In this blog post I have gathered a number of article I have written about St Joseph and the Divine Will. Likutey is a Hebrew word meaning gathering or collection and is the drawing on diverse sources. St Joseph is always present mystically with Jesus and Mary in every holy hour. In the Old Testament times he was mystically present represented by the Cloud and Our Lady by the fire when the Divine Son as the Divine Word spoke out of the midst of the Divine Manifestation of God in cloud, smoke and fire. The God of Sinai is this Divine Son. The same one that gave us the Torah himself took on flesh and came as a man and then as God and Man he also became the Eucharistic bread and wine for us.
Joseph in eternity was also one of the four cherubim in the Garden of Eden - who were represented in the Temple by the two golden cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant and the two large olive wood cherubim that stood in the Holy of Holies, either side of the Ark. The two on the Ark represent Jesus and Mary. Joseph is represented by the male olive wood cherubim. St Joseph may have been the Angel or Messenger of consolation that consoled and compassionated Jesus in the Garden of Gethesamne by showing him all those who would console Jesus throughout the centuries in their holy hours of Adoration. He was mystically present at the Crucifixion as the dark protecting cloud.
Wednesday is the traditional Catholic day in honour of St Joseph which is linked to the fourth day of the Creation week where the two great lights appear. This of course makes us think of the vision of the Patriarch Joseph of the sun, moon and stars. There are of course many valid interpretations at the mystical level of reading scriptures. For example, the Sun can represent the Divine Will. It can also represent the Messiah son of Joseph who is “the sun of righteousness who rises with healing in his wings”. Symbolised as a created mystical Sun it can represent Joseph himself. Joseph is so surrounded by the rays of the uncreated Mystical Sun that he becomes the created mystical Sun or icon of the Divine Sun. As Abba (Daddy/Father) to Jesus he is the created icon of the Father. It is in this manner that Joseph is referred to as the Shadow of the Father.
The wonderful little prayer book entitled “The Holy Cloak in honour of St Joseph” has a beautiful prayer that says:
“O Glorious Patriarch St Joseph, prostrate, before you and your Divine Son, Jesus, I offer you with heartfelt devotion, this precious treasury of prayers, being ever mindful of the numerous virtues which adorned your sacred person. In you, O glorious patriarch, was fulfilled the dream of your precursor the first Joseph, who indeed seemed to have been sent by God to prepare the way for your presence on this Earth. In fact, not only were you surrounded by the shining splendour of the rays of the Divine Sun, but you were splendidly reflected in the brilliant light of the mystic moon, the Blessed Virgin Mary. O glorious Patriarch, if the example of the ancient Jacob, who personally went to congratulate his favourite son, who was exalted on the throne of Egypt, served to bring all his progeny there, should not the example of Jesus and Mary, who honoured you with their greatest respect and trust, serve to bring me, your devoted servant, to present you with this precious cloak in your honour...”
When I became a Catholic in 1987 I took the name Joseph as my confirmation name in honour of St Joseph of Arimathea. At that time I had no interest or devotion to what I then thought of as the ‘boring’ Joseph married to Mary (may heaven forgive me!). In 1994 the Vicar General of Manila in the Philippines - Monsignor Josefino (Pepe) Ramirez wrote a book entitled “Letters to a Brother Priest” to promote Perpetual Adoration.
In one of those letters he linked me (Athol Bloomer now Brother Gilbert Joseph of the Divine Presence), Doug Harris (now Father Doug), Patrick Barry (now a priest who has started PEA chapels all over the world) and Adam Hayward (now Father Charbel the former superior of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in Perth) with St Joseph. It is interesting that the letter also mentions Bethlehem as Father Patrick went to Bethlehem when he was still a seminarian in the 1990’s to see if he could find a place there for PEA (Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration). Each religious house said they had no room and to try elsewhere. Patrick couldn’t help but think of St Joseph trying to find a room for Jesus and here 2000 years later Patrick (whose middle name is Joseph) was getting the same response for the Eucharistic Christ Child.
I was also in Bethlehem in 2003 with two future priests (Father Robert Rindos and Father Patricio Hileman) trying to find a place for Jesus to be adored perpetually with the same response after we had been forced to close down Perpetual Adoration in Jerusalem. While Perpetual Adoration occurred in Jerusalem in 2002, all the bombing stopped in Israel. The last time I was in Israel in 2008 I learnt that finally a chapel of PEA had been established in Bethlehem and the decreased bombings of the following years I believe was due to this chapel.
When I arrived in Israel in 2002 there were bombings in Jerusalem every day or two and I was almost a victim of one of them, just before we started the PEA there. When we began Perpetual Adoration at the Armenian Catholic church of Our Lady of the Spasm on the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter all the bombs stopped and did so for the next few months, so much so that the unusualness of it was commented on in the media.
“Letters to a Brother Priest” by Monsignor Pepe
A Room In The Inn –Feast Day of St Joseph, husband of Mary - March 19 1994 JMJ
Dear Fr. Thomas,
Today is the feast of St Joseph. There is not much said about St Joseph in scripture. He was a just and faithful servant, and a quiet figure in the history of salvation. St Joseph reminds me of the vast majority of Catholic priests in the world today. They are just, faithful and totally dedicated to God and service of the Church.Because they are not disruptive, they do not get any publicity. They are so pastorally oriented, busy taking care of the people in their parish, that nothing is ever said or written about how much they do for God and his people. Like St Joseph, they quietly go about their life working for the glory of God. Look to St Joseph, Thomas, as your model. He represents spiritual and apostolic maturity. By maturity, I mean he was dedicated to the interest of Christ. He put the interest of Christ ahead of his own.
In his love for Jesus and Mary, his thought process focused on their needs, rather than his own. In theory, every priest would agree to this. In practice, however, it may be a different matter. For example, I have asked many priests to consider having perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Many of them say that they cannot find a place for a prayer room. Did not St Joseph search until he found a place for Christ to be born? “There was no room for them in the inn.”(LK 2:7). But St Joseph kept searching until he found a place. And this place he found in Bethlehem became the first chapel of perpetual adoration where even the shepherds in the region, living in the fields, came to adore Him.
A priest whose mind is primarily on the interest of Christ would give up his own bedroom, if there was no other place available, if it meant finding a place where the Blessed Sacrament would be adored day and night. I know such a priest. He came to Manila for the ordination of Fr. Brian Morgan (he died recently). His name is Fr. Brian Ahern. Fr. Ahern is pastor of St Gerard’s Catholic Church in Geraldton, Western Australia. Fr. Ahern wanted perpetual adoration in his parish, but there was no room anywhere for a prayer chapel. Fr. Ahern did what St Joseph would have done. He gave Jesus his bedroom. It makes an ideal chapel because it has a separate, outside entrance. One does not have to go through the rectory to come into the chapel. The privacy of the rectory is maintained as the people use the outside entrance to come into the chapel, which was formerly Fr. Ahern’s bedroom...
...Fr Ahern’s prayer chapel inspired Brian Morgan to become a priest and to dedicate his priesthood to spreading perpetual adoration. Brian Morgan is now a priest. His holiness and love for the Eucharist has already attracted six other vocations to the priesthood. Five of them are now studying here in Manila at St Vincent’s in Tandang Sora for a new community of priests, missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament, founded to spread perpetual adoration. These young men are Patrick Barry, Douglas Harris, Vincent Cherry, Athol Bloomer and Adam Hayward. .. I am writing you this letter, dear Thomas, so that you may be the next one; the next St Joseph priest to find a room in the inn for the Lord...Msgr Pepe”
St Joseph in the Kingdom of the Divine Will: Dispute for the Sake of Heaven
"...Now, you must know that for your Mama, for dear and sweet Jesus, and for Saint Joseph, the little house of Nazareth was a Paradise. Being the Eternal Word, my dear Son possessed the Divine Will within Himself, of His own virtue; immense seas of light, of sanctity, of joys and of infinite beauty resided in that little Humanity. I possessed the Divine Will by grace; and even though I could not embrace immensity, as did beloved Jesus – because He was God and Man, and I was always His finite creature – yet, in spite of this, the Divine Fiat filled Me so much, having formed Its seas of light, of sanctity, of love, of beauties and of happinesses; and the light, the love and everything that a Divine Will can possess, which came out of Us, were so great that Saint Joseph remained eclipsed, inundated, and lived of our reflections.
Dear child, in this house of Nazareth, the Kingdom of the Divine Will was in full force. Every little act of ours – that is, working, starting the fire, preparing the food – were all animated by the Supreme Volition, and were formed on the solidity of the sanctity of pure love. Therefore, from the littlest to the greatest of our acts, immense joys, happinesses and beatitudes were unleashed. And we remained so inundated as to feel ourselves as though under a pouring rain of new joys and indescribable contentments..." ("Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will" Day 25)
“My daughter, your life must be hidden with us in the House of Nazareth. If you work, if you pray, if you eat, if you walk, you must give one hand to Me, the other to our Mother; and look at St Joseph to see if your acts are like ours.
Then you will be able to say, ‘I make a model of what Jesus, my heavenly Mother and St Joseph do. Then, I copy it.’ I want to repeat My hidden Life in you according to the model you have made. In you I want to find the works of my Mother and St Joseph, as well as My own works...
