Chastity is counter-cultural. It's probably THE most counter-cultural virtue there is.
It is no coincidence that in the month that the world glorifies “Pride,” God has elevated a man whose chastity is to be revered…St. Joseph. And today, many Catholics across the globe celebrate personal devotion to his Most Chaste Heart.
What is chastity? In short, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes chastity as follows: “Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity, therefore, involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.” CCC, 2337
Aside from Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph is the pre-eminent example of chastity. To guard the virginity of both his son and his wife, St. Joseph had to live out the virtue of chastity more perfectly than any other man. He was integrated, body and soul, and his life and sexuality were a lifelong gift in service to God, to Our Lord, and to Our Blessed Mother. A total gift of self.
Though not a liturgical feast day, many Catholics observe the first Wednesday after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in devotion to the Most Chaste Heart of St. Joseph. This personal devotion goes back as far St. John Eudes in 1600 and has also been referenced by St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, and St. John XXIII.
There has even been a recent investigation and
approval by the local ordinary of an apparition of St. Joseph to a young college student in Brazil to whom St. Joseph reportedly gave many promises to those who revere his Most Chaste Heart. This apparition has not received magisterial approval but is another indication of God's desire to highlight St. Joseph, for such a time as this.
Even if we choose not to embrace this personal devotion, we can certainly honor St. Joseph as a model of chastity. In a world that seems to grow more upside down and inside out every day, we need St. Joseph's counter-cultural example of chastity now more than ever.
St. Joseph, Most Chaste, pray for us.
To learn more about St. Joseph and the virtue of chastity, please enjoy these resources.
Please join us for this week's week’s Women of Grace Rosary Crusade.
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“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
-Ephesians 6:10 - 13
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“My Divine Heart is so passionately in love with humanity that it can no longer contain within itself the flames of its ardent love. It must pour them out through [you], and manifest itself to them with its precious treasures, which contain all the graces which they need to be saved.”
-Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
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“As they were going along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But he said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”¬ - Luke 9:57-62
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"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." -Acts 2: 2-4
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"Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God." - Luke 24:50
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Don’t you just love the month of May? For most of us, the signs of winter have passed. The sun seems brighter, the sky bluer, and flowers of every kind are bursting forth. It is as if the earth recognizes that May is the month we celebrate mothers, spiritual mothers, and in a particular way, our heavenly mother, Mary.
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by Theresa Cavicchio
Traveling back in time two thousand or so years, to the Holy Land, we come upon a small, unassuming Galilean village called Nazareth, “Village of the Shoot,” its name evoking the hope for a Messiah prophesied by Isaiah: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse (Is 11:1)” (Mike Aquilina, St. Joseph and His World).
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A recent Facebook post shared this urgent prayer intention by one outspoken priest:
"The police are afraid to be police
The priests are afraid to be priests
The Christians are afraid to be Christians
The Americans are afraid to be Americans
God, grant us the gift of fortitude to stand up against our oppressors."
St. Catherine of Siena would probably agree with his sentiment. She once declared, “We’ve had enough of exhortation to be silent! Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence.”
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The story of St. George is the stuff of legend. He lived during the reign of the Emporer Diocletian from 275 - 303. He was a knight, a soldier, and a dragon slayer. This Friday is his feast day and how apropos that he is one of the saints featured in The Rosary: Your Weapon for Spiritual Warfare, the book we pull our weekly meditations from during our Women of Grace Rosary Crusade.
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