ST JOSEPH'S SPRING AND ST JOSEPH'S SPLINTERS
Gaspard Ricard was a young shepherd, only 22 years-old, and he spent his days minding his flock on Mount Besillon, near the town of Cotignac in the South of France. T'was a sweltering summer in the year 1660. Young Gaspard was an ordinary French man and in his humility he did not expect that he was about to meet the Saint who God the Father had entrusted with His Son. Although, Gaspard was a shepherd and they are especially favored with heavenly visions.
One especially hot day, Gaspard drank his flask of water dry. In the debilitating heat, he found that he was dying of thirst. He didn't dare leave his livestock, that would have meant certain ruin. But he was dangerously dehydrated. Suddenly, a tall man who had a noble bearing came up to him, and said, "I am Joseph." There was a boulder near Gaspard and Joseph said, "Lift this rock and you shall drink." The order disturbed Gaspard who protested that he was not strong enough to move it. Joseph repeated, "Lift this rock." Gaspard handled the rock and to his amazement, he found that he rolled the rock with ease. At that very second, pure water spurted from the place where the rock had been stationed. Gaspard took his fill of water and turned to thank the man of regal bearing, but the man had disappeared.
The young shepherd was so astonished that he sped to the town of Cotignac and told the locals all that had happened. They were impressed by his sincerity and they followed him to the pasture where a spring was spurting pure water. Their attention was riveted by the boulder which they doubted Gaspard could have moved on his own. Their suspicions proved correct because it took 8 strong men to move it. Then it dawned on Gaspard that the tall man with the commanding presence was St Joseph!
News of this supernatural spring went all over France. Soon, people were traveling in their horses and buggies (this was the year 1660) from all over France to see this special spring. It was the site of miraculous healings, and I have tried to find accounts of such miracles, but to no avail. The healings of body and soul that were taking place at the spring became a national sensation, and they even impressed the King of France! King Louis XIV was inspired to consecrate the oldest daughter of the Church, la belle France to St Joseph and the King did so on March 19, 1661, only 9 months after St Joseph appeared to young Gaspard in June of 1660. I checked to see if St Joseph appeared on his day which is Wednesday, but he came to Gaspard on Monday, June 7th.
I find this account especially inspiring because it speaks to the intercession of St Joseph in a very concrete way, that the enormous boulder was - in normal circumstances - only moved by 8 men. Under St Joseph's direction, however, a solitary man Gaspard moved it easily on his own. Gaspard took an order from Joseph and the result was a supernatural spring that saved him from dehydration, was the site of miraculous healings and ultimately led the King to turn France into St Joseph's country. It shows that St Joseph makes arduous, onerous work easy. You and I may note that St Joseph did not relieve Gaspard of a task - lifting the rock - rather Joseph interceded to make the task feasible. Perhaps we need be open to taking orders from St Joseph, even when something is before us that feels impossible for us to accomplish on our own. With Joseph, you and I may move boulders on our own.
The account of the supernatural spring being uncovered when the boulder was rolled away calls to mind an event in my own life that actually shocked me a little and which I've been slow to share because I've needed time to make sense of it. We bought a coffee table from a master French artist - it is a slice of a tree trunk - which you may see in the photo below. It was an exceptionally heavy table and we found it during the time I was starting the year of 2021 with a novena to St Joseph. We could not lift it, and wondered how we would get it inside, and so as I was praying to St Joseph for big intentions, I asked him if he could help us get this weighty table inside our abode. Surely enough, a grace came two days later when there was a meeting at our place and a big group of men were able to move the table inside the house. It took these young, strapping men a lot of effort and their hands were all over the varnished wood.
But it was parked on our rug just in time for me to finish the 9th day of the novena to St Joseph. Immediately after offering the prayer, I sat down to have a black coffee (I like my coffee bitter). As my hands fluttered over the edge of the table to retrieve my cup, I felt 3 pin-pricks. Yes, 3. I stared at my hand and saw what looked like thick blond hairs pricking my fingers. Splinters. I stared in disbelief because I had fretted about praying to St Joseph because of what I had metaphorically referred to as...splinters. In years gone by, I had experienced unexpected suffering after the intercession of St Joseph, which because he was a carpenter I had thought it clever to call splinters. And just after I completed 9 days of prayer to St Joseph, I had splinters sticking out of my hand. No one else who handled the table had gotten splinters. We got it from Alex, a true perfectionist from Paris who is fastidious in making sure every single piece of furniture is sanded down to sublime smoothness and then a large group of men had put their hands on every side of the table so they could move it and none of them had been pricked by a splinter. It was almost as if St Joseph was saying to me, "You say to expect splinters when I answer a prayer, here are some splinters."