...My daughter, take heart, don’t be discouraged. If you don’t know how to do something, ask Me to teach you and I’ll do it right away. I’ll speak to you of our actions, our intentions, and our constant Love. I’ll show you how I, like sea, and they, like two rivers, overflowed into each other; that we didn’t have much time to talk, since Love absorbed us so much. See how far behind us you are? You must work hard to catch up to us. I don’t want you behind, but with us; so be silent and pay attention for I do not want you to be behind us but in our midst.” (Childhood Memories Notebook)
In Volume 24 Jesus refers to St Joseph as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, with Jesus and Mary being the King and Queen-Mother of the Kingdom of the Divine Will in the Holy House of Nazareth. Yet the Kingdom as yet did not have other ministers or people who lived in Divine Will, other than Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Luisa was thus chosen by Jesus, Mary and Joseph to be the first and most humble leader of this movement to populate the Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth. In some incredible mysterious manner, the Holy House of Nazareth continued on earth in Luisa and those after her who received the gift of living or dwelling in Divine Will, that made the Holy House of Nazareth present (in mystical reality) in all generations on earth, from Adam until the last man. As Mary is the Queen-Mother so Luisa is the Queen of this Kingdom and all the members of this Kingdom are a part of the Royal Family for this is a kingdom of priestly royalty.
St Joseph and St Lawrence of Brindisi: A Divine Will Perspective
St Lawrence of Brindisi a Doctor of the Church wrote in his fourth Lenten sermon on Joseph:
When Mary the mother of Jesus was espoused to Joseph. A faithful and holy soul is called a mother of Christ: Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my... mother [Mt 12:50: Mk 3:35]. The will is like a mother; and it is wedded to the intellect, which is like a Joseph, which means increasing daily in knowledge. For from knowledge of the good there flows love of the good, and from knowledge of God there is born love of God. This love is like the father of Christ and his foster father in our hearts. For it is through knowledge of God and contemplation of the things of God that the spirit of Christ is fostered in us. And this Joseph likewise gives us that certain knowledge which teaches us always to walk in the way of God as we proceed from virtue to virtue [Ps 84:8, from the Vulgate] and ascend by way of Jacob’s ladder into heaven in the company of all God’s holy angels.
Thus,
we see that he associates the understanding and doing of the Divine
Will with Our Lady as the mother, and the knowledge of increasing in
doing the Divine Will with St Joseph as the father. Thus, it is our
observance of the acts in Divine Will of Mary and Joseph that we grow in
goodness, love and knowledge in the Messiah who is the Divine Will
incarnate. The servant of God Luisa Piccarreta in her writings also
reveals the same principle of looking to Mary and Joseph in order to
know how to live in the Divine Will. Jesus said to Luisa:
“My daughter, your life must be hidden with us in the House of Nazareth. If you work, if you pray, if you eat, if you walk, you must give one hand to Me, the other to our Mother; and look at St Joseph to see if your acts are like ours.
Then you will be able to say, ‘I make a model of what Jesus, my heavenly Mother and St Joseph do. Then, I copy it.’ I want to repeat My hidden Life in you according to the model you have made. In you I want to find the works of my Mother and St Joseph, as well as My own works...
...My daughter, take heart, don’t be discouraged. If you don’t know how to do something, ask Me to teach you and I’ll do it right away. I’ll speak to you of our actions, our intentions, and our constant Love. I’ll show you how I, like sea, and they, like two rivers, overflowed into each other; that we didn’t have much time to talk, since Love absorbed us so much. See how far behind us you are? You must work hard to catch up to us. I don’t want you behind, but with us; so be silent and pay attention for I do not want you to be behind us but in our midst.” (Childhood Memories Notebook)
Some Christians also think that St Joseph was married before and had children, others that he remained a perpetual virgin his whole life. The Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus and thus in the early church some sought to explain this by proposing that St Joseph had children from a previous marriage who were thus the step-children of Mary. They thought this would protect the virginity of Mary which all Christians held to in the early Church. This solution was favoured somewhat in the Eastern Church whereas in the Western Church the explanation favoured the opinion that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were his cousins and that both Mary and Joseph were perpetual virgins like Jesus. Father Blaine Burkey writes in regard to St Lawrence of Brindisi:
Several times already we have noted one of the outstanding characteristics of Mary and Joseph's marriage — the fact that it was a union of virgins. Here we will give Lawrence's views on this more at length.
Lawrence held that Mary and Joseph were both virgins throughout their entire lives. In speaking of the virtues of Mary and Joseph with which God prepared them for the Incarnation, Lawrence mentions explicitly their "virginal chastity", and he tells us that after marriage, Joseph "willed to preserve perpetual chastity".
St Lawrence uses the Latin words castitas virginalis for "virginal chastity" and perpetuam voluit continentiam for "willed to preserve perpetual chastity." Josephology has evolved greatly in recent centuries and the Church through its mystics and theologians is coming to a deeper understanding of the role and place of St Joseph in salvation history. The full glories of Joseph are still to be revealed and confirmed in the Church's magisterial teaching. St Lawrence states:
Jesus holds the first place of the predestined, Mary the second and Joseph, it seems to me, undoubtedly holds the third place. Hence, he is called just and deservedly so... In the glory of paradise, Christ presides over all the choirs of angels, at the right hand of the Father, for he was the first of the predestined, and in the world he was the holiest of all the holy. The Blessed Virgin holds the second place in glory after Christ, for she held it in eternal predestination and in temporal grace. It is evident then that it must be said of Joseph, that as he held the third place after Christ in eternal predestination and in temporal grace, he also holds it in the glory of paradise.
Thus, those of us in the Divine Will movement could propose that Luisa is in the fourth place in eternal predestination and in temporal grace, she always holds it in the glory of paradise. Just as the Virgin Mary is the masterpiece of the Trinity in heaven so the Virgin Luisa is the masterpiece of the trinity of Jesus, Mary and Joseph's life in the Holy House of Nazareth on earth. In the Kingdom of the divine Will, Jesus is the King (Melekh), Mary is the Queen-Mother (G'virah), Joseph is the Princely Viceroy (Sheni l'Malkut or Mishneh l'Melekh) and Luisa is the Princess Royal (Geveret or Malkhut or Bat Melekh). These are the four minds in the Temple that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov speaks about in Likutey Moharan. They are symbolised by the four cherubim in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. They are the four lights and the four faces mentioned in Genesis 1.
The four special Sabbaths leading up to Passover represent these four. Shabbat Shekalim alludes to St Joseph as the Tzaddik and the concept of Shabbat as a gift and the trait of obedience and is the Wisdom (Chokhmah)
of the Divine Will. This represents the morning of the Sabbath with
the attendance at Synagogue and the second meal of Sabbath. This also
alludes to the great light which is the sun and the face over the rakia
(expanse) in Genesis 1. This is the face of the Bull or Ox which is
also an emblem of the Tribes of Joseph. In the Mass this represents the
offering of the gifts.
Shabbat Zakhor is the second special Shabbat which means the Sabbath of Remembrance and is focused on the Sabbath King and Keter
(the Crown) of the Divine Will. It alludes to the Divine Presence in
the Eucharist. This is the seal of the Sabbath. This represents the
afternoon of the Sabbath and the third meal of the Messiah. This also
alludes to the male light "Let there be light" (Yehi or) and the
face over the deep in Genesis 1. This is the face of the Man. In the
Mass this represents the concept of memory and the Presence of the
Messiah in the Eucharistic species.
The Third is Shabbat Parah and
refers to the mystery of the Red Heifer and the concepts of reparation
and atonement of the Sabbath Queen who is Our Lady. It is connected to
the concept of Understanding (Binah) as the Upper mother and the
rituals of the Sabbath as a manifestation of the Sabbath Bride and
Queen. This also alludes to the concepts of purity and chastity. This
represents the evening of the Sabbath and the first meal and the
welcoming of the Sabbath Queen. This also alludes to the created
feminine light of "And let there be light" (vayhi or) and the
face over the waters in Genesis 1. This is the face of the Lioness or
Lion. This in the Mass represents the repentance of sins and the rituals
of the Mass.
The fourth Sabbath in this series is Shabbat ha-Hodesh which is about the calendar and the new moon of the new month and the feminine cycle. This is connected to the idea of knowledge (da'at) of the Divine Will and the fulfilment of the Sabbath in the coming era when the Divine Will shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven. This alludes to Luisa as the Sabbath goy and the concept of poverty or nothingness and littleness. This represents the conclusion of the Sabbath with havdalah and the fourth meal of the Melaveh Malka (Farewelling the Queen). This also alludes to the lesser light that is the moon in Genesis 1 and the face over all the earth. This is the face of the Eagle. This represents the eschatological dimension and the receiving of communion and receiving the graces of holiness.
Thus, these four Sabbaths represent the aspects or faces of Sabbath observance and Eucharistic observance of gift, seal, ritual and fulfilment. In the context of Passover the gift is the lamb and the offerings of bread (matzah) and wine, the seal is the blood of the lamb on the doorposts, the ritual is the Seder and the fulfilment is getting out of Egypt and arrival in the Promised land. The gift of the Messiah is the mystery of the Incarnation and his life on earth, the seal of the Messiah is his sacrifice on the Cross or his Crucifixion, the ritual of the Messiah is the Celebration of his Resurrection on the first day of the week and the fulfilment of the Messiah is his eschatological Coming again and the fulfilment of all things in the new Heavens and the new Earth.
