The magazine of San Giuseppe
gushing source
of hope

I have been receiving and reading The Holy Crusade for many years, always obtaining a sense of peace and hope from it. My life has been full of pain and suffering, from the death of my husband many years ago, to cancer, to work problems and more, but I have made it this far, raised my daughter, who graduated and married. I have a wonderful nephew, who is the reward of everything and is also the only reason that still makes me love life and want to live it near him and for him.
In my darkest moments I asked Saint Joseph for help and in some way, even incomprehensible, he must have helped and supported me if I got this far.
But now everything seems to be collapsing because my daughter, who has always lived next to me, will move and I will no longer be able to have my little Daniele near me, laugh and cry, suffer and rejoice with him and for him. It would take too long to explain why this separation is so painful: they are delicate and thorny family stories, which would only bore, for which I blame my mother-in-law and my son-in-law, perhaps mistakenly.
I would like everything to be resolved for the best for my daughter and her family, for my son-in-law's mother and for me. There can be many solutions different from this one which can satisfy everyone and perhaps be the beginning of new and more peaceful relationships.
I prayed a lot to Saint Joseph: he knows what I need, but my prayers were not enough.
Now I ask you to pray for me to Saint Joseph: he knows what to do. Help me. My husband Dionisi Daniele, deceased, my daughter Alice, my nephew Daniele and I are already under the protection of Saint Joseph, now I would like my son-in-law Canzio Venturi to also be a member of the Pious Union.
Thank you for your time and patience, I hope for your prayers.
Patrizia Bucci - Rimini

A shared degree
with the poor

Dear Director, I am a member of the Pious Union of the transit of San Giuseppe. With much gratitude I would like to thank my protector Saint Joseph who always listens to my prayers and continually supports and guides my two children in difficulties.
On October 19th my daughter graduates in Medicine and instead of making wedding favors she would like to donate an offering to San Guseppe, I would like to know how to do it.
Thank you.
Francesca - Catanzaro

Dearest Mrs Francesca,
what a beautiful joy to read your letter; with you I thank God for the intercession of Saint Joseph and I pray that you may continue to smile on the path of his long life. The confetti to celebrate your daughter's graduation are also noble; I pray that the effort of her studies will always be at the service of the physical and spiritual well-being of the sick.
I instinctively suggest the joy of a lunch for the poor on the day of Don Guanella's canonization.
In the next issue of our magazine you will read about the initiative to be able to give a lunch to all the poor people who live in the shadow of the charity of the Don Guanella Opera, particularly in poor countries.
I calculated that a nice lunch (which will include dinner and also the next day's meals) can be offered with 3 euros.
If you want to join this initiative: «A lunch so that no one is alone» see it. (see art. page 21)
It would seem to me like a graduation with "fireworks" with the bright eyes of the poor deprived of everything, but rich in a grateful smile.

Saint Joseph...
and his body?

Dear Director,
the priest said in the homily of the Holy Mass on the feast of the Virgin Mary Assumption into heaven: «The only ones who are in Heaven with their body are Jesus and the Most Holy Mary».
I have always been convinced that in heaven, body and soul, there are three of us with Saint Joseph. It should be kept in mind that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that documents or attests to Mary's immaculate conception, much less that speaks of her assumption into heaven. Only the dogmas of our faith attest to this, and if you don't believe in these, you are not a Christian.
Therefore I firmly believe that over time it will be recognized that Saint Joseph is also in heaven with his body becoming like that of Christ as we saw him act after the Resurrection. The story of the Redemption begins with two characters inextricably linked: the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, her legitimate husband. By divine revelation, he agrees to be united to his wife even if she is carrying a child of whom he is not the father...
Saint Joseph is present at the birth of Jesus, he is his protector and savior from certain death, if he does not organize and lead Mary and Jesus to Egypt. He ensures their life in that foreign country by being their valid support. So it is when he returns to Nazareth where he not only protects and supports but also teaches a trade to Jesus who will be self-sufficient with his mother until the beginning of his public life as Messiah.
When Saint Joseph heroically and holyly carried out his earthly mission as father of Jesus and protector of the Holy Family, he was taken body and soul to heaven. Therefore there is no mention in the Gospel of the death of Saint Joseph and the Most Holy Mary for the simple fact that they have never experienced earthly death as we understand it. The same goes for the evangelical silence on the tomb of the Madonna because she was never buried. And the Gospel is also silent on the burial of Saint Joseph because it never happened.
If Saint Joseph were buried in the ground, the very stones would cry out: he is here! But these are silent because Saint Joseph is in heaven body and soul.
We know of the perfection of God that does not break a unity created by Him, and does not create divisions and disparities of value from one to another. Therefore the Holy Family in heaven is not disunity: they are not two plus one; equally all three are there with body and soul.
The Church in its divine wisdom knows of the greatness and holiness of Saint Joseph and among all its great saints has elected him its Protector. There is therefore nothing against faith in thinking about his Assumption into Heaven. I believe this, and a priest told me that this is a personal devotion, but it is not a sin.
Gianbusto of Nomadelfia

Dear friend,
she lives in a small town, where the name itself says «fraternity is law» and, therefore, where love and sharing are the driving force of everything. it is natural to think that Jesus reserved for his "earthly" father what he reserved for his mother, Mary. Just as she was assumed with that body that gave flesh to Jesus, so Saint Joseph, who nourished and instructed that body to live the life of men, should enjoy the same fate as Mary, his lovely wife.
This supposition is not new, already Saint Bernardino of Siena (1444) in his preaching said: «One must piously believe, but not assure, that Jesus honored his Most Holy Mother and his putative Father with equal privilege. As she made the most holy Mary ascend to heaven glorious in body and soul, so on the day of her resurrection, she also united Saint Joseph with her in glory. Just as the Holy Family, formed by Christ, the Virgin Mary and Joseph, lived a hard-working and loving life together, so it is right that now in the glory of heaven, they reign together with body and soul." Alongside San Bernardino there were also other saints who supported this belief.
It is not a dogma of faith, and no one can prevent us from cultivating this belief that the "earthly trinity" can live alongside the Holy Trinity with their glorified flesh.
Best wishes and continue to live the "nomadelphia" as a model of Christian life.