The splinters did not come out that easily, they were like long thorns and we needed all the light from our phones trained on my hand and a tweezers to take out the most stubborn one that had slipped into my thumb. To be fair though, I doubt I'd be writing this were there not witnesses because I could easily look like a liar. The splinters were a tiny suffering though, and it was like St Joseph was saying to me that I need not fear his splinters.
May I wish you and yours a very happy feast of St Joseph!
The account of the supernatural spring on Mount Bessillon was informed by Father Donald Calloway's Consecration to St Joseph which you may get in the Spirit Daily bookstore.
* * *
The classic painting of St Jospeh with the Child Jesus was executed by Anthoni Schoonjans.
In 2016 my mom and I were preparing to move from the east coast to the west. Our house was being foreclosed and we had to move in with a relative. Before leaving my mom was insistent I bury a statue of st joseph in our garden. We weren't selling the house but she insisted. So I took the small colorful statue and buried it in our muddy garden that cold october day. By evening I had forgotten completely about it since I was frantically trying to pack up the house and come to grips with these jarring changes in our life. About 9pm that night I was walking into the kitchen when suddenly st joseph in the EXACT image of the statue I had buried popped up in front of me!!! I was so shocked I almost fell because I nearly bumped into him!! I ran to tell my mother everything will be alright because st joseph will help us. I told her what happened and she was very excited. 2 days later the relative we were going to live with called to say the mortgage co were willing to give us $10,000 as a final payment for vacating!!! I was stunned. At most we were told maybe $3000 for moving expenses. The even more mysterious part is we had no idea where this colorful st joseph statue had come from. Mom thought I bought it and I thought she did. Everyone we asked said they hadn't. That's my st joseph story. I've heard many people say st joseph doesn't help people sell houses. But he sure helped us when we lost ours and needed some reassurance and comfort in our drastic lifestyle change. Thank You St Joseph!!! P.S. I've since learned the depiction of the statue is st joseph the worker. A close friend went to our house the following year and dug up our little statue washed it and sent it to us.He is now happily on our prayer table😊
ReplyDeleteDear T., This is simply amazing. Thank you for sharing your story with me and my readers. I think you and your Mom were right to bury a statue of St Joseph in the garden because this ensured he stayed on the property - out of sight - throughout the time that the house changed hands and I'm so glad that later he was restored to his rightful owners. It is truly a great grace that he interceded for you to get over three times the money you were expecting. I had dealings once with a mortgage company and they don't usually give a penny over what is absolutely necessary. God bless you for your devotion to Jesus's earthly father.
DeleteMany years ago, my Uncle who was an Augustinian Monk, had a flat tire on the Ohio turnpike. Because he was older with a heart condition, he was in no shape to change the tire by himself. My Uncle had a great devotion to St. Joseph and prayed to him constantly. Just then, an all white 18 wheeler tractor trailer pulled up in front of my Uncle. A thin man, slightly smaller in stature, with a beard, approached my Uncle and asked if he needed help. My Uncle was grateful. He said the man changed the tire extremely fast. My Uncle wanted to buy the man a meal or a cup of coffee to thank him for his kindness, but the man told him, no it's ok - just help someone else in need when you see them next time. At this they parted ways. As my Uncle started driving, he thought to himself that he should get the license plate from the truck so he can call the company and tell them how kind their driver was. My Uncle continued to speed up and drive faster and faster, but the truck had literally disappeared, which would have been impossible as there were no exits yet. As my Uncle pondered this puzzling situation - it hit him like a ton of bricks. The man who had stopped to help him was St. Joseph!! He realized the countenance of the man matched exactly what St. Joseph was depicted like. Truly amazing encounter
ReplyDeleteDear Ed, That is an awesome account of St Joseph coming to your uncle's aid. I'm touched that St Joseph wanted to be rewarded by your uncle doing the same charity for someone else. You are blessed to have had a holy Augustinian Monk in your family. Yours in Christ, Mary
DeleteThank you Mary. God Bless you!
