Quote of the day, 11 June: Jean Lévêque, ocd

In the Old Testament, and often in the New, to be righteous means being attuned to the will of God. It is, in a certain sense, holiness lived out in daily life. And this sums up Joseph’s life very well.

The episode in which the Gospel describes him as “righteous” is the moment when he discovers that Mary is expecting a child (Mt 1:18–19):

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.

A shadow has fallen across Joseph’s happiness. From now on, it seems, Mary is lost to him. He will be alone, and she, too, will be alone forever. Everything is so unexpected, so mysterious, so unbelievable, that Joseph no longer knows what to do.

But this is precisely where his holiness and spiritual wisdom shine out clearly. This is where he responds as a righteous man, fully attuned to the will of God. In his uncertainty, his first instinct is to choose the path that shows the greatest respect for Mary as a person.

It is the instinct of a good man, a man with a large heart. He respects Mary too much to expose her to the judgment of the whole village. And he respects the law of God too much to build a home on such uncertain foundations. So he decides simply, though with death in his heart, to give Mary back her freedom.

This greatness of soul is rooted in God. And God comes to meet his servant: he reveals his plan to him.

From that moment, everything becomes clear. Joseph understands Mary’s silence. In a single intuition of faith, he grasps what God is asking of her and what God is asking of him. God brings them together again, so that both of them may be placed at the heart of salvation history.

Mary will give the Messiah his flesh and his human features. Joseph, son of David and a carpenter, will be there to give him, legally, a name in the royal line of David.

The deepest respect for persons, and a willing welcome of God’s initiatives: these were Joseph’s responses before the mystery of Mary’s motherhood.

And this is how we too must approach the mystery of God’s action in us, in others, and in the world. This is how we must place ourselves, in faith, before the coming of the Son of God.

From the beginning, Mary’s motherhood was wrapped in silence, as all the great works of God are. And this silence that veils the incarnation of Jesus can never be pierced by anyone.

Like Joseph, we must enter it through the yes of adoration. From today onward, we must be with him, and contemplate the glory that God has given him (Jn 17:22).

Father Jean Christian of the Annunciation, o.c.d.

Advent 2017, Carmelite Online Retreat
Saint Joseph: Adjust your expectations (excerpt, Week 1)

Note: On this day in 2024, Father Jean Lévêque, ocd, passed into eternal life at the age of 93. A Discalced Carmelite priest, Scripture scholar, teacher, hymn writer, and retreat master, he left the Church a rich legacy of homilies and writings marked by biblical depth and pastoral wisdom.

Lévêque, J. 2017, ‘Ajuster son attente’, Retraite de l’Avent avec saint Joseph: Semaine 1, Carmes de Paris, viewed 9 June 2026, https://retraites.carmes-paris.org/meditation-chretienne-en-ligne/avent-2017-avec-saint-joseph-laisser-place-a-la-parole/.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Statue of Saint Joseph at the Shrine of Saint John Vianney, Ars, France. Photo by Father Lawrence Lew, OP / Flickr. (Some rights reserved),

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The Feast Of St. Joseph — How To Celebrate St. Joseph’s Day

2 min read You’re probably familiar with St. Patrick’s Day, but there’s another saint’s day in March that’s celebrated with…
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Tasty Tradition of Celebrating St. Joseph’s Day With Zeppole| National Catholic Register

“You would like a what?”  That was the response I often received when I asked for St. Joseph’s zeppole, or zepp…
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https://www.diningandcooking.com/2583265/tasty-tradition-of-celebrating-st-josephs-day-with-zeppole-national-catholic-register/

Happy St. Joseph's Day!

And in Italy, Happy Father's Day!

Buona Festa Del Papà!
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Quote of the day, 19 March: Saint Teresa

Once, when in need, for I didn’t know what to do or how to pay some workmen, St. Joseph, my true father and lord, appeared to me and revealed to me that I would not be lacking, that I should hire them. And so I did, without so much as a penny, and the Lord, in ways that amazed those who heard about it, provided for me.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Book of Her Life: Chapter 33, no. 12

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Saint Joseph holds a bouquet of Easter lilies, lilium longiflorum. Image credit: arley_design / Adobe Stock (Asset ID#: 1260853483).

Quote of the day, 14 March: St. Raphael Kalinowski

[In 1874, Saint Raphael] Kalinowski was already living a quasi-Carmelite life before he had even decided to join the Carmelites.

“I long for a regulated life, because nothing disturbs interior harmony so much as the absence of exterior peace—and how destructive that is! I’m beginning to convince myself that the worst thing in this world is to spend your time being torn apart inside. I aspire after one thing: to maintain purity of heart, because a conscience free from all sin allows the soul to lift itself up to God and helps it sustain the burden of life with a good heart. Also I am very stressed and today I started to look for an occupation which could engage all the hours of my day. Unemployment, in effect, is most injurious to an interior life, because it opens the door of our soul to the devil.”

In March 1874, Kalinowski had begun a novena to his patron St. Joseph, and this reminded him to write to his parents and thank them, especially his mother, for inculcating in him a devotion to St. Joseph.

Kalinowski wrote to Father Fiszer, his spiritual director in Irkutsk, and included in it a letter for the exiled Bishop [Kaspar] Borowski. In replying to this letter, Fiszer remarked:

“I read your letter aloud to His Excellency. The good old man listened benevolently and in regard to your desire to consecrate yourself to the service of God, he gave me this message: ‘go to a warm country and put it into effect.’ His Excellency is quite sure that the sacrifice of your life will be of benefit to humanity and will redound to God’s glory and that you will find immense good.”

Timothy Tierney, o.c.d.

Chapter 9, Transition Period

Tierney, T  2016,  Saint Raphael Kalinowski: Apprenticed to Sainthood in Siberia,  Balboa Press  Australia.

Featured image: Saint Raphael of St. Joseph Kalinowski, edited from the photo taken 30 March 1897. Photo credit: Discalced Carmelites (Used by permission)