Today is an important feast day for our little community of monacelli (Little Monks) who live at St Joseph's Hidden Place in St Joseph's Hidden Valley in the Huon Valley Parish in the far south of Tasmania. It is the feast of St Joseph the Worker. All of us take the name Joseph as part of our consecrated name. However one of our brothers-Brother Stephen Joseph of the Immaculate Heart- had Joseph as his birth name and he is our handyman-builder-carpenter in our community. He and Brother John-Joseph of the Immaculate Womb (who is very artistic and creative) recently began the restoration of a large outdoor statue of St Joseph which a teenager had taken an axe to it and seriously damaged it.
We pray daily to St Joseph for all our needs and the needs and intentions of all our benefactors as well as for those of all who ask us and for those of our parish. We perceive him as our protector and Master of Prayer. We hide in the mystical cloud that is Joseph's heart which is the Shadow of the Father. The servant of God Luisa Piccarreta wrote in the "Book of Heaven" Volume 29 states:
...After this I continued my acts in the Divine Fiat, and my poor mind stopped in the little house of Nazareth, where the Queen of Heaven, the celestial King Jesus and Saint Joseph were in possession of and lived in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. So that this kingdom is not estranged to the earth: the house of Nazareth, the family that lived in it belonged to this kingdom and they held it in full vigor... (May 31, 1931)
Joseph lived in this Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth in a very deep way that he was totally eclipsed (has become nothing like Our Lady) and totally inundated or filled with God's attributes or reflections. The 25th day meditation of the "Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will" of the servant of God Luisa Piccarreta about St Joseph being eclipsed and inundated by the seas of the attributes of Jesus and Mary states:
...Now, you must know that for your Mama, for dear and sweet Jesus, and for Saint Joseph, the little house of Nazareth was a Paradise. Being the Eternal Word, my dear Son possessed the Divine Will within Himself, of His own virtue; immense seas of light, of sanctity, of joys and of infinite beauty resided in that little Humanity. I possessed the Divine Will by grace; and even though I could not embrace immensity, as did beloved Jesus – because He was God and Man, and I was always His finite creature – yet, in spite of this, the Divine Fiat filled Me so much, having formed Its seas of light, of sanctity, of love, of beauties and of happinesses; and the light, the love and everything that a Divine Will can possess, which came out of Us, were so great that Saint Joseph remained eclipsed, inundated, and lived of our reflections.
St Joseph was living and dwelling in the heart of the House of Nazareth, which is the heart of the Kingdom of the Divine Will. St Joseph was totally eclipsed or darkened and inundated by these seas so that he can become a pure mirror or reflector of these seas of the Divine Will in a hidden manner to Luisa and others. In the same manner in which Our Lady is the Dark Lady (Black Madonna) and the Night (Lilah) in order to perfectly reflect the Divine Light so does the darkened or eclipsed Joseph. Our Lady was always dark and inundated or full of grace whereas Joseph had to be darkened (as he was not immaculately conceived) in order to be inundated or filled.Dear child, in this house of Nazareth, the Kingdom of the Divine Will was in full force. Every little act of ours – that is, working, starting the fire, preparing the food – were all animated by the Supreme Volition, and were formed on the solidity of the sanctity of pure love. Therefore, from the littlest to the greatest of our acts, immense joys, happinesses and beatitudes were unleashed. And we remained so inundated as to feel ourselves as though under a pouring rain of new joys and indescribable contentments...
The mystery of the hidden and eclipsed state of St Joseph is connected to the mystery of the ''darkness over the face of the deep'' in Genesis 1. Jesus is that "face of /over the deep" and his infinite seas are the deep (the mystery of the Incarnation of the God-man). The darkness who is Joseph in Eternity is the protecting dark cloud hiding the mysteries of the Immaculate Conception and Incarnation from Satan and his angels. St Joseph as the Shadow of the Father also hides in his darkness the "synergy" of the Spirit of God and Our Lady who is the "face over the waters" (the created seas of the attributes (love, mercy etc) which is the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception).
No one, including Luisa Piccarreta, can receive a grace that gives them access to a greater sanctity than Jesus, Mary or Joseph. Luisa can only attain such a sanctity as the grace of living in Divine Will on earth through her union with, in and through Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Kingdom of the Divine Will is the Holy House of Nazareth in which Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in Divine Will on earth (this was heaven or paradise on earth restored). Luisa and all those who follow her in receiving the grace of living in Divine Will can only enter the Kingdom of the Divine Will through entering in a spiritual and mystical manner the Holy House of Nazareth. Luisa also confirms the role of Joseph in her childhood Memories notebook. Jesus told her:
St Jospeh is the Hidden Tzaddik (Righteous or Just One) that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov often refers to cryptically in his writings. Rebbe Nachman (1772-1810) is one of the greatest mystics and teachers of Hasidism in Jewish history:“My daughter, your life must be hidden with Us in the House of Nazareth. If you work, if you pray, if you eat, if you walk, you must give one hand to Me, the other to our Mother; and look at St Joseph to see if your acts are like Ours.
Then you will be able to say, ‘I make a model of what Jesus, my heavenly Mother and St Joseph do. Then, I copy it.’ I want to repeat My hidden Life in you according to the model you have made. In you I want to find the works of my Mother and St Joseph, as well as My own works...
