Artist . Brother Claude Lane, O.S.B Title The Dream of Joseph Location Mt. Angel Abbey, Oregon On one side Joseph is pictured as a traveler, his feet still in movement, and carrying a knapsack. The Angel is pictured on the other side.
EIGHTH STATION
God willed and Caesar decided a census would be a good idea. The timing was the absolute worst according to a human analysis, but Mary and Joseph were completely at peace as they realized that it was now very possible that Jesus would be borne in Bethlehem or on the way there. They accepted God’s will. They welcomed God’s intervention in their lives.
A MORNING OFFERING
Lord, as I begin this day I ask for Your help in accepting sudden or unforeseen events and in responding to them. Give me Your outlook on life O God. Help me to have Your peace and Your patience O Lord as I go through my day. God help me with every difficulty and decision today and every day.
The Expectant Madonna with Saint Joseph, 15th century French, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection
SEVENTH STATION
“The house at Nazareth was in very deed God’s Sanctuary, containing the Altar of Repose, where the Savior of the world was resting. Angels were in constant adoration before their King. The faithful consisted of Mary and Joseph, whose thought and conversation could be about nothing else but the Child Who was coming into the world.
And who shall measure the graces and blessings, which that Child was showering upon Mary and her faithful spouse, during those months of waiting and prayer and holy converse,while they planned and arranged with such care and minuteness, as parents are wont to do, every detail connected with the birth of the firstborn?” Mother St. Paul, Ortus Christi
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, help me to be open to the graces and blessings you want to shower on me this Advent season! Help me today to think often about your coming birth and to show a true Christmas spirit to those around me.
Mary and Joseph carved by Jacques Bourgault
SEVENTH STATION
Here are 2 quotes form St. Thomas Aquinas about Christ’s time in the womb.
“Mary and Joseph needed to be instructed concerning Christ’s birth before He was born, because it devolved on them to show reverence to the child conceived in the womb, and to serve Him even before He was born.” Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Q. 36, Second Article, Reply to Obj. 2.
“But His first coming was unto the salvation of all, which is by faith that is of things not seen. And therefore it was fitting that His first coming should be hidden.” Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Q. 36, First Article, Reply to Obj. 3.
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, please instruct me on how to love my family, friends and those I meet today. Help me to see your hidden presence in those around me.
Mary Spinning with Joseph before the Birth of Jesus, Strasbourg, Musee de Notre-Dame I’Oeuvre, inv 1482
SEVENTH STATION
For almost six months prior to the birth of Jesus, He and his parents were a true family, in the full sense of that term. In this first Christian family we find a model for every family, in fact it is also a model for every group or community. All members of this family desired first the Will of God and secondly, what would be best for the “other” members of the family. Each member put himself or herself last.
A MORNING OFFERING
Lord I believe You will give me many opportunities today to help others and to put others first. Help me O God, to view each day as a series of opportunities to serve You my God as well as my neighbor. Show me Lord, a Divine view of the needs of my family members, friends and acquaintances and then help me to help. Grant me a good attitude Lord and the will to try.
Filed under: Adoption, Advent, Incarnation, Pope Benedict XVI, Prayer, Unborn Jesus
St. Joseph Shadow of the Father
Painting by Fr. William McNichols
SIXTH STATION
“In these days of Advent, the liturgy invites us to contemplate in a special way the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, who lived with a unique intensity the time of waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus. Today, I want to direct our gaze toward the figure of St. Joseph… The one who gives the most importance to the adoptive father of Jesus is the Evangelist Matthew, emphasizing that thanks to him, the Child was legally introduced into the lineage of David fulfilling the Scriptures, in which the Messiah was prophesied as the ’son of David’.” Pope Benedict, Angelus address, December 18, 2005
A MORNING OFFERING
O Heavenly Father, St. Joseph adopted Jesus when he was still an unborn baby. Jesus was adopted by a man so we could be adopted by You, Our God. Help me to love You today as a child loves his/her father. I want to offer my heart to You with childlike trust.
On this mosaic Joseph is depicted as taking the Virgin Mary to his home.
This is one of the world famous mosaic depictions of Chora museum.
SIXTH STATION
“In Joseph’s midnight angelic revelation John Paul II sees Joseph’s “personal Annunciation” and the moment of his “Divine election….His place in the history of salvation is defined.
