Pope St. John Paul II—Redemptoris Custos: On the Person and Mission of St. Joseph in the Life of Christ and of the Church
By James T. Majewski ( bio - articles - email ) | May 01, 2021 | In Catholic Culture Audiobooks (Podcast)
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“...at the moment of Joseph’s own ‘annunciation’ he said nothing; instead he simply ‘did as the angel of the Lord commanded him’. And this first ‘doing’ became the beginning of ‘Joseph’s way’. The Gospels do not record any word ever spoken by Joseph along that way. But the silence of Joseph has its own special eloquence...”
On August 15th, 1889, Pope Leo XIII promulgated the encyclical letter Quamquam Pluries on devotion to St. Joseph. 100 years later, on August 15th, 1989—and only two years after the release of his great Marian encyclical, Redemptoris Mater, “Mother of the Redeemer”—Pope St. John Paul II gave his apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos, “Guardian of the Redeemer”, on the person and mission of St. Joseph in the life of Christ and of the Church.
This being the Year of St. Joseph, and today being the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we’re pleased to release our reading of this exhortation in its entirety.
“It is my heartfelt wish,” St. John Paul writes, “that these reflections on the person of St. Joseph will renew in us the prayerful devotion which my Predecessor called for a century ago. Our prayers and the very person of Joseph have renewed significance for the Church in our day.”
St. Joseph the Worker, Guardian of the Redeemer—pray for us!
Links
Redemptoris Custos Full text: http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_15081989_redemptoris-custos.html
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James T. Majewski is Director of Customer Relations for CatholicCulture.org, the “voice” of Catholic Culture Audiobooks, and co-host of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Based in New York City, he holds both a BA in Philosophy and an MFA in Acting. See full bio.
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