Ave Maria Meditations
Let the evangelists be silent concerning all they could tell us of Joseph, placing in array before us those virtues and singular prerogatives which serve as a noble accompaniment to his dignity. To me it suffices that they make him known to us as the husband of Mary, that is, the most like among all living beings to the most perfect of pure creatures who ever came out of the hands of God, even His own Blessed Mother.
Spouse of Mary! That is, who came nearest to that highest pinnacle of sanctity which pierced the heavens, which rose above the empyrean, and from the very bosom of the Eternal Father drew down His only-begotten Son. Spouse of Mary! That is, head of the first head in the world, for the husband is the head of the wife. Spouse of Mary! That is, lord of that sovereign Lady who well knew the precept of Genesis: “Thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee;” and who, most perfect in all else, was so also in the reverence and homage which she paid to her Spouse, in which reverence and homage she surpassed all other wives.
Spouse of Mary! That is, of the great Queen, whom to serve is the highest dignity of the Dominations, the highest function of the Principalities, the deepest study of the Cherubim, and the most ardent desire of the Seraphim. “No more!” exclaims Saint Bernard; “You say all in saying he was like the Virgin, his Spouse.” He was like her in all things: in countenance, in features, in heart, in disposition, in manners, in sanctity, in virtue; so that, if Mary was the aurora preceding the Divine Sun, Joseph was the horizon illuminated by its splendors.
Saint Leonard of Port Maurice
