St. Joseph, Part 2

SURGE ET ACCIPE PUERUM ET MATTER EIUS ET FUGE IN AEGYPTUM

In the economy of salvation Mary stands alone through the workings of the Holy Spirit and her Fiat as the Mother of the Redeemer, united with Him even unto the cross, and beyond, receiving from him and through Him the gift of bodily assumption. After Mary, in a life led mostly in the shadow, stands Joseph. Responding with a fiat of his own to the unique opportunity of becoming Mary's spouse and Jesus' father, Joseph, a just man,  placed himself, in the words of Saint John Chrysostom, "at the service of the entire plan of salvation”.

Saint Paul VI pointed out that Joseph concretely expressed this privileged position “by making his life a sacrificial service to the mystery of the incarnation and its redemptive purpose. He employed his legal authority over the Holy Family to devote himself completely to them in his life and work. He turned his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of himself, his heart and all his abilities, a love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his home” (Homily (19 March 1966): Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, IV (1966), 110.) At the end of every story in which Joseph is the protagonist, the Gospel notes that he takes the Child and His mother with him and does what God has ordered him to do. Thus, the fact that Joseph’s task is to protect Jesus and Mary stands out. He is their principal guardian.

Expanding on St. Ambrose, St. Augustin states that Mary is both the mother and the first disciple of Jesus, "a member of Christ's body, representing the Church in her faith, charity, and spotless integrity." Pope Francis in his apostolic letter Patris Corde, says that as guardian and protector of the Holy Family, "Saint Joseph could not be other than the Guardian of the Church, for the Church is the continuation of the Body of Christ in history, even as Mary’s motherhood is reflected in the motherhood of the Church."

Recognizing the great love St Joseph has for Mary and Christ, for the Church, for us its members, Pope Pius IX declared him Patron of the Universal Church on 8 December 1870, day which fittingly coincides with the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (made official dogma of the church by the Holy Father in 1854). Pope Francis exhorts us to ask St. Joseph to protect us and guide us through unceasing conversion to Christ. In Patris Corde he offers us this beautiful prayer:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son;

in you Mary placed her trust;

with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too,

show yourself a father

and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,

and defend us from every evil. Amen.

Pope Francis says that in the imitation of the great saint, we as Christians can find a "beautiful trace of the the Christian vocation: to safeguard. To safeguard life, to safeguard human development, to safeguard the human mind, to safeguard the human heart, to safeguard human work. The Christian — we could say — is like Saint Joseph: he must safeguard. To be a Christian is not only to receive the faith, to confess the faith, but to safeguard life, one’s own life, the life of others, the life of the Church."

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The new design for the interior of the church places on the extrado of the Triumphal Arch leading into the apse of the church these words: ARISE, AND TAKE THE CHILD AND HIS MOTHER, AND FLEE INTO EGYPT. The fresco which will adorn the altar wall illustrates these words: Joseph asleep as he hears God's command in his dreams; Joseph, ever obedient, leading his wife and baby mounted on a donkey, on a moonlit night, into Egypt. This episode in the life of the Holy Family was chosen because it best exemplifies Joseph's role as guardian and protector.

In collaboration with Father Molinari we have developed the concept and have finalized the composition of the fresco (the design is still being developed in its details). Starting at the top we have the angel of God in a circle of light which dims as it moves down to the narrative scenes. On the left we have placed Joseph asleep under a palm tree; on the right, Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms and Joseph leading the donkey. In a lower register, on the left, under the sleeping Joseph, the Tree of the Genealogy of Christ. Pope Francis in Patris Corde says that "as a descendant of David (cf. Mt 1:16-20), from whose stock Jesus was to spring according to the promise made to David by the prophet Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 7), and as the spouse of Mary of Nazareth, Saint Joseph stands at the crossroads between the Old and New Testaments."

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In the medallions placed on the branches of the tree, in ascending order are: the prophets, Daniel who speaks of the coming of the Messiah and of a figure "like a son of man" coming with the clouds of heaven to receive an everlasting kingdom and dominion, and Isaiah who speaks of the virgin birth and the child Immanuel, of the Prince of Peace and of the Suffering servant; the kings, Solomon who built the temple and David who wrote the Psalms. At the base of the tree is Jesse to whom Christ's ancestry can be traced according to Isaiah 11:1, which says: "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots". In the topmost medallion is Christ Pantocrator, or Christ in Majesty.

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On the right, under the Holy Family we have placed another tree for the sake of symmetry. While on the left the Tree of the Genealogy of Christ moves from Christ back into the past and represents the Old Testament, the tree on the right moves forward from Christ into the New Kingdom of God in its present sacramental reality and its eschatological reality at the end of time. The New Testament which this tree represents is indicated by the symbols of the Evangelists. At the root of the tree is St John the Baptist, also known as the Forerunner. Like Joseph he also stands at the liminal space between the Old and New Testament, belonging to both and to neither. The medallions that follow carry the symbols of the evangelist. In ascending order: St. Matthew symbolized by the winged man represents Jesus's Incarnation; St. Luke symbolized by the winged Ox represents Christ's Passion and Crucifixion; St. Mark symbolized by the winged lion represents Christ's Resurrection; St Luke, symbolized by the Eagle represents Christ's Ascension. in the topmost medallion is Mary the mother of God.

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In keeping with the architectural style of the church interior with its harmonious, clean lines and contemporary interpretation of the Romanesque, we have opted for a pictorial style that moves away from excessive naturalism into a more distilled version of reality. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy says that the whole point of the image in sacred art is " to lead us beyond what can be apprehended at the merely material level, to awaken new senses in us, and to teach us a new kind of seeing, which perceives the Invisible in the visible. " It is also our hope that we have created an artwork that suggests reality rather than imposing it, leaving room for the creative imagination of the viewer to discern the transcendental meaning behind the image. In practical terms, we have tried to create a design that will not dominate the altar wall so that the central panel with the crucifix will remain central and preeminent. We mean the space dedicated to the fresco to create a worthy setting for the precious jewel which is the tabernacle and to draw the eye and the heart to that which lies within.