...My daughter, take heart, don’t be discouraged. If you don’t know how to do something, ask Me to teach you and I’ll do it right away. I’ll speak to you of Our actions, Our intentions, and Our constant Love. I’ll show you how I, like sea, and they, like two rivers, overflowed into each other; that We didn’t have much time to talk, since Love absorbed us so much. See how far behind Us you are? You must work hard to catch up to Us. I don’t want you behind, but with Us; so be silent and pay attention for I do not want you to be behind Us but in Our midst.”
"And all this is an aspect of "The Concealment", when the beauty and splendour of the whole world becomes concealed. However there is a Tzaddik who is beauty, splendour and grace of the entire world, and who is symbolised by Joseph, who was "beautiful in form and handsome" (Genesis 39:6), "a beautiful sight, the joy of the entire land" (Psalm 48:3). When the beauty and splendour of this genuine Tzaddik, who is symbolised by Joseph, is revealed in the world by becoming renowned and esteemed, then the eyes of mankind will be opened. And whoever is included in the genuine grace of this Tzaddik, the world's grace and beauty, by following him and surrending his self to become part of this Tzaddik's soul, will have his eyes opened, and he will be able to see." (Likutey Moharan I: 67)
St Isadore of Seville stated that the full glories of St Joseph will not be revealed unto the latter days. It is also interesting that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov alludes to St Joseph in regards to the four temperaments or character traits of melancolic, choleric, sanguine and phlegmatic.
"...since this Tzaddik represents the source of the four basic character straits, and as such stands above them, the eyes of whoever becomes close to him and becomes part of his genuine grace will become opened, to be able objectively look into himself and to see how he is faring in each of them. That person becomes part of the beauty of God's world, by virtue of the splendour of the hidden Tzaddik having been revealed to him. Further more, as a result of one's eyes having been opened by the splendour of the genuine Tzaddik being revealed, one will also be able to see and behold the greatness of God and the Awesomeness of His world. The reason for this is that when this Tzaddik becomes revealed and renowned, he "gets a name" - becomes famous- in the world. Hidden within this name of the Tzaddik is the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, for His Name is intimately bound with ours (Yerushalmi, Taanit 2). Thus, when and to the extent that the "name" of that Tzaddik becomes esteemed, so does God's Name become all the more esteemed."Rebbe Nachman concludes Likutey Moharan I: 67 with:
"And with this we return to BeREShYT, the beginning, the RoeSh BaYiT, the head and master of the house of the world, namely, the genuine Tzaddik, who is beauty and glory of the world, represented by Joseph, alluded to in the verse, "Joseph is the ruler...he supplies food..." (Genesis 42:6), because he is the RoeSh BaYiT, the master of the house of the world. For he is the one who maintains the Temple and every Jewish house and home...And when the name of this Tzadik, who represents the head of the house, becomes esteemed, the eyes of the Jewish people are opened, as above. So this is the connection of "bereshit' to "l'einei kol Yisrael". Bereshit- this is the master of the house, the Tzaddik, who is the glory of the world, through whom are opened "einei kol Yisael", the eyes of all the Jewish people."
This seems to say that when St Joseph is revealed in all his glories then the time of the veil being removed from the eyes of the Jews will occur in fulfillment of Romans 11 and all Israel will be saved.
Rebbe Nachman’s teaching has many layers of meaning and he reveals many different aspects of the concepts of Joseph. Joseph is the firstborn of the Chayot associated with the ox or oxen (also unicorns). He represents one of the four minds in the Temple.
A ‘Joseph’ is one who gazes and sees the inner meaning of all created things. Joseph the Patriarch was one such gazer of secrets, as were St Joseph the Tzaddik and St Joseph of Arimathea. The ultimate Joseph in Jewish thought is the Messiah son of Joseph who the Christians call Jesus son of Joseph.
The Four Minds in the Temple are represented by the four Cherubim in the Temple. Two of the Cherubim being the golden male and female children on the Ark of the Covenant; and the other two Cherubim being of olive wood overlaid with gold that stand on either side of the Ark. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov discusses the mystery of these Four Minds in Likutey I:67. This mystery of Joseph is connected to the Four Minds in the Temple which are also represented by the four chambers of the Head tefillin according to Rebbe Nachman.
"And all this is a manifestation of Mind, because the very first thing to arise from the four letters of God's Name are the Four Minds, alluded to in the verse " I have filled [Betzalel]with a Divine spirit- with Wisdom, Understanding, knowledge and with all craftsmanship" (Exodus 31:2). Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge and Craftsmanship are symbolic of the four Minds (Tikuney Zohar introduction)..."
Wisdom represents the Mind that is Mashiach (Messiah) ben (son of) Joseph and his mission, then in salvation history comes the mission of the Mind who is the Sabbath Queen who is the Mother of the Mashiach , then comes the mission of the Mind who is the Tzadikess (the Righteous woman) who is to reveal the Knowledge of Living in the Divine Will and finally to complete the mission comes the Mind who is the Hidden Tzaddik Joseph as the craftsman of God. St Joseph's mission is still partially hidden until the time of the full revelation of the glories of Joseph. Then will the Jews embrace in fullness the Kingdom of the Divine Will under the patronage of St.Joseph. Thus the work that St Joseph was doing was the work of living in the Divine Will which manifested outwardly as his work as a master craftsman in the village of Nazareth.