St. Joseph's Day

Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Luc Olivier Merson 1879.

O blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector

of thy chaste spouse, the virgin Mother of God, I choose thee this day to
be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor thee all
the days of my life. Therefore I humbly beseech thee to receive me as thy
client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction,
to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus,
and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen

I love this picture, especially for its portrayal of St. Joseph as guardian and protector. There he is, out by the dying embers of the fire, keeping the Divine Child and his mother safe. You can just imagine him collapsing in exhaustion after he has taken care of his precious passengers but ready to leap up and start all over again on their journey to safety. The picture is so stark and empty. No plants for the donkey to eat, no stars in the sky, no light at all except from the Holy Child who is radiant even when no one opens an eye to see.

Our Coffee, Tea and Thee time today revolves around this wonderful book. Thank you, thank you, thank you Cay for putting this book on the Catholic Mosaic list otherwise we would have missed it. We are flying solo right now, without the study guides since my order has not yet arrived, but we really enjoyed the story. In fact, I read it to the children during lunch and as soon as the story was over, Shortcake bounced up in her chair and pleaded, "Read it again!"

We will read it again, but later, once Husband comes home and after I have made everyone some herbal tea with Texas wildflower honey to sweeten it. This is about all I can muster... no treats, since it is Lent, no snacks either. I am a little sore from having worked in the yard but generally just feeling run down and sinusy. We have all been a little under the weather, not sick, just bleh. Hmmmm, gee... I wonder why?

I wish everyone a blessed and happy Saint Joseph's Day!