Excerpt from St. Joseph: A Novena of Meditations and Prayers Application - It is not hard to see in the patriarch Joseph the type and forerunner of his great successor and namesake, St. Joseph. For, Ist, St. Joseph was God's chief steward on earth. He was the foster-father of Jesus Christ. As such he was the head of the Holy Family. Jesus and Mary obeyed him as their superior. Hence Gerson exclaims: 0, wonderful elevation! 0 incomparable miracle! The Mother of God-the Queen of Heaven - calls thee (st. Joseph) her lord, and the Incarnate Son of God calls thee father, and obeys thee. He was, moreover, a co operator in the work of Redemption, seeing that he took so large and necessary a part in the life and actions of the Redeemer and His Blessed Mother. And, St. Joseph is also God's steward in Heaven. St. Bernard says of him: To some of the saints the power is given to help us in particular circumstances, but St. Joseph can assist us in every need - he can protect all who have recourse to him. What power, adds the same saint, must God not have given to the foster-father of His Son, as he was so distinguished by his virtues, and led a life of such eminent sanctity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.