Just as Eucharistic devotion began first and then Marian devotion, so Josephine devotion began first and now Divine Will or Luisan devotion. The fulfilment will come with the Triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart. This will occur with the Eucharistic Reign of the Heart of Jesus. Through Luisa's loving heart the triumph of Divine Will will lead to the full glories of Joseph and his most just heart being revealed.
St Joseph the Worker: the Hidden Works of Divine Will
Today is an important feast day for our little community of monacelli (Little Monks) who live at St Joseph's Hidden Place in St Joseph's Hidden Valley in the Huon Valley Parish in the far south of Tasmania. It is the feast of St Joseph the Worker. All of us take the name Joseph as part of our consecrated name. However one of our brothers-Brother Stephen Joseph of the Immaculate Heart- had Joseph as his birth name and he is our handyman-builder-carpenter in our community. He and Brother John-Joseph of the Immaculate Womb (who is very artistic and creative) recently began the restoration of a large outdoor statue of St Joseph which a teenager had taken an axe to it and seriously damaged it.
We pray daily to St Joseph for all our needs and the needs and intentions of all our benefactors as well as for those of all who ask us and for those of our parish. We perceive him as our protector and Master of Prayer. We hide in the mystical cloud that is Joseph's heart which is the Shadow of the Father. The servant of God Luisa Piccarreta wrote in the "Book of Heaven" Volume 29:
...After this I continued my acts in the Divine Fiat, and my poor mind stopped in the little house of Nazareth, where the Queen of Heaven, the celestial King Jesus and Saint Joseph were in possession of and lived in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. So that this kingdom is not estranged to the earth: the house of Nazareth, the family that lived in it belonged to this kingdom and they held it in full vigor... (May 31, 1931)Joseph lived in this Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth in a very deep way that he was totally eclipsed (has become nothing like Our Lady) and totally inundated or filled with God's attributes or reflections. The 25th day meditation of the "Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will" of the servant of God Luisa Piccarreta wrote about St Joseph being eclipsed and inundated by the seas of the attributes of Jesus and Mary. Our Lady tells Luisa:
...Now, you must know that for your Mama, for dear and sweet Jesus, and for Saint Joseph, the little house of Nazareth was a Paradise. Being the Eternal Word, my dear Son possessed the Divine Will within Himself, of His own virtue; immense seas of light, of sanctity, of joys and of infinite beauty resided in that little Humanity. I possessed the Divine Will by grace; and even though I could not embrace immensity, as did beloved Jesus – because He was God and Man, and I was always His finite creature – yet, in spite of this, the Divine Fiat filled Me so much, having formed Its seas of light, of sanctity, of love, of beauties and of happinesses; and the light, the love and everything that a Divine Will can possess, which came out of Us, were so great that Saint Joseph remained eclipsed, inundated, and lived of our reflections.
St Joseph was living and dwelling in the heart of the House of Nazareth, which is the heart of the Kingdom of the Divine Will. St Joseph was totally eclipsed or darkened and inundated by these seas so that he can become a pure mirror or reflector of these seas of the Divine Will in a hidden manner to Luisa and others. In the same manner in which Our Lady is the Dark Lady (Black Madonna) and the Night (Lilah) in order to perfectly reflect the Divine Light so does the darkened or eclipsed Joseph. Our Lady was always dark and inundated or full of grace whereas Joseph had to be darkened (as he was not immaculately conceived) in order to be inundated or filled.Dear child, in this house of Nazareth, the Kingdom of the Divine Will was in full force. Every little act of ours – that is, working, starting the fire, preparing the food – were all animated by the Supreme Volition, and were formed on the solidity of the sanctity of pure love. Therefore, from the littlest to the greatest of our acts, immense joys, happinesses and beatitudes were unleashed. And we remained so inundated as to feel ourselves as though under a pouring rain of new joys and indescribable contentments...
The mystery of the hidden and eclipsed state of St Joseph is connected to the mystery of the ''darkness over the face of the deep'' in Genesis 1. Jesus is that "face of /over the deep" and his infinite seas are the deep (the mystery of the Incarnation of the God-man). The darkness who is Joseph in Eternity is the protecting dark cloud hiding the mysteries of the Immaculate Conception and Incarnation from Satan and his angels. St Joseph as the Shadow of the Father also hides in his darkness the "synergy" of the Spirit of God and Our Lady who is the "face over the waters" (the created seas of the attributes (love, mercy etc) which is the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception).
No one, including Luisa Piccarreta, can receive a grace that gives them access to a greater sanctity than Jesus, Mary or Joseph. Luisa can only attain such a sanctity as the grace of living in Divine Will on earth through her union with, in and through Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Kingdom of the Divine Will is the Holy House of Nazareth in which Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in Divine Will on earth (this was heaven or paradise on earth restored). Luisa and all those who follow her in receiving the grace of living in Divine Will can only enter the Kingdom of the Divine Will through entering in a spiritual and mystical manner the Holy House of Nazareth. Luisa also confirms the role of Joseph in her childhood Memories notebook. Jesus told her:
“My daughter, your life must be hidden with Us in the House of Nazareth. If you work, if you pray, if you eat, if you walk, you must give one hand to Me, the other to our Mother; and look at St Joseph to see if your acts are like Ours.
Then you will be able to say, ‘I make a model of what Jesus, my heavenly Mother and St Joseph do. Then, I copy it.’ I want to repeat My hidden Life in you according to the model you have made. In you I want to find the works of my Mother and St Joseph, as well as My own works...
...My daughter, take heart, don’t be discouraged. If you don’t know how to do something, ask Me to teach you and I’ll do it right away. I’ll speak to you of Our actions, Our intentions, and Our constant Love. I’ll show you how I, like sea, and they, like two rivers, overflowed into each other; that We didn’t have much time to talk, since Love absorbed us so much. See how far behind Us you are? You must work hard to catch up to Us. I don’t want you behind, but with Us; so be silent and pay attention for I do not want you to be behind Us but in Our midst.”
St Jospeh is the Hidden Tzaddik (Righteous or Just One) that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov often refers to cryptically in his writings. Rebbe Nachman (1772-1810) is one of the greatest mystics and teachers of Hasidism in Jewish history:
"And all this is an aspect of "The Concealment", when the beauty and splendour of the whole world becomes concealed. However there is a Tzaddik who is beauty, splendour and grace of the entire world, and who is symbolised by Joseph, who was "beautiful in form and handsome" (Genesis 39:6), "a beautiful sight, the joy of the entire land" (Psalm 48:3). When the beauty and splendour of this genuine Tzaddik, who is symbolised by Joseph, is revealed in the world by becoming renowned and esteemed, then the eyes of mankind will be opened. And whoever is included in the genuine grace of this Tzaddik, the world's grace and beauty, by following him and surrending his self to become part of this Tzaddik's soul, will have his eyes opened, and he will be able to see." (Likutey Moharan II: 67)St Isidore of Isolanis stated that the full glories of St Joseph will not be revealed unto the latter days. It is also interesting that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov alludes to St Joseph in regards to the four temperaments or character traits of melancolic, choleric, sanguine and phlegmatic.
"...since this Tzaddik represents the source of the four basic character straits, and as such stands above them, the eyes of whoever becomes close to him and becomes part of his genuine grace will become opened, to be able objectively look into himself and to see how he is faring in each of them. That person becomes part of the beauty of God's world, by virtue of the splendour of the hidden Tzaddik having been revealed to him. Further more, as a result of one's eyes having been opened by the splendour of the genuine Tzaddik being revealed, one will also be able to see and behold the greatness of God and the Awesomeness of His world. The reason for this is that when this Tzaddik becomes revealed and renowned, he "gets a name" - becomes famous - in the world. Hidden within this name of the Tzaddik is the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, for His Name is intimately bound with ours (Yerushalmi, Taanit 2). Thus, when and to the extent that the "name" of that Tzaddik becomes esteemed, so does God's Name become all the more esteemed."Rebbe Nachman concludes Likutey Moharan II: 67 with:
"And with this we return to BeREShYT, the beginning, the RoeSh BaYiT, the head and master of the house of the world, namely, the genuine Tzaddik, who is beauty and glory of the world, represented by Joseph, alluded to in the verse, "Joseph is the ruler...he supplies food..." (Genesis 42:6), because he is the RoeSh BaYiT, the master of the house of the world. For he is the one who maintains the Temple and every Jewish house and home...And when the name of this Tzaddik, who represents the head of the house, becomes esteemed, the eyes of the Jewish people are opened, as above. So this is the connection of "bereshit' to "l'einei kol Yisrael". Bereshit- this is the master of the house, the Tzaddik, who is the glory of the world, through whom are opened "einei kol Yisael", the eyes of all the Jewish people."This seems to say that when St Joseph is revealed in all his glories then the time of the veil being removed from the eyes of the Jews will occur in fulfillment of Romans 11 and all Israel will be saved. Rebbe Nachman’s teaching has many layers of meaning and he reveals many different aspects of the concepts of Joseph. Joseph is the firstborn of the Chayot associated with the ox or oxen (also unicorns). He represents one of the four minds in the Temple. A ‘Joseph’ is one who gazes and sees the inner meaning of all created things. Joseph the Patriarch was one such gazer of secrets, as were St Joseph the Tzaddik and St Joseph of Arimathea. The ultimate Joseph in Jewish thought is the Messiah son of Joseph who the Christians call Jesus son of Joseph.
