Blessed Karl and the Year of Saint Joseph
The Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph by Giovanni Gasparro
In this year of Saint Joseph, most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, foster father of Jesus Christ, and patron of the universal Church, we might look to Blessed Karl of Austria for an example of how to honor this most holy of saints.
How important a part did devotion to Saint Joseph play in the spiritual life of Blessed Karl? How did he and his family express their love for Saint Joseph?
By the time Blessed Karl was born, devotion to Saint Joseph was widespread in Christendom. As in most Catholic families, we find the name Joseph---one of Karl's own middle names--- well represented among his ancestors. Even his mother had the name Maria Josefa.
On his father's side, devotion to Saint Joseph had an interesting history.
The House of Habsburg, from its beginnings, had been renowned for its robust Catholic faith. Its members tried to live up to the ideal that virtue makes a ruler fit to rule. Certain religious devotions and pious practices became so identified with the House of Habsburg and its rulers, that this compendium of devotions became known as Pietas Austriaca. Foremost among the characteristic practices were Eucharistic devotion and Marian devotion.
After the Lord Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, revealing the treasures of His Heart, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus quickly spread from France to Austria and became an integral part of Pietas Austriaca.
In her book entitled Pietas Austriaca, Anna Coreth explains that veneration of Saint Joseph really only developed in the late Middle Ages, in the context of a greater focus on the childhood of Jesus. Saint Teresa of Avila actively propagated this new devotion through the Carmelite Order which she had reformed. She and her Carmelites were close to the court of King Philip of Spain. The devotion to Saint Joseph traveled from the Spanish Habsburgs to the Austrian Habsburgs when the Spanish wife of Emperor Ferdinand II, Eleanor of Gonzaga, founded the first convent of the reformed Carmelites in Vienna, and dedicated it to Saint Joseph.
Devotion to Saint Joseph grew quickly in the House of Habsburg, culminating in 1675, when Emperor Leopold dedicated his hereditary lands, and soon afterward, the entire empire, to Saint Joseph as its patron. He credited Saint Joseph for the birth of his son and heir to the throne, whom he named Joseph, an uncustomary name at that time.
Emperor Leopold was a dedicated Catholic who exemplified the ideals of Pietas Austriaca. The Jesuit poet Nicolas Avancini named Leopold “the emperor who summarizes in himself the virtues and piety of all preceding rulers.”
Bishop Rudolf Graber of Regensburg, in a 1959 address, added, “Had he been able to look into the future, he might have seen another emperor 300 years later who deserved this accolade to a much higher degree, the Servant of God Karl of the House of Austria.”
Emperor Karl followed the example of Emperor Leopold in the veneration of Saint Joseph.
When he started his own family, he gave each child the name of Maria, and also the name of Joseph, among their Baptismal names as patrons.
Empress Zita testified about the prominent place devotion to Saint Joseph held in her husband's spiritual life. The Litany of Saint Joseph was one of the prayers he recited every day.
The whole family gathered for special devotions to Saint Joseph every day during the month of March. During the Christmas Season they honored him for his key role in the story of the Incarnation and the birth and early life of Our Lord and Savior.
Blessed Karl looked to Saint Joseph for guidance in leading, guiding, and protecting his family, for help in being a good husband, and in raising his children to be holy.
As Emperor and King, and thus as father to the people of many nations, he also looked to Saint Joseph for guidance on how to lead his peoples, for help in being a righteous and just ruler, and a good, wise, and loving father to all of his people.
His dedication to Saint Joseph, and reliance on his powerful help and intercession, only increased when the Imperial family was forced from the throne and driven out of the empire.
During his exile in Switzerland, Blessed Karl put in writing this trusting prayer to Saint Joseph:
Domestic Chapel, Villa Prangins, 21 April, 1920
Saint Joseph, head and guardian of the Holy Family, in whose powerful assistance my ancestors trusted during difficult times,
I today choose you once again as my particular protector and intercessor. Full of faith, I place under your protection, myself, my house, and my kingdoms.
Graciously assist me from heaven in the struggle against the powers of darkness, who have risen up against divine and human authority. Conduct me back from exile into my homeland, and show my peoples, misled by deception, the way they might peacefully reunite under my scepter.
With a joyful heart, I will then repeat solemnly and publicly this act of trusting dedication to you, O holy patron. This I promise. Amen.
Like so many other prayers of Blessed Karl, this one was not to be answered during his lifetime. Instead, God gave him the opportunity to imitate his patron, Saint Joseph, in his unswerving trust in God no matter what happened.
In their final place of exile in Madeira, house chaplain Father Zsámboki reported that every day the Imperial family held special devotions in honor of Saint Joseph.
During the Emperor's final illness, Father Zsámboki gave him special joy when on March 19, the feast of Saint Joseph, he set up a temporary altar and celebrated Mass in his sick room.
Emperor Karl Lying in Repose, April 1, 1922
As Blessed Karl was dying, he often repeated the ejaculation, “Jesus, Mary, Joseph.”
Catholics traditionally pray to Saint Joseph for a happy death, knowing that the happiest of deaths is not one free of pain and suffering, but one approached in the state of grace, suffused with the presence of Christ, consoled by His sacraments, and focused on the blessed eternity He has promised us.
Like Saint Joseph who, we are told, died in the presence of Jesus and Mary, Blessed Karl also died adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, which Father Zsámboki held only inches from his face.
As followers of Blessed Karl, whatever our station in life, let us imitate him in asking Saint Joseph's help every day in our families and in our workplaces, and in any position in which we may exercise leadership over others. In these difficult times for our country and for the church, let us also turn confidently to Saint Joseph, who is actively attentive to our needs as Protector of the Universal Church and of any nation that calls upon him.
Together with Blessed Karl, let us implore, "Saint Joseph, pray for us!"
Leopold I, the emperor of the day, “compendium omnium regum priorum,” “who summarizes in himself all preceding rulers,” where “cura pietatis” and “sacra religio avorum” are concerned, the “care for this reverence” and the “sacred religion of the ancestors.” Had the noble spirits looked a bit farther into the future they might have seen another emperor 300 years later who would have deserved this “pietas victrix” to a much higher degree, Karl, the Servant of God of the House of Austria.