Saint Joseph “Guardian of the Redeemer”

Description

On August 15, 1889, Pope Leo XIII issued the Encyclical Quamquam Pluries, inviting the faithful to invoke St. Joseph’s powerful intercession over the Church, particularly by means of the prayer “To you, O Blessed Joseph,” prayed after the rosary. To commemorate the centenary of that papal letter, on August 15, 1989, Pope John Paul II issued the Apostolic Exhortation on St. Joseph entitled Redemptoris Custos, Guardian of the Redeemer. This title suggests a minor Holy Family Trilogy with his earlier encyclicals Redemptoris Mater on Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, and Redemptor Hominis on Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind. (This complements the major Divine Trinity trilogy formed by this latter encyclical on the Son, Dives in Misericordia on the Fater, and Dominum et Vivificantem on the Holy Spirit.)

Guardian of the Redeemer Books, which is named after this Apostolic Exhortation of St. Joseph, is pleased to reproduce John Paul’s complete Text here, along with Reflections on the text, offered by Fr. Tarcisio Stramare. Fr. Stramare is an Oblate of St. Joseph and a professor of Sacred Scripture in Rome. He is one of the world’s leading scholars on St. Joseph, and for decades he has devoted himself to studying St. Joseph in Scripture, theology and popular devotion. In this commentary he draws from Scripture, Church teaching, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and other fathers of the Church, to present the theology underlying the pope’s document.

In the fullness of time St. Joseph participated as no other person, except Mary, in the mystery of the Incarnation. Through the purity of his obedience of faith, he served Jesus and Mary as a minister of salvation. His example is a model to all the faithful, especially to Christian husbands and fathers, to workers, to ministers of the Church, and to every believer called to share in the work of Christ.

by Fr. Tarcisio Stramare, O.S.J.

1990

English

122 pages

ISBN: 1-883839-06-8