When Joseph woke from sleep ‑ we read in Matthew ‑ he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him’ (Mt 1:24). In these few words there is everything. The whole description of Joseph’s life and the full characteristic of his holiness: ‘He did’. Joseph, the one we know from the Gospel, is a man of action.” Pope John Paul II, General Audience, March 19, 1980
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, I want to follow you but so often I fail. Help me today, to begin again! May I follow Joseph’s example and lovingly take up the responsibilities you have placed before me today. May I offer you not just my love today but also my actions.
The Dream of St. Joseph (with unborn Christ Child) by Francisco Rizi (1608-1685)
SIXTH STATION
Joseph, like everyone who tries to do what is right, had to wrestle with a tremendous problem. He prayed and fasted, he quietly considered, but because of the nature of the problem he did not consult others. God was his trustworthy guide and consultant. And God showed Joseph what must be done. Immediately Joseph did God’s Will.
A MORNING OFFERING
O Lord, I trust You in all things. Help me make tiny decisions through my day. And help me God my Savior with all my problems and larger decisions too. I believe You will help me as I try to do what is right and good. I realize that Your ways God are different and above human plans and ideas. Help me God to be open and sensitive to the inspirations of Your Holy Spirit.
FIFTH STATION
“As Mary takes leave of her dear friends, Elizabeth and Zechariah, and their newborn baby, she turns northward with her feet, heavenward and inward with her heart. She recalls the wonderful birth of John, reliving the event, remembering excited faces and rejoicing, marveling at the beautiful little body of that baby. There is no treasure so precious and captivating as the small body of a newborn baby old in months but new in the brilliance of daylight!… For truly it is one of Life’s great secrets: every newborn child is a witness to the Prince of Peace, and every birth day a little Christmas.” From Unborn Jesus Our Hope
A MORNING OFFERING
Oh my Jesus, thank You for this Christmas season. This is a time of hope! Help me to turn my heart with joy to You, the babe in Mary’s womb. Help the celebration of Your birth be a reminder to me of how precious each life is to You.
Madonna del Parto, Antonio Veneziano
FIFTH STATION
Mary’s Credo
As Mary travels back to Nazareth she carries not only Christ within her, but also the original kernel of Christian doctrine and spirituality. She holds fast already to a Creed of Christian belief in the formative stages even as her Child is in His formative stages. Her sources of this doctrine thus far supplementing of course, her profound vision and grasp of her own Hebrew faith are the angel Gabriel (sent by God), Elizabeth and the unborn John (inspired by the Holy Spirit), the Levite priest Zechariah (chosen by God, instructed by the angel Gabriel, steeped in His knowledge of the scriptures and with the gift of speech restored inspired by the Holy Spirit) and, most directly, the Incarnate Word of God speaking within her.
As John Paul II said in his Angelus Message on December 8, 1992.
You, O Virgin, found yourself placed at the very heart of these mighty works of God….
You are the living memory of them. You are the Church’s memory….
Mother of the Incarnate Word! You are the human heart’s immaculate sensitivity to all that is of God….
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, help me to be sensitive to all that you are calling me to this day. May I too hold fast to the Christian message that has been given to me. And like Mary may I ponder the message of Your Incarnation during this Advent.
Filed under: Advent, Incarnation, Mother of the Lord, Prayer, Unborn Jesus
FIFTH STATION
Mary was living her life according to God’s Divine Timetable. It was soon time for her to return to Nazareth and begin a new chapter in her life as God’s “handmaid”. She travels the road alone, but with God. God has a Plan, Mary has a purpose. God leads and she follows.
A MORNING OFFERING
Lord I have proven so many times that my sense of timing and my plans are inept and shallow. I prefer Your Plan for my day God. Help me to travel the road, the hallway, each twist and turn with You unseen at my side Lord. For without You I can do nothing, but with You all things are possible.
