At the end of Lauds and Vespers, after we make our petitions, we close with a commendation to the Virgin Mary which ends with a superb note: "We ask your prayers for these people and for all the world." At first one is not sure of one's hearing: "All the world"? It does seem a bit bold. No wonder Protestants gasp a bit at our estimate of the Virgin's powers. Who does she think she is? Or better, what do you try to make of her? And we might be very casual about it. Make nothing of it. She is a Christian and that alone makes her a participant in the world's redemption. And in her case, the participation was considerably more than it is for most.

 For in prayer we enter into the mystery of Christ's splendid dream -- the salvation of the world. And since He chose to do that only with our help, our prayers are one with the prayer of the Son of God Almighty. And this may be thought a powerful combination. If that be true of the Blessed Virgin -- and it is -- it is true of every Christian. And in a special way of St. Joseph.

We are a way along in Christian history before devotion to St. Joseph became conspicuous. The Crusaders had a feeling for him and built a church in his honor at Nazareth. The Franciscans favored him and managed to have a feast of St. Joseph for all the Church through the Franciscan Sixtus IV. Patron of the whole Church was a title that Pius IX gave him in 1870.

 It is the vision of such a title that can stimulate our faith some. Commending the whole world to the prayer of Mary seems a bit pretentious. Giving the whole Church over to the care of St. Joseph may seem little less.

Unless it occur to you that your prayer too ought to be no less Catholic. All our prayers are plural. We exclude none. We include all. We want none to go to Hell. We would have all saved. It is healthy to keep such a vision bright, to keep our piety generous. This is not to take on airs and assure a capacity we do not have so much as a calling of faith to what we are in union with Jesus Christ, Son of God.

It is Christ who makes Mary what she is. It is Christ who made Joseph glorious. He who headed the Holy Family, spouse of the Virgin, foster father to the very Son of God, by right enters into a special bonding for all who are Christ's. Who had God's Son in his care can quite possibly look after His Church.

The odd thing is that in the praise of Mary and the glory of Joseph, we somehow come to sense what it means to be a Christian. That our priesthood in Jesus involves us in a great dream of the Lord's. Our prayer becomes an essential aspect of the dream's fulfillment. There ought be no false diffidence and hesitancy about our role. It is not so much obligation as opportunity. Who can guess the power of prayer, measure it? Or put more blandly, what have you to lose in boldness in your prayer? Join the Virgin in prayer for the whole world, be one with St. Joseph in prayer for the Church.

There are trends, moods, attitudes that seem to sweep through people. They are very mysterious. They are difficult to explain. And they are very real. They may be low level and involve nothing deeper than fashion, taste, modishness. The commercial world pays a great deal of attention to such. They track down favor for a certain style, trace its movement, capitalize on it. The vast world of advertising is an endeavor to capture this mysterious power. Often carried to terms that seem outrageous. Kraft Foods will spend eleven million next year pushing Kool-Aid. Sugar water. Seems a bit pathetic.

But movements, trends, tastes move also in the world of spirit. Many of them evil. Or questionable. Or harmful. They sweep through a generation with great power. They seem independent of any identifiable source. And there are also good trends, holy movements, spiritualities of profound influence.

It is here we enter the mysterious realms of prayer. If one is inclined to think of evil spirits and good spirits, one is also hesitant to think so. Yet, who knows? For we know so little. Fifty years ago seminaries were full, great numbers came to Gethsemani. Sisters and Brothers and Priests were abundant. Today houses are empty, Priests and Sisters in short numbers, motherhouses vacant or used as conference centers.

Why? We don't know why. Europe seems to abandon the faith. Even that we are not sure of. And if much in our land brings tears, there is also so much to rejoice over. It seems impossible to have any real understanding. We are overwhelmed with data, surveys, studies. We can predict the worst and the best. And are at a loss.

I think it good to see all this in a setting of prayer. Prayer offered and prayer answered. The feast of St. Joseph should challenge us to make our Eucharist, our psalmody, our days and our nights a share in the vision of Christ.

On March of 1872, 125 years ago, the monks wrote it down in stone in elegant Latin, rendered in stiff English:

To God, best and greatest, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Immaculate Lady,
and to Blessed Joseph, who was chosen by the Trappist Monastery of                 Gethsemani,
as patron, protector, defender,
that day by day
there may be an increase in the life,
the merit, and
the numbers of the brethren,
and that those who seek God
may never grow less in all that is good.