WASHINGTON (CNS) — Marian Father Donald Calloway believes the Holy Spirit wants to draw Catholics’ attention to St. Joseph, husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus, “in a major way.”
“We need to entrust ourselves to
his spiritual care at this very difficult time in the world and in the Church,”
the priest told Catholic News Service.
‘Consecration to St. Joseph’
Author: Fr. Don Calloway, MIC Publisher: Marian Press Length: 320 pp. Release Date: Jan. 1, 2020 Cost: $14.95 ($9.95 e-book) Promo code “Calloway” to receive 15% discount.
“Today the Church is dealing with
anthropological crises in the world,” he said. “Many countries are seeking to
redefine marriage, men do not understand what it means to be a family, women do
not understand what it means to be a woman, divorce rates are at an all-time
high, and families are falling apart everywhere.”
“We need his loving and strong
fatherhood to help us return order to our homes,” Fr. Calloway added.
To that end he is urging individuals, couples, groups, schools, parishes, dioceses and the entire Church to consecrate themselves to St. Joseph.
“In ages past whenever there was
some difficulty the Church was involved in, popes and saints would turn to Our
Lady as a remedy,” he explained. “This remains necessary for our times as well,
of course, but today when so many families lack a father, scandals among clergy
— our spiritual fathers — have occurred in the Church, we need to look to St.
Joseph for answers.”
In his new book, “Consecration to
St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father,” published by Marian Press,
Fr. Calloway outlines a 33-day preparation period in Part 1, includes several
readings on the “Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” in Part 2 and several prayers
to St. Joseph in Part 3.
“Everything that is needed for an
individual and a group program is contained in the one book. There are no
additional manuals, workbooks, prayer books or videos,” he said.
Fr. Calloway, who is vicar
provincial for his order in the United States, the Marian Fathers of the
Immaculate Conception, told CNS the demand for his book is “off the charts,”
with 40,000 copies selling out in six weeks; 80,000 more are being printed.
Spanish, French and Polish translations “are in the works” and he’s received
requests for Italian and Arabic versions.
“All for St. Joseph! Something very big is happening!” he told CNS. He also has a website and a 33-part series of one-minute videos launched on YouTube Feb. 16.
And there’s more. To date at least three
U.S. bishops have declared a Year of St. Joseph for their dioceses for this
year: Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte, North Carolina; Bishop David L.
Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette,
Louisiana.
This illustration highlights several dates and feast days that Marian Father Donald Calloway, center, suggests Catholics consider when planning a 33-day “Consecration to St. Joseph.” Fr. Calloway is vicar provincial and vocation director for the Mother of Mercy Province of his order, the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. (CNS, courtesy of Fr. Donald H. Calloway, MIC)
It’s for all these reasons he
thinks the Holy Spirit wants Catholics to focus on St. Joseph. “This is
spreading like wildfire,” remarked Fr. Calloway, who lives in Steubenville,
Ohio.
He said Catholics need only
consider the many titles St. Joseph has to see why he is the role model for
these times. He is the head of the Holy Family of course, but he also is called
“Pillar of Families,” “Glory of Domestic Life,” Guardian of Virgins” and “Terror
of Demons,” the priest said.
“He is still under appreciated
because most Catholics have the wrong impression of St. Joseph,” Fr. Calloway
said. “Most Catholics think he was an old man and previously married to another
woman — with other children from that marriage — before he espoused Our Lady.
These ideas are completely false and have never been the teaching of the
Church.
“What consecration to St. Joseph
seeks to do is give the faithful a true image of St. Joseph: a young, virginal,
and strong husband and father.”
This year marks the 150th
anniversary of Blessed Pius IX’s proclamation of St. Joseph as patron of the
Universal Church. The current pope has a special devotion to the man who raised
Jesus: “I love St. Joseph very much because he is a strong and silent man,”
Pope Francis has said.
In 2013, on March 19, the feast of
St. Joseph, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry.
In May of that year, by papal decree, the Vatican Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments instructed that the name of “St.
Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” be inserted into Eucharistic
Prayers II, III and IV of the Mass.
On Nov. 13, 1962, St. John XXIII
had inserted the name of St. Joseph into the first Eucharistic Prayer, which is
the Roman Canon.
“My greatest desire is for the pope
to declare a Year of St. Joseph for the entire Church,” Fr. Calloway told CNS. “I
wrote the pope a personal letter last year about this and it was hand-delivered
to him by a bishop from Argentina. Thus, I know he is aware of this petition.
Let’s pray he does it! This would be an extraordinary grace for the Church.”
He noted that Servant of God
Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, the longest-lived visionary of the Fatima
apparitions, once said the final battle between good and evil will be fought
over marriage and the family.
“This battle is raging today. What
better person to call on than our spiritual father who has been given the title
‘Terror of Demons?’” said Fr. Calloway. “The great St. Joseph once protected
the child Jesus from the wicked intentions of Herod, so he is more than able to
protect us in the difficulties we find ourselves in today.”