Congregation of Jesus Mary Joseph

The Feast of the Holy Family

Although the Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated on the last Sunday of the year, we can still fruitfully reflect on Fr. Wolff’s teachings on the Holy Family.
The following reflections on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are taken from the Handbook for the Novices, written in 1923 by Dekkers, the Rector of Marienburg.

“We must always live, in a spiritual manner, in the company of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, as the illustrious and significant name of our Congregation already indicates. And therefore, we must strive as zealously as possible after perfection. How holy must have been the home-life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! They always spoke of God and of Divine things. Never a complaint! They were always satisfied and content with God’s Holy Will!”(Grondregels, 416.)
“I must always have before my eyes the example of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and diligently follow it to become perfect.” (Grondregels,48.)

“Jesus Christ is the Son of God, True God of True God. He is our Hope, our Trust , our Life, our Salvation, our Knowledge, our Wisdom, our Light, our Strength, our King, our Teacher, our Intercessor, our Support, our Redeemer, our Saviour, our Physician, our Healer, our Counsellor, our Greatest. Friend, our Guide and Companion, our Brother, our Recourse in times of need, the Food of our souls, our Joy, our Glory, and our Eternal Reward!” (Grondregels, 237-378)
How holily, therefore, we must live in the company of such a lovable and infinitely perfect Bridegroom and Brother!
Fr. Wolff invites each sister of JMJ to reflect on the following about Mary:

“I am in the holy company of Mary, the perfect Mother; but am I also a perfect daughter of such an exalted Mother? In the Blessed Virgin Mary, the virtues of other saints are found, but more perfect and in a much more exalted degree. In her excels the purity of the Angels, but much more perfectly, because she had a body, which she kept completely under the control of the reason and of the law of God. In her excels the steadfastness of the Martyrs, but in a much more perfect manner, whereas the sword pierced the bodies of the Saints, it had, according to the prophecy of Simeon, pierced through the soul of Mary, especially when, at the foot of the Cross of her beloved Son, Jesus. In her excels the wisdom of Doctors, but much more excellently, for she was full of grace, and completely submissive to the guidance of the Holy Ghost. In her excels the moderation of Confessors, but much more extensively and nobly; for she was born of the most renowned family in the world, but by God’s permission, had to live in great poverty, so that she was not even admitted into an inn at Bethlehem. In her excels the obedience of the religious, but much more perfectly, and in much more difficult things; for she did not reason, but did everything that God asked of her; during the Flight into Egypt, as well as in the time of the sufferings of her beloved Son, she was content with God’s Will. In her excels the sanctity of all Saints, in which she far surpassed them; for she was free from original sin, and she never committed a sin. In that she cooperated, with God’s Grace as much as a person in the world can cooperate, and gained by that as many merits as was possible. What wonder then, that she is so exalted in glory? Oh, what a virtuous, holy, and exalted Mother have I! How I must try to follow her virtuous life with all the strength of my soul!” (Grondregels,303, 384)

“What great grace have I not received, that I am called to the holy Society of a Mother, so excellent, and so exalted in all sanctity? It is my duty to follow this holy Virgin in my cooperation with the grace of my vocation, and to make more progress each day in virtue.” (F. Wolff. 338)

Fr. Wolff invites each sister of JMJ to reflect on the figure of Joseph in the following way:
“How holy St. Joseph must have been, since the Heavenly Father chose him above thousands of others, to be the foster-father of His beloved Son, and as a consoler and helper in all the needs of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. A man, who from his youth had sanctified himself by the vow of chastity, as we learn from tradition; a man who was just, as the Holy Gospel expressly records thus of a great Saint. What a happiness for me to belong to the Society of such a great Saint! How much must I not honour him as father? and how much must I not exert myself by real sanctity and continual mortification to make myself worthy to remain a daughter of such a great saint?” (Grondregels, 416)
As we hold these words of our Founder in our hearts, let us allow the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) to speak to our own life, our vocation, and our daily living.

If Jesus is my Brother, Mary is my Mother, and Joseph is my Father, how am I living my life as an extended member of the Holy Family? - and what one concrete step is God asking of me today to grow in real sanctity and interior freedom?