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
In the monastery of St. Elizabeth, at Lyons, a religious named Margaret Rigaud, met with a dangerous fall which rendered her insensible, and caused the blood to issue from her mouth, nose, and ears. By means of strong remedies and great care her life was preserved, but her head was so weakened that for several months she could not bear to lean it on the pillow, and her mental faculties were so impaired that she found it impossible to apply herself to anything.
The physicians and surgeons, after holding a consultation, agreed that her only chance of recovery was to submit to the operation of trepanning. This decision caused the poor patient so great a shock that the doctors thought it advisable to defer the operation for a few days. In the meantime the Superior determined to try a more easy and effectual course, and ordered all the sisters to make a Novena of Communions in honor of St. Joseph.
The pains continued as violent as ever, and at length towards the end of the Novena some of the sisters, despairing of obtaining their request through the intercession of St. Joseph, thought it would be better to substitute St. Anselm, to whose protection they usually had recourse in cases of accidents. But one of the sisters, who greatly venerated and loved St. Joseph, redoubled her entreaties, and begged him to effect the cure himself, representing that it would be quite derogatory to his honor, which they were so desirous to promote, if he yielded the glory of such a miracle to any other saint, and promised that if restored to health the invalid should herself make a novena of acts of mortifications, devotions, and thanksgiving.
Whilst the pious sister persevered in prayer without intermission, the invalid was perfectly cured, and at a moment when least expected. She happened to be alone, and dressing quickly she ran about the monastery unable to control her joy, calling out, “a miracle, a miracle, St. Joseph has cured me.” What followed proved that her cure was complete; for the same day she assisted in choir and recited office with the other sisters, though previously she had not been able to bear even the distant sound of their voices; she also resumed her usual occupations with an energy which surprised everyone. In a word, St. Joseph, obtained for her not only the restoration of her health, but many other favors which greatly contributed to her spiritual advancement.
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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.