The Four Minds in the Temple are represented by the four Cherubim in the Temple. Two of the Cherubim being the golden male and female children on the Ark of the Covenant; and the other two Cherubim being of olive wood overlaid with gold that stand on either side of the Ark. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov discusses the mystery of these Four Minds in Likutey Moharan II:67. This mystery of Joseph is connected to the Four Minds in the Temple which are also represented by the four chambers of the Head tefillin according to Rebbe Nachman.
"And all this is a manifestation of Mind, because the very first thing to arise from the four letters of God's Name are the Four Minds, alluded to in the verse " I have filled [Betzalel] with a Divine spirit- with Wisdom, Understanding, knowledge and with all craftsmanship" (Exodus 31:2). Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge and Craftsmanship are symbolic of the four Minds (Tikuney Zohar introduction)..."Wisdom represents the Mind that is Mashiach (Messiah) ben (son of) Joseph and his mission, then in salvation history comes the mission of the Mind who is the Sabbath Queen who is the Mother of the Mashiach , then comes the mission of the Mind who is the Tzaddikess (the Righteous woman) who is to reveal the Knowledge of Living in the Divine Will and finally to complete the mission comes the Mind who is the Hidden Tzaddik Joseph as the craftsman of God. St Joseph's mission is still partially hidden until the time of the full revelation of the glories of Joseph. Then will the Jews embrace in fullness the Kingdom of the Divine Will under the patronage of St.Joseph. Thus the work that St Joseph was doing was the work of living in the Divine Will which manifested outwardly as his work as a master craftsman in the village of Nazareth.
St Joseph and Our Lady Living in the Divine Will on Earth
The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta is known as the little daughter of the Divine Will. She mirrors the littleness (katnut) or lowliness (shiflut) of Our Lady. Elsewhere I have discussed that the name Piccarreta means 'very little one' and the mention of this 'very little one' in the Zohar as one of the four chayot (living creatures of the Throne).
“… ‘This is the Chayah which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chabar’ (Ezekiel 10:20). Now, which chayah is here indicated? Rabbi Jose replied in the name of Rabbi Chiya that the reference is to the little Chaya. ‘But is there such a little chayah?’ ‘Yes, assuredly there is. There is a little one and a superior one and there is also a very little one. This (very little one) is alluded to in the last part of the verse under discussion: “And under his feet a likeness of a brickwork of Sapphire (or sapphire stone)’. What was this [very little one] which they saw? They beheld the precious stone which the Holy One will build the future Sanctuary, as it is written: ‘I will lay thy stones with fair colours and lay thy foundations with sapphires’(Isaiah 54:11)” (Zohar 126a).‘His feet’ refers to the superior Chayah who is El Chai himself the God of Israel. The ‘likeness of a brick work’ refers to the little Chayah who is the Lady of Israel (Matronita). The ‘Sapphire Stone’ is the ‘very little one’ (Piccaretta) from whom the future Sanctuary or era of Sanctification shall be built. The Zohar reveals that besides the two Chayot called the superior male Chayah (Metatron/ Yeshua) and the little female Chayah (Matronita/ Our Lady), there is a ‘very little Chayah’ (Nukvah/ Luisa). The fourth Hidden chayah not mentioned in this passage is the hidden Tzaddik Joseph. These Chayot (living creatures) are connected with the mystery of the Galgal (wheel) in Ezekiel and Isaiah and the rounds (galgalim) in the yehiot (fiats) of Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. The concept of littleness mentioned in Luisa's writings are shiflut (lowliness), bitul (total self sacrificing humility) and katnut (littleness or smallness).
sèmbe che lla volondà tóje,
come 'ngile acchessí 'ndèrre.
and in Italian it is:
sia fatta la tua volontà,
come in cielo così in terra
The whole prayer of the Our Father is in Barese dialect:
Attàne Nèste, (Attane is father and neste Our)
ca sta 'ngile,
sandificàte jè u nome tuje,
venghe à nú u Régne tuje,
sèmbe che lla volondà tóje,
come 'ngile acchessí 'ndèrre.
Annúscece josce u pane nèste de tutte le di,
é llívece à nnú le díbete nèste,
come nú le levàme à ll'alde,
é nnon z'inducénne à nnú 'ntendazióne,
ma líbberace d'o' male,
Amen.
- *
Thus, this part of Meditation 31 can be translated as: - "Now, my little girl, do you want to know who this woman is who all Heaven praises and remains enraptured with? It is I, She who never did her own will. The Divine Will is without boundaries in me so that it expands to the most beautiful heavens, the most radiant suns, seas of beauty, love and holiness. It is with these that I give light to everyone, love and holiness to all. I enclose everything and everyone within my Heaven. It was the work of the Divine Will operating in me that worked such a great Sign. I was the unique little one, who entered Heaven, who had done the Divine Will on earth as it is done in Heaven and who had formed his Kingdom in my soul. Now, the whole Celestial Court, in looking at me, was astounded. This was because looking at me one way they found in me heaven. Then, turning to gaze at me in a different way, they found in me the sun. Then not being able to detach their gaze, they looked at me more deeply and they saw me as the ocean. They also found in me a very crystal clear earth which was my humanity adorned with the most beautiful blossoms. This so enraptured them that they exclaimed: “How beautiful She is! All creation has centred itself in Her! She lacks nothing! Among all the works of her Creator, She works only for the completion of all creation! "
Rebbe Nachman, Joseph and the Four Tzadikkim
In other articles, I have written about the Four Minds in the Temple, who are represented by the four Cherubim in the Temple. Two of the Cherubim being the golden male and female children on the Ark of the Covenant; and the other two Cherubim being of olive wood overlaid with gold. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov discusses the mystery of these Four Minds in Likutey Moharan II:67 which he begins by alluding prophetically to the fate of Westen Europe and to the fate of the Jews in the West and the weeping of the Shekhinah (Our Lady) under the image of Rachel weeping.
Rebbe Nachman foresees the terrible Shoah of the Jewish people by the antichrist Hitler and then a second time of darkness for the Jews and the West as the Divine Light of God goes down in the West. However, concealed beyond this time of weeping and clouds is the mystery of the four Minds who are the four Tzaddikim- two male and two female- and a time or era when their hidden mystery will be revealed in the beauty of all Creation.
Rebbe Nachman states:
"...The darkening caused by these clouds, the fading of eyesight due to weeping, is symbolised by the light setting in the west. Since the sun rises in the East and sets in the west, the west represents the setting of light. Thus weeping, the fading of eyesight, which is symbolised by the sun setting, is alluded to by the acrostic of the verse, "Rachel Mevakah Al Vaneha" (Rachel weeps for her children; Jeremiah 31:14), for MAaRaV means "west". Why does the sun set in the West? Because there, in the West, is where the Shekhinah can be found (Bava Batra 25a). It is there that She weeps and wails for the Jewish people. This is alluded to in the above quoted verse, "Rachel weeps for her children- she refuses to be comforted for her children, for they are gone". She weeps over the Jewish people who are shattered among the nations and not in their proper place. Due to the Shekhinah's weeping eyesight disappears. This is symbolised by the sun setting. This is why the sun sets in the West, because that is where the Shekhinah weeps. This is symbolised by the Western Wall, the site where the Shekhinah weeps and wails over the destruction of the Holy Temple. For there, in the West, Rachel Mevakah Al Vaneha."
In the West seeing with the eyes of God will decline and the Divine Will will be rejected leading to a time of clouds when morality will be perverted and then with the decline of the Divine Light in society and hearts a time of fire will come as proclaimed by the weeping Lady of Akita and Rebbe Nachman.
The cause of this dimming of the Divine Light Rebbe Nachman links to Major Rome who is Edom and represents the Godless secular Roman Imperial spirit as seen in Napoleon and his successors Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin and the modern secular European Union. Minor Rome he associates with Ishmael who represents a false and fanatical religious extremism as is found among the Islamists [who claim descent from Ishmael]. However, alternatively Major Rome may represent Western Europe and Minor Rome Eastern Europe. Rebbe Nachman opens with:
"There are clouds which cover the eyes. These clouds are Rome Major and Rome Minor (Zohar 3:252a)...."
Breslov Rabbi Yeshoshua Starrett commenting on this states:
"In Likutey Moharan I.16 Rebbe Nachman refers to the two clouds as Edom and Ishmael, because they represent the archetypal adversaries of the Jewish people, of genuine holiness in general, and are symbolic of cultures which undermine-obscure- God's true revealed Will at Sinai."
The passage of the Zohar that Rebbe Nachman refers to speaks of the 'reed of chametz' which is the foundation of the pagan Roman spirit and it states that the Messiah son of Joseph will defeat Rome major and replace the chametz with the matzah (the mystery of Eucharistic Adoration). This he will do through his earthly representative the Anointed One for War called Mashiach Ephraim [in Catholic prophecy the Great Monarch Henry or Charles and called Prince David in Ezekiel). This earthly anointed one will come from the lands of Joseph (sons of St. Joseph of Arimathea the British Isles) and be a descendant of the House of David and of King St Louis of France and also from an ancient German Royal House (House of Oldenburgh). He will in a powerful way embody the spirit of the Mashiach ben Joseph and the hidden Tzaddik Joseph.
Rebbe Nachman states that this Messiah will be one of his descendants. Rabbi Cordevero states that he will be a Catholic of Jewish ancestry. He will be a convert to the Catholic faith through Our Lady's intercession. Like the sons of the Patriarch Joseph - Manasseh and Ephraim - Mashiach Ephraim will be the younger brother of the Mashiach Manasseh spoken about in Jewish tradition.
