(The Shrine of Montserrat in the mountains of Spain)

"A religious in the monastery of Montserrat in Spain was remarkable for a great devotion to St. Joseph, and amongst the inexhaustible subjects of meditation which he gathered from the life of the holy patriarch, there was not one that served to animate his fervor more, or afforded him greater consolation, than his flight into Egypt with Mary and the Divine Infant. One day, when this good religious was returning to his convent, he lost his way and wandered into the mountains; night was stealing on, and he became seriously alarmed at the danger to which he was exposed of being devoured by wild beasts, or else of falling into the hands of the brigands who dwelt in those wild and unfrequented districts. In this painful situation, he had just recommended himself into the hands of Providence, when he suddenly perceived a stranger leading a donkey, upon which rode a lady with a child in her arms. The religious having inquired of the stranger the direction of the road which he had missed, the latter kindly invited him to follow them, saying, that though the way was perilous, and the darkness momentarily increasing, yet he was intimately acquainted with the place, and would safely conduct him to his destination. They continued their journey together, and so saintly was the conversation of the lady and her guide, that the religious felt his heart inflamed with a great love of heavenly things, and experienced an inward peace and consolation somewhat similar to that formerly felt by the disciples of Emmaus, when Jesus, in the disguise of a traveler, joined them on their journey. At length the little party reached the direct road to the monastery, upon which the strangers took leave of the monk, and instantly disappeared; the latter felt convinced that these mysterious fellow-travelers were no other than the Holy Family, to which he had such a devotion; and their heavenly words made so deep an impression upon his heart, that ever after he found in them a source of the greatest comfort and joy."

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