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
We read in the life of the Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation the following incident.
Madame de la Peltrie, who was a Frenchwoman of eminent virtue, happened one day to read an account of a mission which the Fathers of the Society of Jesus had undertaken in Canada. The history of this mission made an impression upon her and she felt a great wish to cooperate in the conversion of the poor Canadians. Before she could make up her mind as to the best means of assisting in the work, she was seized with a severe and alarming illness which baffled the skill of the physicians, who were convinced she could never recover.
In the midst of her sufferings Madame de la Peltrie did not forget her pious intention, and God inspired her to make a vow to St. Joseph, under whose powerful protection the Jesuit missioners had placed the conversion of Canada, that if she recovered she would found and endow a convent in Canada for the education of girls.
No sooner had the invalid pronounced her vow than her prayer was heard. The violent pains which had caused her such agony left her instantaneously, and nothing remained but a slight weakness. When the physician returned the next day he was astonished at the change, for which he could in no way account.
“Madame,” he exclaimed, “what has become of your excruciating pains; where are they gone?”
“Why, my dear sir,” she replied, smiling, “I believe they are gone to Canada.”
She soon after fulfilled her vow, and built the convent she had promised for the education of the young Canadians, and Mother Mary of the Incarnation, so justly esteemed and destined by God for the foreign missions, was its first superior.
It was revealed to her in a vision, that St. Joseph was the Patron of the New World, and that is was through his intercession she had been called to labor there for the salvation of souls. She gave the new convent the name of the “Seminary of St. Joseph,” and adopted as its seal the image of the venerable Patriarch with the Infant Savior in his arms.
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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.