The Sorrows and Joys of Saint Joseph

The child Jesus leaning into Saint Joseph for security. Source unknown to the author of this blog.

 

Reason

During an email exchange with a priest acquaintance of mine, I shared with him my first hymn to Saint Joseph, and he mentioned that he and his friend were looking to write one on the topic of the Seven Sorrows and Joys of Saint Joseph. I had not heard from him in a while, and I thought the topic interesting for a hymn, but to my knowledge, not much more came of it.

Due to the winter storms in Texas in February this year, the house we were renting had burst pipes in several places, causing the ceiling to collapse in four different rooms. With the house flooded and most of our belongings damaged, we were living out of a hotel for one month. During that time, I asked Saint Joseph to help us quickly find a new place to stay, as our landlord let us out of the lease due to the damage in the house. I promised Saint Joseph that if he were to help us find a house quickly, I would write him a hymn on the topic of his seven sorrows and joys. The move-in date for a new lease on a new property was March 19th, his feastday. This is the poem I wrote in fulfillment of that promise. It is meant to be sung to the tune Lancashire, by Henry T. Smart (1836). The text is now under copyright through the Library of Congress.

Hymn Text

1.  O Joseph, man of silence, how heavy was thy care
When thou didst find the Virgin, by God a Son to bear.
Thy sorrow turned to joy when, at the angel’s command,
Thou welcomed her to thy home and took her sweetest hand.

2.  O Joseph, man of duty, how saddened was thy heart
When thou couldst find no dwelling, e’en though thou didst thy part;
And Christ was born in stable so lowly, crude, and bare,
But great thy joy to greet Him as angels sang Him there.

3.  O Joseph, man obedient to all the angel said,
Who, at His circumcision, witnessed His first Blood shed –
A vision of the Passion gave sorrow to thy soul,
But great thy joy when naming “Jesus” the Infant Lord.

4.  O Joseph, mighty ruler of Holy Family,
Thy sorrow was the greatest upon the prophecy
That Christ would suffer greatly and Mary’s soul pierced through,
But great thy joy to hear Christ as Light and Glory, too.

5.  O Joseph, faithful guardian of Christ, the Bread of Life,
Thou savedst God the Savior from Herod’s wicked strife;
Thy sorrow at this hatred towards God the King of all
Was turned to joy when thou didst see Egypt’s idols fall.

6.  O Joseph, man of vision, from exile to return,
The cruél Archelaus was ruling in his turn;
How great thy joy in hearing to go to Nazareth,
Where thy delight was home life until thy blesséd death.

7.  O Joseph, man of patience, how sorely wast thou tried
When thou didst lose the Christ Child, and sought the Lord to find.
How great thy joy, Him finding, and thou wast filled with awe
At Christ teaching in wisdom the doctors of the Law.

© 2021 David Varella