DeleteMay 1st 2918
DeleteThe last week of April/first week of May was truly strange here. The weather is stuck somewhere between muggy summer and autumn. It has been raining a lot, and I had some celestial visit –I think– the last 1st of May, just as a friend of mine moved to Buenos Aires. She is recently retired, she also lost her husband of many years, and had to go through some serious surgery—all at once. Her first name is the Spanish word for a flower that is normally represented next to the images of St Joseph, also called “white lilies” in English. Those flowers are a symbol of St Joseph’s purity.
May 1st is a holiday here and I was on my way to do some carpentry on my friend’s apartment but somehow, I got lost. It was early in the day but due to the holiday, the streets were deserted. As I was walking down Figueroa St I saw a humble man, dressed very modestly. I asked him for directions and he was quite knowledgeable. I walked along with him as he showed me the way. We struck up a casual conversation, he told me he was homeless but trying to stay alive. He was dressed neatly with clean but very worn clothes. I asked him if he believed in God and he assented. So I referred him to a ministry for homeless men in St Joseph’s parish. He thanked me kindly. As we parted ways, I assured him of my prayers and asked him what was his name. He said “my name is Giglio” pronouncing the last word in perfect Italian (pron.gee-lee-oh). I never knew any man with that name. I have known girls called Gigliola, (pron. gee-lee-oh-lah) a common name in Italy but never someone called Giglio. I thought that was odd. About an hour later I was thinking of that and I realized suddenly that “giglio” is the name of a flower in Italian, the traditional white lilies of St Joseph and … May 1st is the feast of St Joseph the Worker! So the triple coincidence—my friend’s name, the name of that poor man on the street, and the fact that I casually referred the man to St Joseph—struck me as one of those things that are not coincidental. I have the strong suspicion that I received a surprise visit from St Joseph. Besides, judging by other times he has appeared in history, that is exactly his style. Add also the fact that I was doing some carpentry for my friend that morning and St Joseph is a carpenter.
Awesome account, Carlos. I think you are correct, that St Joseph gave you directions and guided you. Fascinating, too, that perhaps in other appearances where St Joseph wishes to remain anonymous, he takes the name of the flower that represents his purity and goes by, "Giglio".
DeleteI wrote the date wrong, it was in 2018! :-) I ask St. Joseph for help often. Anyone reading this who needs something solved: "Ite a Ioseph" Go to Joseph. He will help.
DeleteQuestion: is that Cork where you are in the photos? My great-great-grandmother was from Cork (Mary Hayes nee. O'Callaghan) they left Ireland in the late 1840's.
Thank you, Mary. God bless!
Dear Carlos, Yes, I had thought you had meant 2018. And well done for exhorting my readers to go to Joseph. To answer your question, yes I was born and raised in CountynCork and a few of the photos on this blog were taken in County Cork, such as this one: https://thepathlesstaken7.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-prophecy-for-our-times.html
DeleteLovely young lady. I hope I can visit Ireland one day. I have flown over the Emerald Isle many times but never visited. I live in St. Patrick's parish in Buenos Aires and that's a start. God bless you and also bless your work, Mary.
DeleteWe were selling our home when the market had a drastic downturn. I have always prayed to St. Joseph and had a five foot statue in our home from a local church that was renovating and I had asked for the statue when it was placed in a back room with a towel over it. They gave it to me when I asked if I could have it. The realtor was worried about the down turn in the market and wanted to bury a statue. I said we didn't need to since I had the life size one in my living room. I told him St Joseph would take care of this move. I sold the house to a grandmother who had a mentally disabled grandson, was going to live in the house with his care giver to give him more independence. When she saw my large St. Joseph statue, she knew this was the house for her grandson. In the mean time, I had moved to CO for my job and my husband stayed behind to sell the house. I went to the local parish in CO and had a mass said in Thanksgiving to St Joseph before the house had an offer. The woman said at the parish office, so your house sold? I said no but God would let me know when. The mass was for May 23. Well sometime later, we got the contract on the house, the grandmother paid cash and we ended up closing on 5/23. I dawned on me that when I asked for the mass in March, God did let me know the date of the closing by the date of the mass said in Thanksgiving. "Thank God ahead of time, Blessed Solanus Casey.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your remarkable witness, it is very inspiring to me. I am led to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving to St Joseph, may you be rewarded for leading me to deeper devotion to Jesus's earthly father.
Delete