The book, The Month of St. Joseph, presents daily considerations for the month of March in the form of meditations and practical examples. The example for today is as follows.

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EXAMPLE

On the fifth of November, 1865, a young man of 18, was carried in an unconscious state to the Hospital of La Motte Servieux. The Infirmarian asked if he had received the Sacraments.

“No, Sister,” replied the unhappy father; “it is ten months since he went to confession.” The doctors tried bleeding and other remedies, but all was of no avail, and at last they pronounced that life was extinct.

The Infirmarian Sister hearing that the youth’s name was Joseph, declared that St. Joseph would not let any one die without the Sacraments, who bore his name. She then promised that should he recover he would receive Holy Communion every year on the feast of St. Joseph together with his father and mother. Night came on, but the invalid showed no sign of life. The Sister’s confidence, however, did not waver, and towards five in the morning he became conscious, and asked to make his confession. St. Joseph who does not do things by halves, obtained his complete recovery, and he left the hospital, with a firm resolution to serve God more faithfully, and with feelings of the greatest gratitude towards his powerful Protector.

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This anecdote comes from the Month of St. Joseph by Abbé Berlioux, originally published in English in the year 1887. This book contains meditations and an example story for each day of the month. In an effort to preserve short inspiring stories from our Catholic past, every day for the month of March you can find the example story for the day published on the website under people/stories.

The same author also published similar books for the months of, May (Our Lady), June (Sacred Heart), and November (Holy Souls). We are planning to post the stories for these months in the future and are working with Mediatrix Press to re-publish these as a four book collection, so be sure to check back. The Month of St. Joseph is available now.