St. Joseph, Safeguard of Families, Pray for Us

A safeguard is a measure taken to protect someone or something, or to prevent something undesirable. Thinking of St. Joseph as the Safeguard of Families in light of this definition makes for some interesting connections! St. Joseph’s role was to protect the Holy Family that was placed in his care. On the way to Bethlehem before the birth of the Lord, as well as the flight to Egypt to protect the child Jesus from Herod’s evil intent, St. Joseph is the Safeguard of the Holy Family. He is also the Safeguard of Families that make up the Church, the body of Christ. As Patron of the Universal Church, whose 150-year anniversary we celebrate during this Year of St. Joseph, he watches of the family of the Church.
Safeguard of Families is also translated as Pillar of Families in the Litany. As the Pillar of Families, St. Joseph is a strong column on which families can rest upon as an unshakeable foundation. Families are encouraged to trust in him, have recourse to his intercession, and to see him as a sure source of strength for the Christian family.

If a father or mother chooses St. Joseph to be, in a special way, the patron of their household, if they have recourse to him in every necessity, they will find in him a friend on whom they can rely, for he is a column of support in their hour of need.

So, too, religious families or communities will find in him a sure source of strength in their troubles. This was the case with the Sisters of St. Joseph here in Tipton. One only has to think of the early beginnings of the Sisters and the hardships they persevered through. The little house that served as home and school room for the early community. Or on a bigger level, the recourse that the sisters had to St. Joseph for his protection during the time of the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. During those troubling times, not one sister or student at the Academy took the dreaded flu. Surely the Sisters’ entrustment of the intercession of St. Joseph as Safeguard and pillar of families with his Son Jesus protected them and helped the sisters to make wise choices in that difficult time.

The statue of St. Joseph in front of the Chaplain’s house came from the Pope St. John XXIII Retreat Center in Hartford City when it closed. One story says that it was brought back from Medjugorje. It is a reminder that the chaplain is to imitate the virtues of St. Joseph in the care of those who visit the retreat center to encounter Jesus