Likutey Moharan II: 67 is entitled "bereshit...l'einei kol Yisrael" - In the beginning... before all the eyes of Israel- thus joining the Torah's beginning with its end. Thereby also proclaiming this as a mystery of the Divine Heart (Leb). The final lamed and the beginning bet making the Hebrew word for "Heart" Leb. Rabbi Yehoshua Starrett in "The Inner Temple" comments on this title:
"The very title of the lesson encapsulates the underlying theme of the lesson: the purpose of "bereshyt", Creation, is "l'einei kol Yisrael"- that the eyes of all Israel be opened to see in the world the beauty that is God's".
Rebbe
Nachman links the tears of the Lady with the coming of the fire and the
destruction of the Temple. In the Catholic and Marian prophecies we
read of the fire from heaven and the destruction of the Church down to
its foundations. Some Catholic seers or prophets have seen images of St
Peter's in Rome burning.
Rebbe Nachman links the mystery of the four minds with the concept of the eyes which are a theme throughout this lesson. The four Minds are represented by the three colours of the eye and the pupil of the eye. This mystery is alluded to in the word Shabbat. He states:
"..And this is all symbolised in the ShaBbaT- Shin BaT: the three stems of the shin represent the three colours of the eye, and bat is bat ayin, the pupil...So this is the allusion of the verse "See! For God has given you the Shabbat" (Exodus 16:29). "See", for Shabbat, which is the Holy One's Name, is represented by the power of sight, symbolic of the three colours of the eye and the pupil."
This linking of the eyes and the heart refer us to 1 Kings 9:3:
"And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually."
Rebbe Nachman also speaks of the mystery of Joseph as the Shadow of the Father connecting his mystery with the name Betzalel (meaning Shadow of God) who designed the tabernacle and its furnishings. He states In Likutey Moharan II: 67;
"...And all the above is alluded to in the verse "See! God has called upon Betzalel, by name"(Exodus 35:30). 'See' because by Betzalel's- the Tzaddik's - 'name' becoming revealed and esteemed, you will be able to see, because the Tzaddik's fame opens the`eyes to see, since the esteem of the Tzaddik's name reveals God's name...Indeed, since God's name is intimately bound to ours, as alluded to in BeTzaLEL's very name (B'TzeiL El, in the shadow of God), therefore "God has called upon Betzalel by His name," and we can "see"...".
Earlier in Likutey Moharan II: 67 Rebbe Nachman wrote:
"...since this Tzaddik represents the source of the four basic character straits, and as such stands above them, the eyes of whoever becomes close to him and becomes part of his genuine grace will become opened, to be able objectively look into himself and to see how he is faring in each of them. That person becomes part of the beauty of God's world, by virtue of the splendour of the hidden Tzaddik having been revealed to him. Further more, as a result of one's eyes having been opened by the splendour of the genuine Tzaddik being revealed, one will also be able to see and behold the greatness of God and the Awesomeness of His world. The reason for this is that when this Tzaddik becomes revealed and renowned, he "gets a name" - becomes famous - in the world. Hidden within this name of the Tzaddik is the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, for His Name is intimately bound with ours (Yerushalmi, Taanit 2). Thus, when and to the extent that the "name" of that Tzaddik becomes esteemed, so does God's Name become all the more esteemed."
Joseph is the Hidden Tzaddik that Rebbe Nachman often refers to in his writings.
"And all this is an aspect of "The Concealment", when the beauty and splendour of the whole world becomes concealed. However there is a Tzaddik who is beauty, splendour and grace of the entire world, and who is symbolised by Joseph, who was "beautiful in form and handsome" (Genesis 39:6), "a beautiful sight, the joy of the entire land" (Psalm 48:3). When the beauty and splendour of this genuine Tzaddik, who is symbolised by Joseph, is revealed in the world by becoming renowned and esteemed, then the eyes of mankind will be opened. And whoever is included in the genuine grace of this Tzaddik, the world's grace and beauty, by following him and surrending his self to become part of this Tzaddik's soul, will have his eyes opened, and he will be able to see."
Rebbe Nachman concludes:
"And with this we return to BeREShYT, the beginning, the RoeSh BaYiT, the head and master of the house of the world, namely, the genuine Tzaddik, who is beauty and glory of the world, represented by Joseph, alluded to in the verse, "Joseph is the ruler...he supplies food..." (Genesis 42:6), because he is the RoeSh BaYiT, the master of the house of the world. For he is the one who maintains the Temple and every Jewish house and home...And when the name of this Tzaddik, who represents the head of the house, becomes esteemed, the eyes of the Jewish people are opened, as above. So this is the connection of "bereshit' to "l'einei kol Yisrael". Bereshit - this is the master of the house, the Tzaddik, who is the glory of the world, through whom are opened "einei kol Yisrael", the eyes of all the Jewish people."
This seems to say that when Joseph is revealed in all his glories, then the time of the veil being removed from the eyes of the Jews will occur.
This mystery of Joseph is connected to the Four Minds in the Temple, which are also represented by the four chambers of the Head tefillin according to Rebbe Nachman.
"And all this is a manifestation of Mind, because the very first thing to arise from the four letters of God's Name are the Four Minds, alluded to in the verse " I have filled [Betzalel] with a Divine spirit- with Wisdom, Understanding, knowledge and with all craftsmanship" (Exodus 31:2). Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge and Craftsmanship are symbolic of the four Minds (Tikuney Zohar introduction)..."
Wisdom
represents the Mashiach ben Joseph and his mission, then in salvation
history comes the mission of the Mother of the Mashiach who is the
Sabbath Queen, then comes the mission of the Tzadikess who is to reveal
the Knowledge of Living in the Divine Will and finally to complete the
mission comes the Hidden Tzaddik Joseph as the craftsman of God.
Joseph's mission is still partially hidden until the time of the full
revelation of the glories of Joseph. Then will the Jews embrace in
fullness the Kingdom of the Divine Will under the patronage of
St. Joseph.
Mystery of Joseph and the Number 14
Blessed Anne Catharine Emmerich states that Joseph and his wife Asenath were associated by the Egyptians with Osiris and Isis. Osiris is represented by the figure of a Man as the constellation Orion. Orion also represents the man Enoch (Chenoch or Chanoch). The word chanoch associated with chinuch refers to a child or the training of a child. This alludes to the Christ Child or the mysterious child [a son of Joseph] of the Zohar.
The pyramid complex in Egypt is a mirror of the heavenly realities. Zohar Shemot states -
"This song King Solomon poured forth when the Temple was erected and all the worlds, above and below, had reached their perfect consummation. And although concerning the exact time of its singing there is some difference of opinion among the members of the Fellowship (Chaverim), we may be certain that it was not sung until that time of absolute completion, when the Moon - the Shekhinah - came to her fullness and was revealed in the full perfection of her radiance, and when the Temple had been erected in the likeness of the Temple that is above. The Holy One, blessed be He, then experienced such joy as He had not known since the creation of the world. When Moses set up the Tabernacle in the wilderness, another such was raised in the heavenly spheres, as we learn from the words: "And it came to pass... that the Tabernacle was reared up", the reference being to the other Tabernacle, to that which was above, namely the Tabernacle of the "Young Man", Metatron, and nothing greater. But when the first Temple was completed another Temple was erected at the same time, which was the centre for all the worlds, shedding radiance upon all things and giving light to all the spheres. Then the world was firmly established, and all the supernal casements were opened to pour forth light, and all the worlds experienced such joy as had never been known to them before, and celestial and terrestrial beings alike broke forth in song. And the song which they sang is the "Song of Songs", or, as we might render, "Song of the Singers", of those musicians who chant to the Holy One, blessed be He."
"From this we see that the Holy One, blessed be He, actually gave Moses all the arrangements and all the shapes of the Tabernacle, each in its appropriate manner, and that he saw Metatron ministering to the High Priest within it. It may be said that, as the Tabernacle above was not erected until the Tabernacle below had been completed, that "youth" (Metatron) could not have served above before Divine worship had taken place in the earthly Tabernacle. It is true that the Tabernacle above was not actually erected before the one below; yet Moses saw a mirroring of the whole beforehand, and also Metatron, as he would be later when all was complete. The Holy One said to him: "Behold now, the Tabernacle and the ‘Youth’; all is held in suspense until the Tabernacle below shall have been built."
It should not be thought, however, that Metatron himself ministers; the fact is, that the Tabernacle belongs to him, and Michael, the High Priest, it is that serves there, within the Metatron's Tabernacle, mirroring the function of the Supernal High Priest above, serving within that other Tabernacle, that hidden one which never is revealed, which is connected with the mystery of the world to come. There are two celestial Tabernacles: the one, the supernal concealed Tabernacle, and the other, the Tabernacle of the Metatron. And there are also two priests: the one is the primeval Light, and the other Michael, the High Priest below.
