The Most Chaste Heart Of St. Joseph


The history behind the devotion and image of the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph is limited and brief.

The Development of the Devotion

St. John Eudes (1601-1680 AD) played a significant role in spreading devotion to the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph. This development also included the "Slaves of the Heart of St. Joseph" (1744) and the Pious Union of the Most Pure Heart of St. Joseph (1846).

The Image and Its Inspiration

The image of the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph was likely inspired by depictions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Initially, it appeared on prayer cards and in some paintings before largely fading into obscurity. However, with Father Donald Calloway's Consecration to Saint Joseph, interest in images of St. Joseph's Chaste Heart and his title "Terror of Demons" has surged.

Understanding the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph

St. Joseph's Chaste Heart is a visual representation of his pure and protective heart as a loving husband and father. He is also recognized as the Guardian of the Virgin Queen and the Son of God (the boy who would be King). St. Joseph possesses the chivalrous heart of a knight.


While the Bible doesn't explicitly point to the Heart of St. Joseph in the same way scripture symbolically refers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we can look to King David as a reflection not only of Christ Jesus but also of St. Joseph. The Bible describes David as "a man after the heart of God," which perfectly describes St. Joseph (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22).

The First Wednesdays Devotion

There's a devotion to St. Joseph similar to the First Nine Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the First Five Saturdays in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary: the First Nine Wednesdays in honor of the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph.

The First Wednesdays devotion is not as widely known, and purported supernatural requests for this devotion, allegedly by St. Joseph, are taken from various private revelations, none of which appear to be officially approved by the Church. Nonetheless, some people partake in this private devotion in honor of St. Joseph's peaceful death in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Wednesday was traditionally reserved for St. Joseph in the old calendar of the Traditional Latin Mass. This commemoration on Wednesdays in the Western Latin Church symbolized St. Joseph's role in bridging the Old Testament to the New Testament, much like Wednesday bridges the beginning and end of the week.

St. Joseph in Eastern Christianity 

Devotion to St. Joseph in Eastern Catholicism and Eastern or Oriental Orthodox Christianity is not as widely practiced, popular, or numerous in prayers and devotions as it is in the Roman Catholic Church. Eastern Christian spirituality is ascetic in nature and primarily liturgical. Consequently, there aren't as many innumerable prayers and devotions to the Theotokos or St. Joseph as found in the Latin Church. This is not a negative point or a complaint; rather, it highlights the Christian East's strength in its minimalism. It is generally easier to navigate an ascetic life and prayer rule in Eastern Catholicism than in the Latin Church.

Conversely, the strength of the Christian West lies in its diversity, with numerous "heavenly treasures" found in the many devotions of the Latin Church. Many Eastern Catholic Churches have adopted some of these Latinizations, such as May and June devotions being dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Rosary is another Latin devotion adopted by some Eastern Churches, like the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. However, Latinizations are generally discouraged due to past abuses in the United States of America. Furthermore, the Second Vatican Council explicitly directed the Eastern Churches to embrace their own unique spirituality and theology.

St. John Chrysostom, one of the Christian East's most beloved Patristic Fathers and author of the Divine Liturgy, wrote about St. Joseph in his Homilies on Matthew. In the Eastern Church, on the Sunday after the Nativity of Christ (Christmas), the Feast of St. Joseph the Betrothed is celebrated, and the Akathist of St. Joseph is chanted. This Akathist can be used in both liturgical and private prayer.

In the East, the emphasis on St. Joseph's marriage to the Virgin Mary is highlighted over his occupation as a carpenter and his patronage of workers. There are icons depicting St. Joseph as St. Joseph the Betrothed or as part of the Holy Family.

Regardless of how Christians express their ecclesiology, devotion to St. Joseph is for everyone, at all times.


Act of Consecration to the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph

O Glorious Patriarch and Patron of the Catholic Church! O Virgin Spouse of God, and guardian and foster father of the Incarnate Word! In the presence of Jesus and Mary, I choose thee this day to be my guardian and father.

O thou whom God has constituted Head of the Holy Family, accept me, I beseech thee, though utterly unworthy, to be a poor little servant in thy holy house. Present me to thy Immaculate Spouse, ask her also to accept me as a servant and to adopt me as a child. With her, teach me, thou who art a master of the interior life, how to converse constantly with Jesus and how to serve Him faithfully in all things to the end of my life.

To thy custody was committed the Living Bread of Heaven, to be dispensed to thy starving brethren. O, with Mary help me to prepare the poor stable of my heart to receive, worthily and often, the Bread of my salvation. Let me receive it from thy hands and from those of Mary, as often as I approach the Holy Table.

O my tender and watchful father, I hereby consecrate myself to thee; and I firmly purpose and resolve never to leave thee, and never to say or do anything, nor to suffer anyone under my charge to say or do anything, against thy honor! O thou head of the house of God upon earth, in faithful imitation of Jesus and Mary, I place myself and all my concerns under thy care and protection. To thee, after Jesus and Mary, I consecrate my body and soul with all their faculties, my spiritual progress, my home, and all my affairs and undertakings.

Forsake me not, but adopt me as a servant and a child of the Holy Family. Watch over me at all times, but especially in the last awful hour of my life on earth: then visit, console, and strengthen me with Jesus and Mary, that with them and thee I may sing the praises of the adorable Trinity for all eternity.

Amen

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