ, the King of all kings, so St. Joseph also can be logically understood as a king of heaven and earth, angels and saints. In the Canon of the Mass he is mentioned immediately after Jesus and Mary and before the Apostles and the other saints. We can presume that in heaven the hierarchies of both persons and authority are still in full force, so St. Joseph still remains the head of the Holy Family but now, by spiritual adoption, with more children. When Our Lord Jesus Christ from the Cross gave His mother to be the spiritual mother to everyone who receives Him as Redeemer in the Catholic Church, by this act He gave also St. Joseph to be a spiritual father to everyone who desires to become and remain a child of God. The Virgin Mary of Fatima told Jacinta that most souls go to hell because of their sins of impurity. St. Joseph is named by the Church to be a special intercessor for the preservation of holy purity, virginity, and baptismal innocence. Let us be confident in the Heart of St. Joseph given confidently by the heavenly Father to the foster father and patron of His only-begotten Son. Let us be aware that we are never orphans on this earth despite family circumstances of yesterday or today. Let us pray that the paternal Heart of St. Joseph be acknowledged by more of our fellowmen. No one on earth can say that they are not in need of the boundlessly compassionate Hearts of Mother Mary and Father Joseph–these two Hearts which are the reflection of the infinitely loving and compassionate Sacred Heart of the Second Person of the Trinity. Let us choose irrevocably this good father to be our Protector and to help us restore our families. Dedicate to His paternal and just Heart yourselves, your families, and countrymen.

Dedication to St. Joseph’s Paternal and Just Heart

St. Joseph, on earth thou wast foster father to God’s Son and lawful husband of Mother Mary. In these, God entrusted to thee the two biggest treasures of mankind. In heaven thou hast remained head of the Holy Family, the foster father of Jesus and spouse of Mary. As it is not possible to divide the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, so it is not possible to separate your three Hearts on earth for they are inseparable in heaven. Jesus and Mary receive our love and veneration only in proportion to the love and veneration with which we honor thee, St. Joseph, who art one with the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Therefore I irrevocably consecrate myself to thy paternal Heart and choose thee for my father, teacher, protector, and guide on the path to eternity. To thee, paternal Heart of Joseph, I dedicate all my thoughts, words, deeds, my body and soul, the health of my body and soul, my past, my present, my future, my intellect, my will, my memory, and my sentiments–in a word, all I am and all I have–that everything may be consecrated irrevocably to the united Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and thee, O St. Joseph, and by this to the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Especially do I dedicate to thy paternal Heart my baptismal innocence, my chastity, and modesty, that with thy help I will retain this angelic virtue till my death. But if I have lost or sullied it, I ask thee to obtain for me the grace to repent of my selfishness and to live purely from this moment on in my thoughts, words, and deeds. Guard me, O paternal Heart of Joseph, against secret impurity. To thee, beloved Heart of Joseph, I dedicate my life’s last hour. Be with me then with thy mighty hand to protect me against the attacks of Hell which will try to steal my hope and cause me to despair of thy foster Son’s infinite mercy. Come at that time with thy Immaculate Spouse in the company of thy foster Child that I may leave this valley of tears in peace and arrive for all eternity at the happiness of heaven. Amen.