When eight days had passed, and the boy must be circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name which the
angel had given him before ever he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2; 21)

Joseph teaches us to deal confidently with the Word made flesh. St. Teresa of Avila reveals her great love for
the patriarch. She tells us her personal experience:

I took for my advocate and lord the glorious St. Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I
found that this father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other and greater
troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I
could ask from him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything from him which he
has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this
blessed saint... I beg for the love of God that any- one who does not believe me will put what I say to the
test, and he will see by experience what great advantages come from his commending himself to this
glorious patriarch and having devotion to him. Those who practice prayer should have a special
affection for him always. I do not know how anyone can think of the queen of the angels, during the
time that she suffered so much with the child Jesus, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for the way he
helped them. If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as
his master, and he will not go astray.