Mary in the House of Elizabeth , Robert Anning Bell 1863-1933
FOURTH STATION
…We know nothing of what went on during those three months, but we may presume that things continued as they began. It is not likely that Elizabeth said her ‘Ave’ only once, and only once spoke of the honour she considered it to have the Mother of God in her house. It is not likely that the unborn Forerunner never again saluted His Master, in Whose presence he so continually was. It is impossible to conceive that Mary sang God’s praises and her own unworthiness no more during those three months. And what about Jesus ? These were the first three months of His life on earth, and grace was surely going out from Him to His Blessed Mother first, and then to all who knew the secret. ” From Mater Christi : meditations on Our Lady(1920). Mother St. Paul
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, the Season of Advent is a special time of preparation. Help me to prepare for Your birth today as Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and John prepared for Your birth. May I salute You often today with the joy of John the Baptist, may I recognize Your hidden presence as Elizabeth recognized Your presence, may I sing joyfully to You as Mary sang to You and may I offer my sufferings to You in reparation for my sins as Zechariah did during his time of penance.
Filed under: Advent, Incarnation, Mother of the Lord, Prayer, Unborn Jesus
Mary and Elisabeth Meet Zachariah
Lorenzo and Jacopo Salimbeni about 1416
FOURTH STATION
How can we fail to see that the hidden protagonist in the meeting between the young Mary and the by-then elderly Elizabeth is Jesus? Mary bears him in her womb as in a sacred tabernacle and offers him as the greatest gift to Zechariah, to Elizabeth, his wife, and also to the infant developing in her womb. BENEDICT XVI 31 May 2006
Truly the great works of God, the great mysteries of God come to pass in hiddenness, in the house of Zechariah. The whole Church will constantly recall them and will repeat with Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed”, and, together with Mary, the Church will sing the Magnificat. JOHN PAUL II 12 June 1999
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, show me how to follow your hidden example in the womb. You brought joy, love, light and reconciliation to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house in the ordinary and unnoticed event of Mary’s visit. Help me as I go about my day today to find small hidden ways to bring you to others.
FOURTH STATION
God provided for the needs of Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and John during this three month visit. It was a time of prayer and meditation and religious reflection. They were all stronger afterwards and better prepared for the road ahead.
A MORNING OFFERING
Give me strength and courage to live my life well today Lord. I want to cooperate with other members of Your Mystical Body and do Your Will. Lord, remind me appropriately, to take three seconds to pray whenever I get a chance. Because I am so weak Lord, I ask You for times today for prayer and strengthening through Your Holy Spirit. I rely entirely upon You my God.
Aus dem Wonnentaler Graduale:
Jesus segnet Johannes
THIRD STATION
“It is not an accident, I think, that in the Scriptures the first person, after Mary, who adored Jesus when he came into the world was St. John the Baptist…The second person who ever worshipped Jesus after Mary was an unborn baby and I think God made it that way to tell us in our day and age the worth and importance of every individual right from the very beginning of life.” Bishop Vaughan “The Catholic Duty to be Pro-Life”
A MORNING OFFERING
O My Jesus, I offer you my day! Help me to listen to those around me and to greet them with love and respect. Help me to learn and pass on the lesson of the Visitation that each person no matter how insignificant they might seem is important to You.
STRUEB, Hans and/or Jakob
The Visitation c. 1505 Museo Thyssen – Spain
THIRD STATION
“John was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (717)
Heimsuchung; Papiermaché; Schwaben um 1440
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München
THIRD STATION
When Mary met Elizabeth and the unborn Christ met the unborn prophet, there was Joy, Joy and more Joy! They praised God!
They enjoyed the Presence of the Lord and recounted the deeds of the Lord. They were optimistic about what God intended.
A MORNING OFFERING
Even though Your plans and Your deeds are often unseen or unnoticed, just like the unborn Christ was invisible to the human eye, yet God You are lovingly active. I believe Lord, help my unbelief. Help me to appreciate Your good works today and to be part of Your good plans for this day. Lord, please grant me the gift of Christian Joy each day.
Madonna del parto, Nardo di Cione, Florence, San Lorenzo: 1365
SECOND STATION
“The Word was in Mary’s womb. He inspired His Mother to visit Elizabeth; Mary carried to John his Master and King. John could not come, for his mother was too old to undertake that journey; Jesus Christ went to him. He did the same for us: we could not go to God; God came to us.”
St. Peter Julian Eymard
A MORNING OFFERING
Oh Holy Spirit, please fill with with Your love today. Help me to listen to Your inspirations as Mary did when she was inspired to go and visit Elizabeth. Show me how to bring the joy, love and presence of Jesus to those around me this Advent season.
UNBORN WORD of the day 