Joshua ben Nun is also called Youth and child who adores in the Tent. Zohar Shemot states:
"It is concerning this that King David said: "Except the King, whose is the peace, and who is the Master of the House, build the house, they labour in vain that build it"-that is to say, the pillars. Except the Lord - the King, whose is the peace - guard the city, "the watchman waketh but in vain". This is the pillar upon which the Universe stands, namely the "Tzaddik" who keeps waking guard over the City. The Tabernacle which Moses constructed had Joshua for its wakeful and constant guard; for he alone guarded it who is called the "young man", namely Joshua, of whom it says: "Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent" (Ex. XXXIII, 11). Later in its history it was another "young man" who guarded it, namely Samuel (I Sam. 1l, 18), for the Tabernacle could be guarded only by a youth.
The Temple, however, was guarded by the Holy One Himself, as it is written, "Except the Lord guard the City, the watchman waketh but in vain". And who is the watchman? The "young man", Metatron. And you, holy saints, ye are not guarded as the Tabernacle was guarded, but as the Temple was guarded, namely, by the Holy One Himself; for, whenever the righteous are on a journey the Holy One guards them continually, as it is written: "The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming in from now and forever" (Ps. CXXI, 9).’ Then they accompanied him on his journey for a distance of three miles, and, parting from him, returned to their own way, and they were moved to quote these words concerning him. "For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands" (Ps. XCI, 11, I2); and "Thy father shall be glad and thy mother rejoice" (Prov. XXIII, 25)."
In the Zohar it mentions Metatron as Chanoch M'Mana which means child from the Manna [eucharistic bread]. This is the one on whom they will look upon and weep. There is also a disagreement in Judaism whether the Passover Seder has 14 or 15 steps. The Passover begins on the 14th of Nisan. Rav Kaduri's letter reveals that the name of the Messiah is Yehoshua.
"This I have signed in the month of mercy, Yitzhak Kaduri. Yarim Ha’Am Veyokhiakh Shedvaro Vetorato Omdim [He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid.].
Another son of Joseph and David is Messiah Ephraim who is the Great Monarch Henry alluded to in Apocalypse 10.
"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices."
"Hosea 11:9-10
לֹ֤א אֶֽעֱשֶׂה֙ חֲרֹ֣ון אַפִּ֔י לֹ֥א אָשׁ֖וּב לְשַׁחֵ֣ת אֶפְרָ֑יִם כִּ֣י אֵ֤ל אָֽנֹכִי֙ וְלֹא־ אִ֔ישׁ בְּקִרְבְּךָ֣ קָדֹ֔ושׁ וְלֹ֥א אָבֹ֖וא בְּעִֽיר׃אַחֲרֵ֧י יְהוָ֛ה יֵלְכ֖וּ כְּאַרְיֵ֣ה יִשְׁאָ֑ג כִּֽי־ ה֣וּא יִשְׁאַ֔ג וְיֶחֶרְד֥וּ בָנִ֖ים מִיָּֽם׃
I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not man the Holy One in the midst of thee and I will not enter into the city. They shall walk after the LORD, he [Ephraim] shall roar like a lion when he [Ephraim] shall roar then the children shall tremble from the west [sea]."
The name Henry comes from the Hebrew Chenoch [Enoch] via the German Hunroch and Heinrich. Nostradamus calls him Chyren. This leads us back to Orion who is also said to represent Enoch (Anu). The Bible speaks of Orion and the Great Bear (Ursa Major) which is called King David's chariot in Ireland, the Great Chariot in France and Arthur's Chariot in Britian. The name Arthur refers to the Bear (Art) and represents the Messiah Manesseh brother of Messiah Ephraim.
St Joseph and the Law: A Hebrew Catholic Insight
In the famous heavenly apparitions to Sister Mildred Neuzil, St Joseph said to her:
" ...Mine was perfect obedience to the Divine Will and it was shown and made known to me by the Jewish law and religion. To be careless in this is most displeasing to God and will be severely punished in the next world...".
Jews who are Christians or Catholics are still called to live out their vocation in obedience to the Jewish religious practices as did Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Those Catholic authorities who have hindered the Jews in the Church from living out their Jewish vocation and identity in the Church as individuals and as a collective community of Jews will have to answer for it in the next world. The Austrian mystic, Maria Simma who spoke with the holy souls in purgatory stated that Pope Paul IV spent over 400 years in purgatory because of his anti-Jewish policies such as placing the Jews in the Roman ghetto.
Those of us Catholic Jews who make excuses for our lack of living out our Jewish vocation will also have to answer for that. Many of us cling to the idea that Jews in the Church need only live as Gentile Catholics do because to observe the Torah Jewishly is too much of a bother or will make us look eccentric or we will be persecuted by our fellow Catholics. Many of us who were secular or reform were already disobedient to the Jewish law and religion, and we bring that with us into the Church. Of course, only God knows who is making excuses and those who sincerely believe they are doing the right thing by living as a Gentile Catholic. Others of course, due to their life situation may have to live out their vocation as a Jew in the Church in a modified way at this stage of salvation history.
The grace of the Messiah allows us to live not at the level of the letter of the Law but at the level of the spirit of law based on love. This does not mean that we are free to abandon the outward observances of the Law and mitzvot but that we through the grace and love of our Jewish Messiah access the spirit of the Law and observe it as the manifestation of God's Divine Will just as St Joseph did. The Torah obedient life of the Holy Family in the House of Nazareth is a wonderful model of Torah observance for all Catholic Jews. After the resurrection and foundation of the Church Our Lady continued this Torah observant lifestyle in the Holy House of Ephesus - now focused on adoration of her Son in the Eucharist.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov proclaims Joseph as the Hidden Tzaddik who is the Master of the House (Home) in Likutey Moharan II: 67.
"And all this is an aspect of "The Concealment", when the beauty and splendour of the whole world becomes concealed. However there is a Tzaddik who is beauty, splendour and grace of the entire world, and who is symbolised by Joseph, who was "beautiful in form and handsome" (Genesis 39:6), "a beautiful sight, the joy of the entire land" (Psalm 48:3). When the beauty and splendour of this genuine Tzaddik, who is symbolised by Joseph, is revealed in the world by becoming renowned and esteemed, then the eyes of mankind will be opened. And whoever is included in the genuine grace of this Tzaddik, the world's grace and beauty, by following him and surrending his self to become part of this Tzaddik's soul, will have his eyes opened, and he will be able to see."Rebbe Nachman concludes:
"And with this we return to BeREShYT, the beginning, the RoeSh BaYiT, the head and master of the house of the world, namely, the genuine Tzaddik, who is beauty and glory of the world, represented by Joseph, alluded to in the verse, "Joseph is the ruler...he supplies food..." (Genesis 42:6), because he is the RoeSh BaYiT, the master of the house of the world. For he is the one who maintains the Temple and every Jewish house and home...And when the name of this Tzaddik, who represents the head of the house, becomes esteemed, the eyes of the Jewish people are opened, as above. So this is the connection of "bereshit' to "l'einei kol Yisrael". Bereshit- this is the master of the house, the Tzaddik, who is the glory of the world, through whom are opened "einei kol Yisrael", the eyes of all the Jewish people."
St Joseph in the Divine Will: A Hebrew Catholic Reflection
We were reading the 25th day meditation of the "Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will" of Luisa Piccarreta about St Joseph being eclipsed and inundated by the seas of the attributes of Jesus and Mary.
...Now, you must know that for your Mama, for dear and sweet Jesus, and for Saint Joseph, the little house of Nazareth was a Paradise. Being the Eternal Word, my dear Son possessed the Divine Will within Himself, of His own virtue; immense seas of light, of sanctity, of joys and of infinite beauty resided in that little Humanity. I possessed the Divine Will by grace; and even though I could not embrace immensity, as did beloved Jesus – because He was God and Man, and I was always His finite creature – yet, in spite of this, the Divine Fiat filled Me so much, having formed Its seas of light, of sanctity, of love, of beauties and of happinesses; and the light, the love and everything that a Divine Will can possess, which came out of Us, were so great that Saint Joseph remained eclipsed, inundated, and lived of our reflections.
I immediately perceived the connection of this eclipsed state of Joseph to the ''darkness over the face of the deep'' in Genesis 1. Jesus is that face and his infinite seas are the deep (the mystery of the Incarnation of the God-man). The darkness who is Joseph in Eternity is the protecting dark cloud hiding the mysteries of the Immaculate Conception and Incarnation from Lucifer and his angels. He also hides in the darkness the synergy of the Spirit of God and Our Lady who is the "face over the waters" (the created seas of the attributes (love etc) which is the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception).Dear child, in this house of Nazareth, the Kingdom of the Divine Will was in full force. Every little act of ours – that is, working, starting the fire, preparing the food – were all animated by the Supreme Volition, and were formed on the solidity of the sanctity of pure love. Therefore, from the littlest to the greatest of our acts, immense joys, happinesses and beatitudes were unleashed. And we remained so inundated as to feel ourselves as though under a pouring rain of new joys and indescribable contentments...
Joseph living and dwelling in the heart of the House of Nazareth, which is the heart of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, is totally eclipsed or darkened and inundated by these seas, so that he can become a pure mirror or reflector of these seas in a hidden manner to Luisa and others. In the same manner in which Our Lady is the Dark Lady (Black Madonna) and the Night (Lilah) in order to perfectly reflect the Divine Light, so does the darkened or eclipsed Joseph. Our Lady was always dark and inundated or full of grace whereas Joseph had to be darkened (as he was not immaculately conceived) in order to be inundated or filled.
