The Man Nearest to Christ: The Nature and Historic Developmant of the Devotion to Sant Joseph

This is a republication of a 1944 Edition by Bruce Publishing Company. Saint Joseph, the “faithful and prudent servant whom the Lord has set over His household,” was declared patron of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1870. Yet devotion to the foster father of Jesus Christ has been a feature of the Christian life since the earliest days of the Church. In The Man Nearest to Christ, Francis L. Filas expertly surveys the nature and historic development of devotion to Saint Joseph, faithfully adhering to his principle that true devotion supposes a desire for historical veracity and a fidelity to reliable sources. Weaving the evidence of Scripture, patrology, theology, and popular history, Filas presents the life of Saint Joseph and corrects common errors about it; examines devotion to the saint from its beginnings to the Council of Trent; and concludes, spanning the next four centuries, with the declarations of Popes Pius IX, Leo XIII, Benedict XV, and Pius XI, which proclaimed “in glowing crescendo the worth and dignity and power and glory of Joseph, spouse of Mary, foster father of the Word Incarnate, and patron of the Universal Church…the model and guide for every class of modern society and the helper of each individual soul that confidently and devoutly calls on him.”

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