Who can ever understand how great he (St. Joseph) had to be in this virtue of virginity who was destined by the Eternal Father to be the guardian, or rather the companion, of Mary’s virginity? St. Francis of Sales
In the Litany of Loreto, Mary is called “Mother Most Chaste”. In the Litany of St. Joseph, our spiritual father is called “Most Chaste” as well. No other saints can be invoked as the most chaste, just, prudent, courageous, obedient, faithful, or any other virtue. Mary and St. Joseph together share these superlative qualities, in part, because their hearts as husband and wife are one.
“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk 12:34). Saint Joseph has three treasures: Jesus, Mary, and you. Nothing consumes the heart of St. Joseph other than these three treasures. The heart of St. Joseph is the heart of a loving father, and you have access to his heart. The Chaste Heart of St. Joseph is your home.
In Catholicism, when we speak of devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we are essentially referring to devotion to the personhood of Jesus and Mary. We love the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts -and often depict them in art- because we love the persons of Jesus and Mary.
While devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is well established in the Church -each having liturgical feasts days- devotion to the heart of St. Joseph has not fully develop in the Church. Perhaps there will one day be a liturgical feast honoring St. Joseph’s heart, but only God knows the future. Whether it happens or not, all children desire a father whose heart (person) is strong, protective, and gentle.
Saint Joseph has such a heart. He has the heart of a father, a king, a warrior, and a chaste gentleman. His chaste heart beats with love for you.
Saint Joseph will help you have a chaste heart. Lust is the predominant vice at work in the hearts of men today. The world is filled with immoral and lust-filled actions. These actions greatly offend God, ruin families, and cry out to heaven for justice. Did not Our Lady warn St. Jacinta of Fatima that many souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh?
In the battle of purity, everyone needs to go to St. Joseph. If a man -or a woman- struggles with lust, they must go to St. Joseph. If temptations against purity batter your mind, heart, and soul, run to your spiritual father.
Cling to St. Joseph! Your spiritual father is capable of increasing the virtue of chastity in your heart and leading you to true, virtuous love of God and neighbor. You will be victorious against lust and triumphant over sin if you take refuge beneath the fatherly cloak of St. Joseph. Prayer is difficult when you are assailed with temptations against purity, but St. Joseph will fight for you if only you invoke his holy name.
Men, in particular, need to imitate the chaste heart of St. Joseph. The world needs men who love their wives as St. Joseph loved Mary. If men reverence their wives as holy temples, families will be renewed, dragons will be slain, and the evils of our age the attack the dignity of the human person will be overcome. The imitation of St. Joseph will spread a revolution of holiness over the earth.
That God may be more favorable to our prayers, and that he may come with bounty and promptitude to the aid of his Church, we judge it of deep utility for the Christian people, continually to invoke with great piety and trust, together with the Virgin-Mother of God, her chaste spouse, the Blessed Joseph. Pope Leo XIII