I think many in the Divine Will movement have misinterpreted this as meaning, that St Joseph lived in some kind of lesser reflection of the Divine Will rather than in the Kingdom of the Divine Will itself. It actually says that Joseph lived in the reflections of the seas which are the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Joseph lives in this Kingdom in a very deep way as he is totally eclipsed (has become nothing, like Our Lady) and totally inundated or filled with God's attributes or reflections (emanations/ sefirot). Of course it is true in one sense that just as the seas of Jesus are greater than Our Lady's, so Our Lady's seas are greater than St Joseph's, just as his are greater than Luisa's seas.
Luisa's "Book of Heaven" Volume 29 states:
...After this I continued my acts in the Divine Fiat, and my poor mind stopped in the little house of Nazareth, where the Queen of Heaven, the celestial King Jesus and Saint Joseph were in possession of and lived in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. So that this kingdom is not estranged to the earth: the house of Nazareth, the family that lived in it belonged to this kingdom and they held it in full vigor... (May 31, 1931)If Luisa states in clear and concise language that St Joseph was possessed of and lived in Divine Will in the Holy House of Nazareth on earth, then that is good enough for me. Those who say otherwise may be sincere but they are on the wrong path in this regard, no matter their academic qualifications or how long they have been studying the writings. No one, including Luisa, can receive a grace that gives them access to a greater sanctity than Jesus, Mary or Joseph. Luisa can only attain such a sanctity as the grace of living in Divine Will on earth through her union with, in and through Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
“My daughter, your life must be hidden with Us in the House of Nazareth. If you work, if you pray, if you eat, if you walk, you must give one hand to Me, the other to our Mother; and look at St Joseph to see if your acts are like Ours.
Then you will be able to say, ‘I make a model of what Jesus, my heavenly Mother and St Joseph do. Then, I copy it.’ I want to repeat My hidden Life in you according to the model you have made. In you I want to find the works of my Mother and St Joseph, as well as My own works...
...My daughter, take heart, don’t be discouraged. If you don’t know how to do something, ask Me to teach you and I’ll do it right away. I’ll speak to you of Our actions, Our intentions, and Our constant Love. I’ll show you how I, like sea, and they, like two rivers, overflowed into each other; that We didn’t have much time to talk, since Love absorbed us so much. See how far behind Us you are? You must work hard to catch up to Us. I don’t want you behind, but with Us; so be silent and pay attention for I do not want you to be behind Us but in Our midst.”
St Joseph:Quasi-Incarnation of the Father
Recently, our parish priest (Father Tate) on Trinity Sunday spoke of his dislike of those pictures or icons that presented God the Father as an old man. Today, I was speaking to a Catholic hermitess of Jewish ancestry who shared her thoughts with me about how the humanity of the God-man Yeshua connects in his humanity with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKadosh). She spoke about how St Maximilian Kolbe called Our Lady the quasi-incarnation of the Holy Spirit (see Baruch 3:37) and thus we could perhaps refer to St Joseph as the quasi-incarnation (shadow) of the Father. It is through Joseph's humanity that the Father sheds tears for his son. Was it St Joseph in Eternity that appeared as the Angel of Consolation to Yeshua in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Reflecting on this I realised that the best created and living icon of God the Father is in fact St Joseph. I have never liked the images of St Joseph as a balding old man, much like my parish priest doesn't like the images of God the Father as an old man. One Catholic tradition states that Yeshua and St Joseph looked physically alike so there would be no scandal about his paternity. Thus, a painted icon of God the Trinity could have three identical young men representing the Trinity.
In a sense, the Church (Kehilla / Ekklesia) is a triune manifestation of Divine Wisdom or Intelligence (Sekhel) as House of God, Bride of Mashiach and Body of Mashiach. St Joseph as the created icon or shadow (quasi-incarnation) of God the Father is the Father or Master of the House. He represents the Divine Wisdom or Intelligence (Sekhel) as Chokhmah (wisdom) and Abba (Daddy/ Papa). Our Lady as the created icon and quasi-incarnation of God the Holy Spirit and of the ousia (essence/ atzmut) of the Divinity is the Mother of the Bride. She represents the Divine Wisdom as Binah (understanding) and Imma (Mummy/ Mama). Yeshua in his humanity as the created visible icon and incarnation of the Divinity of God the Son and of the invisible Triune God is the Head of the Body. He represents the Divine Wisdom as Daat (knowledge), Keter (crown) and the hidden Ratzon (Divine Will). The Jewish tradition calls the Messiah the Ish ha-Daat (the man of knowledge).
The triune nature of the soul as intellect, memory and will is in Plato's teaching known as intellect, affections (feelings /emotions) and volitional will. In Hebrew this is called sekhel, regesh and ratzon. In a sense, sekhel represents the role of the hidden Father, regesh represents the loving Mother who ponders all in her heart, and ratzon represents the volitional will which puts the Father's will into act. The brain or head is the bodily vessel of sekhel, the heart is the bodily vessel of regesh, and the hands and feets are the bodily vessels of ratzon. Using 1 John 5:7-8 as our template we can say that there are three (partzufim/ persons) that testify in Heaven- the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit and these three are one (echad) and on earth there are three (partzufim) who testify - Yeshua, Miriam and Joseph and these three agree as one.
It was the incarnated and resurrected Yeshua, as the God and Prince of the Torah (Sar haTorah), that manifested on Sinai out of Eternity, united with the mystical quasi-incarnational presence of the Holy Spirit in Miriam haKedosha as the fire and the mystical quasi-incarnational presence of the Father in St Joseph as the Cloud. These are three hearts that beat as one. In the same manner, the incarnated and resurrected God-Messiah as Divine Word burst forth into time at the beginning (bereshit) out of Eternity united with the Will of the Father and the power of the Spirit and created the universe in the Template of these three human hearts that beat as one. The Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer states:
"The world was created by 10 sayings and they are included in three, in wisdom, understanding and knowledge.
see Partzufim:A Hebrew Catholic Understanding
Joseph, the Cup of Blessing and Rosa Mystica: A Hebrew Catholic Insight
The Sefer Zohar states: "The Rose is the Cup of Blessing". This is part of the mystery of the Holy Grail. It is also the Eucharistic Cup of Blessing in the liturgy of the Mass. Thus, the Rose in another sense refers to the Eucharist. This is the Cup of Salvation that has messianic significance (see Psalm 116:13). The Zohar associates this cup with the Holy Child who is Son of Joseph and associated with the fish (nuna in Aramaic). Every holy hour of Eucharistic Adoration is an entering into the rose and the Divine Attributes follow forth as a rose unfolding and blossoming. Rav Hamnuna Sava mentioned in the Sefer Zohar is a reference to the Fisherking of this period who is a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea the original guardian of the Holy Grail. This is the Rose as ‘Shoshan’ the male six petalled one. ‘Shoshanah’ is the female thirteen petalled Rose.
The six days of Creation are also the unfolding or blossoming of the Rose. On the first day of Creation the conceptual light of the Two Hearts was hidden in the textual well of Miriam. On the third day of Creation these two beautiful blossoming plants ‘appeared on earth’. This means that the concept of the Two Hearts was revealed to the angelic beings who, under God, ruled the Universe and the Earth. On the fourth day of Creation the imperfect lights (angelic beings who became demons) fell by rejecting the Divine Will and Light for these Two Hearts.
These Two Hearts were the beautiful blossoming Mystical Rose Bush and the Mystical Apple Tree. They are the image and model for the Creation. They are the Eternal Blueprint and the Living Torah. The attributes called the blossoms are mirrored in the patriarchs. Like the Two hearts the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were in the mind of the Creator as a Blueprint before the actual spiritual and physical creation. In the Olam Haba (The World that is Coming) they were hidden with ‘the Two Hearts that beat as One’. The blossoming Mystical Rose Bush is also the Burning Bush of Exodus, who Moses encountered and from which the Lord spoke from its midst. This also alludes to the mystery of the Immaculate Conception.
The Patriarch Joseph is a representative of the heavenly Joseph associated with the Divine Attribute of Righteousness. This heavenly Joseph is the Ultimate Tzaddik (Righteous One). Joseph is the one who lives in Divine Will, through being totally eclipsed or hidden in his spousal bride. The patriarch Joseph is also a type of Joseph, the husband of Our Lady, who is also called a Tzaddik (rigteous or just man) in the New Testament. Joseph is the hidden Tzaddik and Master of Prayer referred to in the teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (see Likutey Moharan II: 67). Joseph is also a sign of the Messiah son of Joseph who is to come in the fullness of these attributes that are called the blossoms of the Patriarchs.
The blossoms are the spiritual fruit of the Divinity. The Zohar hints that the coming of the two blossoming ones is connected to a Joseph–like figure with whom they would live in a hidden way in the Holy Land. The Zohar states that they will be revealed when the Rainbow herself appears. The feminine Rainbow is the symbol of Our Lady in Eternity (Olam Haba). When she comes to earth (‘appears on earth’), the full message of the Patriarchs and the Torah will be revealed about these two pure child-like ones (symbolised by the Cherubs on the ends of the Ark of the Covenant). Joseph's coat of many colours represents the male Rainbow or male array of sefirot (attributes). These two pure golden children of Adam and Eve will bring the full blossoming of the Torah to its deepest level of Messianic, Marian and Universal understanding. A level only the humble and child-like ones can fully comprehend. The Zohar is this way of the Rose, revealing the true blossoming of the Torah.
