IN a world that erases the figure of the father and criminalizes “patriarchal” society, thereby seeking to dismantle any reference to the Fatherhood of God within our brotherhood in Christ, Holy Church today celebrates the Most Chaste Spouse of the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary, the Foster Father of Our Lord, and a descendant of the royal line of David – proles David inclyta. 

The crown of Holiness that shines on the head of Saint Joseph is resplendent with three precious gems: poverty, chastity, and obedience. These virtues, proper to Christian perfection, constitute the vows of many religious Orders, and are the model of life for anyone who wishes to sanctify themselves in the sequela Christi. 

Si quis vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam quotidie, et sequatur me (Lk 9:23). These words of Incarnate Wisdom show us how Saint Joseph knew how to conform himself to the will of God: in poverty – that is, in detachment from material goods and in disdain for the world; in chastity – that is, in the denial of self and of one’s own concupiscences; and in obedience – that is, in the renunciation of one’s own pride and of the seductions of the Evil One.

Poverty: Saint Joseph knew how to abandon everything—even the carpentry trade he practiced in Nazareth—to safeguard the Lord during the persecution by Herod. Chastity: He accepted living in perfect continence as the most chaste Spouse of the Virgin of virgins, the Immaculate Mother of God. Obedience: Saint Joseph knew how to conform his own will to the Holy Will of God at every moment of his life.

These virtues were ultimately rewarded on earth by the uniqueness of the Holy Family—a model of perfection and holiness for all Christian spouses—and in heaven by the eternal glory with which he is crowned, and which earns him the title of Patron of the Universal Church: the spiritual family in which every baptized soul has God as Father, Our Lord as Brother, and the Most Holy Virgin as Mother.

If we wish to follow Our Lord—denying ourselves and taking up our cross each day – quotidie – we cannot fail to conform ourselves to the model of Saint Joseph. In humility and silence, he truly denied himself, contending against and triumphing over the world through holy Poverty, which is not destitution but rather detachment from earthly goods; over the flesh through holy Chastity, which is a daily immolation and a preparation for the heavenly state that awaits each one of us; and over the devil, through holy Obedience, which is not servility but a virile recognition of a hierarchical order that places Our Lord at the center of all things, and which traces everything back to Him—including even that temporal and spiritual authority which acts as a vicar of the authority of Christ the King.

The examples of today’s rebellious society are the exact opposite. Wealth and power are now the common aspiration: in order to attain them many people are willing to make any compromise, to commit any betrayal – “All this I will give you, if you fall down and worship me” (Mt 4:9). The entire world prostrates itself before the idols of money and material possessions. Lust and the most unspeakable abominations have become the norm; they are even inculcated in children, imposed by the State in schools through indoctrination into perversion, and introduced into the daily lives of the young to corrupt them and turn them into slaves of the most destructive and sterile pleasures. Pride – the accursed pride of Lucifer – has supplanted humility and obedience, manifesting now as mad anarchy, now as wretched servility.

The ecclesial body, too, into which the spirit of the Revolution has been made to penetrate, has lost the sense of these holy virtues. Many are the priests and bishops who prefer worldly honors and riches to the immense heavenly treasures of which they no longer wish to be stewards. Lust holds many of them bound by the chains of vice and fornication, rendering them blind to the Light of Catholic Truth, and deaf to the voice of conscience and Grace. For them, obedience is not a heroic testimony of submission to the Majesty of God, but a servile display of sycophancy toward the powerful of the earth, and a vile cooperation with the mercenaries and traitors who have infiltrated the sacred precinct.

If we wish to save ourselves and the souls entrusted to our care, we cannot fail to grasp the importance of the example of Saint Joseph. He is invoked as terror dæmonum – the terror of demons – for it is precisely in poverty, chastity, and obedience that every soul finds the means to escape the snares the Evil One sets to corrupt and damn us. Satan hates and fears poverty, chastity, and obedience, for they constitute an inviolable defense against the seductions of the world, the flesh, and the devil. And this applies preeminently to our families, which can find in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph the perfect example of a life that is simple, pure, and faithful to God.

Let us place ourselves under the protection of Saint Joseph: Tu vivens, Superis par, frueris Deo, mira sorte beatior. You, while living, were equal to the Saints, for you enjoyed the presence of God, who made you blessed on earth through a wondrous destiny. And so may it be.

+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop

19 March 2026
S.cti Joseph, Sponsi B.M.V.