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

A grenadier of the 29th regiment of infantry in the army of the Prince of Italy, had led a very irregular life, but more especially after entering the army. He not only laid aside the practice of his religious duties, but even the prayers he had learnt in childhood were neglected, with the exception of one Hail Mary and the following prayer to St. Joseph: “St. Joseph, who wert the father and guardian of the Holy Family, be also my father and protector, and obtain for me a happy death.”

These were the only religious acts which he performed, and he never omitted reciting these two prayers daily. Strange as it may appear, he had great confidence in Saint Joseph, and frequently repeated his name when anything troubled or annoyed him. At the battle of Laybach, in1809, he was wounded in the leg by a cannon ball, and being unable to stand was carried to the nearest house.

His first exclamation was: “Saint Joseph, Saint Joseph”; and in the midst of his sufferings these were the only words he uttered. An exiled French Priest, who was in the adjoining room, hearing his groans accompanied by the exclamations, “Saint Joseph, Saint Joseph”, thought the wounded soldier might be glad of religious assistance. He, therefore, hastened to his bedside, and finding him eager to make his confession, administered the last Sacraments, and shortly after the grenadier expired invoking the name of Joseph.

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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.