Wonder Worker even in Slumber - The devotion to the Sleeping St. Joseph in the Philippines

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Sleeping St. Joseph of the Diocesan Shrine of St. Joseph in Anonas, Quezon City

During the recent Papal Visit of our current Pontiff, Pope Francis in 2015, Our Holy Father unconsciously sparked a new devotion to the  Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Foster Father of Jesus - St Joseph, this time in his sleep. It might be unusual, however when Pope Francis revealed this seemingly little information on his spiritual life, it created a massive effect to the Filipino faithful that as soon as the Papal Visit ended, almost every religious store where a plethora of images of the Sleeping St. Joseph are available were immediately sold out and these images are now seen in numerous altars, rooms, cars, chapel, churches and shrines in every part of the country.

Le songe de saint Joseph at Cathédrale Notre
Dame-et-Saint-Castor de Nîmes, France
But how this devotion began, how it came to be and what were the effects of this devotion?

Scriptural Basis

The devotion to the Sleeping St. Joseph was somehow rooted from Scriptures. In the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, they have individual accounts were during St. Joseph's sleep, the Archangel Gabriel would visit him to give messages and warnings. First was when he was about to quietly call off their betrothal with the Blessed Virgin Mary, after  discovering her pregnancy, the Archangel revealed the plan of God that Mary will be the Mother of the Redeemer as the fulfillment of the prophecy by the Prophet Isiah where the Messiah will be born from a Virgin. Another instance is that were the angel visited him in his sleep again, this time to warn the Holy Family about the evil plot of King Herod to kill the Infant Jesus and must immediately flee to Egypt.

The Origin of the Devotion

There were scant records on how the devotion to Sleeping St. Joseph began. However, there were numerous artworks in that are seen in Europe and Latin America depicts the slumber of St. Joseph.

The Pope's speech that started it all

On January 16, 2015, during his second day of his Papal Visit in the Philippines, Pope Francis revealed in his address the families at the SM Mall of Asia Arena :

“The Scriptures seldom speak of Saint Joseph, but when they do, we often find him resting, as an angel reveals God’s will to him in his dreams.  In the Gospel passage we have just heard, we find Joseph resting not once, but twice.  This evening I would like to rest in the Lord with all of you, and to reflect with you on the gift of the family.

 Joseph’s rest revealed God’s will to him.  In this moment of rest in the Lord, as we pause from our many daily obligations and activities, God is also speaking to us.

 I would like to tell you something very personal. I like St Joseph very much. He is a strong man of silence. On my desk I have a statue of St Joseph sleeping. While sleeping he looks after the Church.  Yes, he can do it!  We know that. When I have a problem or a difficulty, I write on a piece of paper and I put it under his statue so he can dream about it. This means please pray to St Joseph for this problem."
The image of Sleeping St. Joseph in the desk of Pope Francis
Since that Papal address, the Filipino faithful immediately started to look for such image of St. Joseph and soon enough, production of such image came in vogue and when numerous religious stores in the country started to sell such image, it was proven to be a commercial success.

Several Churches and Shrines in the country soon commissioned images of Sleeping St. Joseph that will be placed in prayer chapels or in a specific area in the church where the faithful can place their petitions.

One of the earliest known parishes that enshrined an image of St. Joseph are the Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Parañaque City and the Diocesan Shrine of St. Joseph in Cubao, Quezon City. This move was proven to be popular and the rest of the Churches and Shrines in the country followed suit.

As of this writing, there is no official feast of the Sleeping St. Jospeh, however, some of the Filipino faithful commemorate this whenever the Gospel of St. Joseph's sleep falls on one of the Sundays of Advent or on one of the Masses of Simbang Gabi.

A reflection on the image 

In his homily, Fr. Rey Zerrudo, parish priest of San Jose Obrero Parish in Molo, Iloilo City, and professor of Biblical Studies in St. Joseph Regional Seminary, the image of the “Sleeping St. Joseph” should be understood in the context of the Gospel. Lest the faithful be misled as to the true message of the “Sleeping St. Joseph”, Fr. Zerrudo warned: “St. Joseph’s sleep is the well-deserved rest of a hard-working carpenter. It is not the sleep of the indolent or of a ‘Juan Tamad’ of local lore, who slept under a tree just to wait for the fruit to fall into his mouth.” He further explained that the rest of St. Joseph, although well-deserved, was not a time exclusively for himself. “In his sleep, St. Joseph dreamt and it was in the dream that he learned of God’s plan of which he acted upon immediately.”

As we end this blospost dedicated to the famed Sleeping St. Joseph, here a prayer that can be said if we will ask for his help, or maybe before we slip a piece of paper to place one's petitions:

Prayer to the Sleeping St. Joseph

 O St. Joseph, you are a man greatly favored by the Most High. The angel of the Lord appeared to you in dreas, while you slept to warn you and guide you as you cared for the Holy Family. You were both silent and strong, a loyal and courageous protector.

 Dear St. Joseph, as you rest in the Lord, confident of His absolute power and goodness, look upon me. Please make my need (mention your petition) into your heart, dream of it, and present it to your Son. Help me then,  Good St. Joseph, to hear the voice of God, to arise, and act with love, I praise and thank God with Joy. Amen.

 St. Joseph, pray for us!

References:

Cardenas, Mickey (2015), St. Joseph, patron of workers, not of sleepyheads, Retrieved from http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=55086 on December 5, 2017.
Francis, (2015), Message to families at SM MOA Arena, Retrieved from http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/01/17/1413935/full-text-pope-francis-message-families-moa-arena on December 10, 2017.
Hall, James, (1983), A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art, John Murray, London
Honner, Lucy (2017), Sleeping St. Joseph, Retrieved from https://rcspirituality.org/sleeping-st-joseph-weekly-message-for-3-14-17/ on December 5, 2017.
Pope Francis’ message about the devotion to sleeping St Joseph, Retrieved from http://sleepingstjoseph.algarr.com/pope-francis-message-about-devotion-to-sleeping-st-joseph/ on December 9, 2017.

Comments

  1. MilsJanuary 12, 2019 at 5:41 AM

    Where can I purchase this statue?
    Do you ship to Australia?

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 28, 2020 at 11:35 PM

    I love St Joseph, Terror of Demons, even while sleeping.

    ReplyDelete

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