Happy Feast of St. Joseph! Usually it is celebrated on March 19th, but it was bumped to today by the importance of the Third Sunday of Lent.

This statue stands in the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalen in Saint-Maximin, France.

Saint Joseph, as you probably know, is considered the patron saint of a happy death - a good death - a comforting and holy death. Sometimes we may wonder why our loved ones are snatched from us suddenly and unexpectedly, and sometimes in the flower of their youth. This story about today's saint offers a possible explanation:

"A nobleman, who loved and venerated St. Joseph, was in the habit of celebrating his feast-day annually as devoutly as he could. He had three children; one of them died on St. Joseph's feast, and, strange to say, a second died the following year on the same day. This double affliction was so keenly felt by this fond father, that he resolved not to celebrate the saint's festival the following year, fearing that he might also lose his third and last child. Accordingly, being unwilling to encounter that memorable day at home again, and in order to dissipate his grief and anxiety, he determined to travel. As he was walking one day in a pensive mood, he happened to raise his eyes, and saw two young men hanging from a tree; at the same moment an angel appeared to him, and spoke as follows: 'See those two young men? Know, then, that if your sons had lived, they would have met with a similar fate; but, owing to your devotion to St. Joseph, that saint has obtained from God the favor of an early death for them, that your house may not be dishonored, but more especially to secure for them by a premature death, the blessing of a happy eternity. Go, celebrate St. Joseph's feast, and fear not for the child that remains to you; he will be a holy bishop, and enjoy a long life.' All this happened exactly as the angel had predicted."

~ Very Rev. M. Kavanagh, SJ, St. Joseph; or, The Month of March imprimatur 1881.