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To solemnize the "Patronage of Saint Joseph", we are offering a limited edition gift. it is thought of, prepared and prayed for to give new life to the future.

We invite you to reserve your copy in advance as a Christmas gift. The package, for a cost of 25 euros, will be delivered to your home.

Mothers supporting priests in training and mission

The family of Nazareth has always been a school of life. God entrusted Joseph with the task of being a father and Mary with the mission of educating Jesus by making him grow up in the shadow of his adoptive father and the warmth of his Mother's feminine genius.

The shadow of parents always walks alongside their children who learn from them to write life with the language learned from their language.

A new book by Don Mario Carrera

by Angelo Sceppacerca

A book about Saint Joseph? The dimensions, the tone of the words, the soul of Don Mario who cultivated them and placed them on the sheet with the tip of a thin brush, the comparison with our condition (men and women, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, spouses, sick , in danger, waiting and searching, frightened and on the run...) make it a precious travel companion, a handbook of the soul, a mailbox between heaven and earth. Bless this little book.

There would be nothing to add to the wisdom of Don Mario's pages placed at the beginning as an introduction; delicate and deep; confident and think. Yet, due to the "salvific" closeness to the Mother of God, virgin of Nazareth and betrothed to her, also to Joseph - in some way - one can say numquam satis, the ancient expression used to affirm that talking about Mary was never enough. 

Saint Joseph was "just", that is, holy because he was docile, generous and radical guardian of the Son of the Most High. Joseph's obedience is an act of the highest dignity because the comparison is with the will of God; therefore supported by a very deep faith. His faith and obedience make him - as Abraham was - "father of many peoples" and among these the people of the universal Church.

The paternity of Saint Joseph is received as a gift, unexpected, providential and free, which are the adjectives linked to God himself, Providence and Grace. God chose to be Emmanuel and for this reason he asked Joseph to take Mary with him, welcome her Son as his own son and call him Jesus as the Savior of all the people. 

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the apostolic exhortation Redemptoris custos of Saint John Paul II; fifteen years earlier another holy pope, Paul VI, spoke inspired words in Nazareth indicating three things in Joseph and his thirty-year coexistence with Mary: silence, the communion of love, work. Silence, "in the agitated and tumultuous life of our time". 

The communion of love of three virgin hearts, inhabited by the Spirit and therefore mutually respectful, dedicated, delicate, ready to listen and serve, in perfect unity, a reflection of the divine one.

Work: a severe law, but a liberator of human toil, and a manifestation of its dignity as a support for the family and a service to society.

«In the shadow of the Father»: the allusion is to the new step taken by Joseph when God breaks into his restless sleep and his thoughts, reassuring him with the words of an angel. Mary too had been invited by an angel not to be afraid. Now it is he, Joseph, who finds himself under the shadow of the divine mystery that chooses him to give the name to one who is not his. Giuseppe is a present, attentive father, ready to face difficulties. He outlines the model of the authentic family. Too many mothers are always left alone with their children. And fathers – many – employed elsewhere. Giuseppe puts things right. God restores order to man's life and invites him to wake up from sleep and roll up his sleeves.

This little book is a great gift. I have the impression that it comes right from him, the caretaker. In a current situation that is full of horrors for the thousand faces of victims of violence (especially in the family), I also add mine to the prayers collected here.  

To order copies: Pia Unione del Transito di San Giuseppe, tel. 06.39737681 - email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.