Joseph Titles

Commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortation Guardian of the Redeemer. This anniversary edition provides the complete text of the apostolic exhortation, accompanied by a commentary by Joseph Atkinson, which makes Pope John Paul II's language more accessible. Reading the exhortation becomes a way to fully recognize and appreciate Saint Joseph's role in salvation history. In this special Anniversary Edition, we can delve more deeply into our understanding of the foster-father of Jesus.

Given on the feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1989, this apostolic exhortation focuses on the way Saint "Joseph, like Mary, remained faithful to God's call until the end." Pope John Paul II encourages us to consider the ways that Saint Joseph lived his faith day to day.

This 25th anniversary edition provides the complete text of the apostolic exhortation, accompanied by a commentary by Joseph Atkinson that makes Pope John Paul II's language more accessible. In six parts, readers are given a fuller understanding of Saint Joseph as guardian, husband, carpenter, and patron.

References to various religious documents and Biblical passages provide rich context for highlighting Saint Joseph's role in Christ's life and as patron of the Church today. Joseph Atkinson's commentary helps readers to understand the exhortation, and offers reflection questions and a prayer after each section. Reading the exhortation becomes a way to fully recognize and appreciate Saint Joseph's role in salvation history.

In this special Anniversary Edition, we can delve more deeply into our comprehension of the guardian of the Redeemer, husband of Mary, and patron of the Universal Church.

Who was St. Joseph? Was he just a passive, incidental figure in the drama of salvation? On the contrary, in every way that Jesus needed a father, St. Joseph was that for him. And how overwhelming it must have been for Joseph to be asked to stand in the Father's place! No man has ever been asked to do so in such an unthinkable way. Every priest, and certainly every man who is a father (biologically or otherwise), should take this to heart.

Caster's book provides a unique, in-depth presentation of Joseph from the perspective of the evangelical counsels and the theological and cardinal virtues. Each section begins with an explanation of what each counsel or virtue means and then shows how Joseph models it for us.

The descriptions of St. Joseph's life and character found in this book, while rooted in the Scripture passages that mention him, are chiefly inspired by Jesus, who spent the majority of his life at home with Joseph and Mary. For years, the three of them lived, prayed, celebrated, studied, and shared, all the while uniting their lives more intimately with God's own. Those years in Nazareth were a real preparation for the foundation upon which Jesus would build his saving ministry. And as much as Joseph and Mary offered Jesus, he offered them an ever-expanding awareness of the God that had changed both their lives. The reciprocity of love that perfectly defines the home in Nazareth is the very pattern for all family life--and therefore of the Church itself.

Let Fr. Gary Caster introduce you to the man who risked everything to care for Mary and her Son, safeguarding them from harm and cherishing them with a pure and true love. Joseph was a flesh-and-blood testimony of what it means to live according to the Father's will with one's mind and heart centered on Christ.

No words of St. Joseph are recorded In Scripture. In fact, little mention is made of him there. Yet, despite these seeming limitations, the Church nonetheless possesses an indescribably rich knowledge of St. Joseph and of his cultus. This book will astound most readers both with its scope and with its profundity. Based mainly on Scripture, but supported also by Tradition and the depositions of saints, it is a carefully reasoned analysis of the entirety of that great saint's role in the history of Salvation and the life of the Church. Includes details about his spiritual life and noble lineage; how he was prefigured in the Old Testament; his relationship to Mary and Jesus; why he has been named by Pope Pius IX "The Patron of the Universal Church;" and so forth. Many beautiful insights. 516 pgs. PB

This remarkable book tells of the many gifts and even miraculous favors which St. Joseph has granted to the dying, to travelers, to those whose salvation is in danger, to those who aspire to great holiness, to those in temporal want, to the Carmelite Order, and to the entire Church. Married persons, those who instruct the young, religious, priests, interior souls, artisans, and even sinners should adopt St. Joseph as their special patron. A Manual of Practical Devotion to St. Joseph shows how to be truly devoted to St. Joseph, and how to place oneself under the protection of this humble man who was honored and served by Our Lady and the angels. Herein is recounted the role this great saint has played in the history of the Church, the devotion of many saints to St. Joseph, and statements of learned men on the foster father of Our Lord. St. Teresa of Avila has stated the following concerning St. Joseph: "I never remember to have asked anything of him which I did not obtain." (Page 84). "Among all those who are sincerely devoted to him, and who make an open profession of honoring him, I know not a single individual who does not daily advance in virtue, so powerfully does he assist all those who place themselves under his protection." (Page 85). "I shall now implore of those who may, perhaps, find it difficult to believe what I have asserted, to make a trial of it themselves, for the love of God; and their own experience will convince them..." (Page 85).

“A TREMENDOUS BREAKTHROUGH” in the study of St. Joseph...

...There are few subjects so challenging” to authors as St. Joseph. So says scholar Scott Hahn in his foreword to this book. Yet the pages that follow give not merely glimpses, but vistas, of St. Joseph’s world. Hahn continues: “You’ll learn about Nazareth — and how it was created almost ex nihilo shortly before Joseph’s birth. You’ll learn about religious practice and education in that place and time. You’ll travel to Egypt and encounter the fascinating settlements of Jews in that land. You’ll also find out how a carpenter worked in those days: what tools he used, what items he crafted, where he got his training, and how he got to and from his job sites.” This book provides an imaginative entry into one of the most important lives in all of history — a life too often obscured by later legends. " 

Hundreds of thousands of people, including the author, have sold their homes under the patronage of St. Joseph, whose intercession they sought after burying his statue in their yard. The author takes a personal, humorous, light, and loving look at Joseph, depicting his life as a husband and father, homebuilder, and carpenter. He shows that the popular statue-burying practice is not a superstition, but part of a prayerful devotion. He also provides prayer services for selling a house and blessing a new home.