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

During the prevalence of a terrible epidemic, a zealous Priest entered a wretched hovel, where an old man lay dying of the contagion and covered with filthy rags. He was alone, a little straw served as a bed, and not a vestige of furniture was to be seen; for all had been sold the first days of his illness, to procure food. On the damp walls of the room hung two saws and a hatchet; these were all he possessed wherewith to gain a livelihood.

“Be comforted,” said the Priest; God gives you a great grace today, you are soon going to leave this world, where you have known nothing but sufferings.”

“Nothing but sufferings!” replied the dying man, in a scarce audible voice; “you make a mistake; I took St. Joseph as my patron and model, and, like him, I have never murmured at my lot. I am a stranger to hatred and envy; my sleep has been peaceful; I was tired with my day’s work, but I rested at night. The tools you see earned the bread that I eat with relish; I was poor, it is true, but St. Joseph was as poor as I was; and my health until now has been good. If I recover from this illness, which I do not expect, I will return to the wood-yard and continue to bless God who has taken such care of me.”

The priest could scarcely conceal his surprise on hearing the poor man speak thus, but again addressing him, said: “Friend, although your life has not been the trial to you that I should have imagined it to have been, you must all the same resign yourself to die, for you must conform to the Will of God.”

“I have known how to live,” said the dying man, with a firm voice. “and I shall know how to die; thank God for the life he has given me, and for enabling me by death to come to Him.”

Then receiving the last Sacraments with great devotion, this poor man, who had taken St. Joseph as his Patron and Model during life, calmly expired. Let us, like him, have recourse to this great Saint, and endeavor to imitate his virtues.

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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.