By Jacqueline Kelly –
Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ and the spouse of Mother Mary was born in Bethlehem, West Bank and died in Nazareth, Israel. He had a sister, Mary of Clopas.
Saint Joseph is venerated in the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglicanism and Lutheranism. Pope Pius IX declared him as the Patron and Protector of the Catholic Church.
Saint Joseph is regarded as the Patron Saint of Workers, the sick and the dead, due to the belief that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mother Mary. He is also a model for fathers and a patron of various dioceses and places. [Universal Church]. He is associated with lilies or a spikenard. The theological field of Josephology has grown and centres for studying it have been formed.
The cincture or cord , like the one Priests wear at Mass, is a sign of chastity, and has been since the Church’s beginning and before. Old Testament priests wore cinctures, consecrated Virgins and religious wear cinctures as a sign and emblem of purity, and hence it has always been considered a symbol of chastity, mortification and humility.
The wearing of cinctures in honour of a particular Saint is ancient, first spoken of in the life of Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, and carried on by Saint Dominic, who wore a cincture in honour of Saint Francis. Certain Confraternities and Arch-confraternities [groups of faithful devoted to a religious cause] also wear cinctures as signs of their affiliation and chastity.
The cincture [called in England, the girdle] is a rope-like or ribbon-like article of liturgical attire which has been recognized since the 9th century. It was used to confine the loose, flowing alb and prevent it from impeding the movements of the wearer. It was used to encircle the body around or above the waist. It symbolizes chastity. There are two types of cinctures: One is a rope-like narrow girdle or rope-like belt around the waist. The other liturgical vestment is a broad ribbon or cloth that runs around the waist and usually has a section that hangs down from the waist which is a rope-like cord with tassled or knotted ends. This is called a “band cincture”. In the Graeco-Roman world and the Orthodox Church the cincture was like a belt referred to as a “Zone”.
The devotion of the Cord of Saint Joseph originated in a small town in the City of Antwerp, Belgium, in the year 1639. Sister Elizabeth, a religious of the Order of St. Augustine, being dangerously ill with a mysterious and painful sickness, was recommended to her physicians who gave up hope. As a strong devotee of Saint Joseph, she prayed to him to cure her, causing a cord to be blessed in honour of the holy patriarch. She put it on as a cincture and found herself suddenly restored to health.
A Protestant doctor assessed her case and proclaimed her cure to be miraculous. Almost 200 years later, the miracle was publicized in Verona, Italy and in March, 1842, this devotional cord was adopted by a hospital in Verona and distributed to its patients.
The Cord of St. Joseph was approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on September 15, 1859, and enriched by Pope Pius IX with many indulgences, both plenary and partial. It is made of white thread or cotton, having at one end seven knots in remembrance of the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows of Saint Joseph.
The white cord is piously used not only as a remedy against physical ailments, but as a support in living the virtues of chastity and purity of heart. Young people, especially, would benefit from St. Joseph’s Cincture! We need to be reminded of the importance of chastity, especially now, when sexual decadence is all around us.
It is worn as a girdle for purity or chastity and humility and around the shoulders for obedience. It has to be blessed by a Priest with the faculties for this blessing. Pope Pius IX approved of a special formula for the blessing of the cord of Saint Joseph.
The devotion of wearing this cincture spread, and soon became associated with the Arch confraternity of Saint Joseph, whose headquarters were at the Church of San Rocco in Rome. The American “branch” of this Arch confraternity, by decree of Pope Leo XIII in 1892, is a St. Joseph’s Church in De Pere, Wisconsin, which was staffed by the Norbertines. In order to gain the indulgences attached to the wearing of St. Joseph’s Cord, one must be attached to this Arch confraternity of St. Joseph.
Otherwise, and as is more common, one may wear the cord simply in honour of St. Joseph and for the following graces:
a] St. Joseph’s special protection
b] The grace of chastity and purity of soul
c] Final perseverance
d] St. Joseph’s particular assistance at the hour of death.
St. Joseph is proposed as a model and protector of the Working Class. In him, the Carpenter of Nazareth, we see human work ennobled and sanctified.
Good Saint Joseph, our guide, protect us, protect the Holy Church.
Go to Joseph
Go to Joseph
In thy joys thou wilt
Rejoice the more:Go to Joseph
In thy griefs when
Death knocks at thy door.Go to Joseph
No matter when!
Thy refuge he will beHe holds the key of Jesus Heart
It’s treasures are for thee!