In all orders of things great priviliges are attached to being the eldest, the first. The first Apostle, the first Martyr, the first Seraph, the first son of the Patriarchs, all have special rights which belong to no others; therefore I conclude that St. Joseph has singular prerogatives above all other men, for he was the first to contemplate the admirable humanity of Our Lord Jesus, the first to adore Him, the first to touch Him, the first to serve Him, to nourish Him, and to dwell with Him, the first to hear Him speak and to be enlightened by His divine instructions. He is the first confessor for the faith, since he first suffered for the love of Jesus Christ, forsaking his home and his country to fly with Him; the first Apostle making the Messias known to men, by announcing Him in Egypt; the first man, perhaps, who made profession and vow of virginity, and kept it in the state of marriage; in a word, the first Christian and the first model for the children of the Church. All these distinctions give Joseph great preeminence over all other Saints, and are almost infinite, so that we may apply to him what Jacob said of his eldest son Reuben: ‘Excelling (his brethren) in gifts, greater in command.’
Theologians teach that the office of St. Joseph was more exalted than any other in the Church. We do not speak of Our Lady, who is always above all comparison. They acknowledge, it is true, that in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and in the order of sanctifying grace, the office of the Apostles is the most sublime; but they recognise in the Mother of God, and in St. Joseph, an order, a hierarchy apart, that of the hypostatic union, destined to the immediate service of the person of the Word made flesh, and this second hierarchy is superior in dignity to the first.(3) The Apostles, as we said above, are only the servants of Jesus Christ; Mary and Joseph are His mother and His father.
. . . St. Bernardin of Siena says that the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph was only contracted on earth after having been decided in heaven, and that these two spouses were perfectly worthy one of the other. Mary surpassed all men and Angels in the sovereign plenitude of her graces ; therefore it was necessary that, after her, Joseph should be the most holy human being that existed, that had ever existed, or that should ever exist upon earth. Or is it possible to believe that heaven contains any servant of Mary more eminent in holiness than he who has the honor of being her spouse, her lord, and her master ? And let us even suppose that Joseph had not been enriched with the most precious gifts of heaven before he espoused the most Holy Virgin : what must she not afterwards have asked God for her spouse; what innumerable graces must not she have obtained for him ! For if St. Bernard be right in asserting that no grace comes down from heaven to earth but through the munificent hands of the Mother of God ; if there be no kind of celestial blessing which she has not obtained for one or the other of her servants ; must we not believe that she will have done more for her spouse and the guardian angel of her virginity than for all other human beings ?
. . . Yet Joseph was to enjoy still a higher prerogative. The Uncreated Word, by taking our nature in the womb of the ever-blessed Virgin, chose to bind Himself to render her honor, service, and obedience ; and Joseph being the spouse and master of Mary, it follows that Jesus could not be dependent on His Mother without, at the same time, being dependent on him who was her lord and master. How beautiful it is to see a mortal command two persons who are worthy to rule in heaven and earth ! How admirable to see those two persons whom the celestial hierarchies revere, obey the slightest desire of an humble artisan, who gains his bread by the sweat of his brow !
. . . Let us consider, in the third place, how, as father and spouse, this incomparable Saint has a right to be honoured by Jesus and Mary, since it is a precept, both natural and divine, that every son must honour his father, every wife her husband.
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