Rosa Mundi, the Divine Name, the Number 42 and the Cup of Salvations: A Hebrew Catholic Meditation
St Joseph and Our Hidden Vocation: A Hebrew Catholic Reflection
Today we (a group of consecrated brothers or monacelli) are celebrating the feast of St Joseph at our Beit Achim (House of brothers) at our place called St Joseph's Hidden Place in a small valley in Tasmania we have named St Joseph's Hidden Valley. An important part of our vocation is the hiddenness of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the Holy House of Nazareth similar to that as lived by Blessed Charles de Foucauld and the servant of God Luisa Piccarreta. All of our brothers take Joseph as part of their consecrated name and we daily pray a perpetual novena to St Joseph as well as praying the Cloak of St Joseph prayers everyday during March.
Recently I watched the movie called "Of Gods and Men" about a group of Catholic monks in Algeria living a "hidden" life among the Muslim people who were later martyred by extremist Islamists. For some reason their life in Algeria reminded me of our life in Tasmania. We may not be surrounded by Muslims but we are living in a society that is very indifferent to religion and faith and we see ourselves as a presence of faith and prayer in a fairly hidden manner. In a sense we have a ministry to spy out the land and to plough it and hopefully plant some seed.
Others often don't understand our way of life as they would if we were "active" brothers who worked with drug addicts or street people or who seek to take leading roles in the active life of the parish. In fact, I did work with drug addicts and street people for many years earlier in my life. It is always a temptation to get drawn into activities that are not part of our charism of littleness and hiddenness. It is also hard to die to the desire to be appreciated and noticed when our calling is in fact to be forgotten and hidden. It is difficult to keep in mind that being missionary disciples of Jesus for us means doing it in a way that accords with our calling or vocation to be little and hidden in the darkness of the cloud of Joseph and the womb of Mary with our Eucharistic Lord.
So we embrace our life of hiddenness by accompanying Jesus in the tabernacle and in a hidden way pray with him in Divine Will for all people and all creation, for our archbishop, priests and people here in Tasmania and especially in the Huon Valley at the very southern end of the world as well as for the Universal Church. We also pray daily for Monsignor Harry Entwhistle and the needs and intentions of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross. We are at the service of our brothers and sisters who are called to be more "active" missionary disciples of the Lord.
Carmel, Joseph and the Triangle
At the top of the 7 triangle is the Hebrew Letter beit (ב) and this read as bat (daughter or lady) alludes to the Lady of Carmel. Below the beit on the second line of the triangle are the letters resh (ר) and alef (א) this alludes to rosh (head) who is the Messiah who is the Head of Carmel and to St Joseph who is the Aluf (chief) or patron of Carmel. These three upper letters of the triangle can also be read as "see (רא) the Lady (ב)".
ִThen if we include the third line of the triangle we have the word ShYT (שית) which means six. Thus we can now read these first six letters of the first word of Genesis as "six (שית) see (רא) the Lady of Carmel (ב)". Six alludes to the Serafim who have six wings. Our Community of the Little Eucharistic Brothers of Divine Will refer to our six seraphim saints who are our special patrons after Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Luisa. For our community they are the three men St Francis of Assisi, St John of the Cross and St Charles de Foucauld and the three women saints of St Hildegarde of Bingen, St Therese of the Child Jesus and St Faustina.
However, the six alluded to here can be seen as six who will be at the head of those, outside the Holy Family, who live in Divine Will. The first of these six may be the servant of God Luisa Piccareta (a type of Our Lady) and St Hannibale di Francia (a type of St Joseph) and four more who are still to come. One will be the Great Monarch (a type of Enoch), another the Great Angelic Pope (a type of Elijah), another a Special Angelic Prophet (a type of John) and a Holy Angelic Woman (a type of Tabitha or Dorcas).
If we then add a further eighth line to the triangle then we have 36 letters which allude to the lamed vavniks as the 36ers who live in Divine Will. We can thus then divide the triangle into the six (ו) upper letters and the lower 30 (ל) letters. Thus each of the six Seraphim leaders have five under-leaders who also live in Divine Will. The triangle of eight (ח) alludes to the word Chai for life and these are the heads (Rashei Beit = Heads of the House) of the human choir of Chayot as those who live in divine Will.
The Superior General of the Carmelites wrote in a letter to the Carmelites about St Joseph in 2020:
St. Joseph is presented in Carmel’s ancient liturgy as the virginal spouse of Mary, united to her through a real marriage, in which his authority as a spouse, protector and father is seen in his constant service. Moreover, St. Joseph is presented in his obedience to God. He is the just one, the worthy master of the house of the Lord, to whom a great responsibility is entrusted, that of giving a name to the child that is born. He gave him the divine name announced by the angel, the name Jesus. By doing this, Joseph became the first one to announce that in the child of Nazareth we are saved by God. In that same ancient liturgy we can detect a wealth of Carmelite spirituality under the image of St. Joseph: 1) puritas cordis that makes it possible to have a vision of God, 2) union with Mary, and 3) the fruitfulness of the mystical life understood in terms of the conception and birth of the incarnate Word in the soul that is pure. St. Joseph for that reason is celebrated as the image and reflection of the Carmelite mystical life in God.
He
also spoke of St Joseph as the Master of Prayer which our own community
have done in our perpetual novena prayer to St Joseph since 2014. We
had drawn our inspiration from the story of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
about the Master of Prayer who is the True Tzaddik.
Just as Joseph watched over the relationship between Jesus and Mary, defending it from dangers from outside and protecting the home where they dwelt, likewise, he would watch over the Carmels that just like the family of Nazareth were intended to be places in which the humanity of Jesus would find a home, and Carmelites would live only for that end. For this reason, Joseph is not only a patron, but also the master of all who practice prayer, (Life 6, 8) because there is no one who knows more than he what it means to live a life of intimacy with Jesus and Mary, because of the many years he lived with them and the way in which he made possible their life as a family in Nazareth.
Thus, we see that the human attributes of the Messiah hidden in the triangle of 8 a number significant to the Messiah and in Greek gematria the name Jesus is 888. They are found between the brown letters of heh and tav representing the Cross (ha tav). The two tzadi letters represent the tzaddik Joseph and the Tzaddik Tzemach who is Messiah son of Joseph.
Temple Theology, Kiss the Son and Joseph: A Hebrew Catholic Reflection
In recent years many scholars such as Mark Kinzer and Andre Villeneuve and others have written about the Temple or Tabernacle theology found in the Gospel of John and the New Testament. A Jewish writer Leonora Leet writes that the inner secret of the Temple cult of Second Temple Judaism is concerned with the mystery of the "Divine Son" or "Son of Man". Others have revealed that the whole physical structure of the Temple is built in the image of the "Divine Man". This "Divine Man" or "Adam Kadmon" is also at the heart of Jewish mystical thought. This Temple Theology is also a Theology of the Body of the Divine Son or Messiah.
The Church of the Circumcision's whole spirituality is based on this Temple or Tabernacle Theology understood as a Theology of the Body. The reclining sleeping man of the Temple represents the sleeping Jacob (Israel) and the prophetic dreams of the reclining sleeping Joseph. Leonora Leet writes that the Divine Son is the embodiment of Israel. However this mystery of the Temple revolves also around the mystery of the words from the Psalms of David "Kiss the Son". This alludes to Jacob "falling on the neck" or the kissing of his son Joseph. Pope Francis loves the image of the reclining sleeping St Joseph.
This priestly Tabernacle sanctity which was part of the mystery of the dwelling presence and Glory in the Temple was extended to the laity by the Pharisees. The best of Pharisee teaching was bringing of the kedushah (holiness/sanctity) of the temple to the homes and lives of the ordinary Jews. Due to Jesus' clash with the leaven (hametz) of the five hypocritical groups of Pharisee we often forget the two good groups of the moderate Essenes (mystics) and the Hillelites (practitioners of mercy and loving kindness).
Thus the best of Catholic and Jewish spirituality is based on this focus on the presence and glory of God as central in the life of the believer and his family. When we focus more on the outward forms and rules and regulations instead of the inner light that leads us to communion and adoration (kissing the Son) then we are following the hypocrites not the true believers. The Song of Songs further conceals the deeper mysteries. "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth..." cries out the soul of the true believer who is represented or embodied by the mystical Bride who is Lady Shekhinah and Lady Wisdom.
When
we do Eucharistic Adoration we are sitting on or embracing the knees of
the Divine Son and kissing him. With the revival of the movement for
Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in the Church in recent decades Heaven
is starting to Kiss the Earth in order to lead us to the fulfilment of
the Lord's Prayer that the Divine Will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. As fruit of this Temple or Tabernacle theology, expressed in our
time, a new appreciation of the role of the Father and St Joseph will
occur in which there will be a turning of the hearts of the children to
the fathers and the fathers to the children which will restore the
family to its rightful place as a place in which the Divine Presence
dwells.
The
Father will Kiss the Son and the Father will dance at the feast of his
Son as the Father in the story of the prodigal son must have done. The
Father races to greet his Son and to kiss him and embrace him. The
Father sees each person as the image of his Son who he is desiring to
kiss and embrace into the new and divine holiness of dwelling in his
Divine Will as Son and not Servant only. This icon of the dancing Father
is alive today in the Hasidic Jewish tradition of the Rebbe or Tzaddik
dancing. The Father is rushing right now to kiss and embrace you even
with the smell of the pig sty still upon you. He longs for you to dance
in his Will in the great feast of the Lamb who is the Lion of Judah.
