I went to the movie, A Father’s Heart, which is based on the life of, and the miracles attributed to, St. Joseph[1]. It made a one-day showing at a local theater on May 1, 2023, the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker. Most of the stories were set in Spain since that is where the producer of the film originates.
Modern or Traditional
One could not necessarily hope for a telling of the life of St. Joseph from a traditional point of view in this day and age. In general, I would describe the piety behind it as too aligned with Novus Ordo sentimentality. To be clear, I did not detect any heresy in the movie. Yet absent was the true depth of St. Joseph’s masculinity, virtue, and holiness. Is he not the exemplar model that fathers, husbands, and clergymen need today, when masculine effeminacy is so pervasive?
Thus, I believe traditional Catholics will be disappointed in the movie, and I would not recommend you spend your time viewing it. Far better to read one of the great books on the life of St. Joseph, such as those authored by Sister Maria Cecilia Baij, OSB (+1776) or Edward Healy Thompson (1888). There are also many excellent prayers, novenas, and other devotions which can increase our devotion to the Universal Patron of Holy Mother Church (e.g., The Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph, the Memorare to St. Joseph, the prayer to St. Joseph after the Rosary, and an entire section dedicated to him in the Raccolta).
God Can Provide His Grace Through Many Means
However, for some people there may be some merit to this film. It narrated the typical retelling of the life of St. Joseph. Fortunately, it placed an emphasis on how he was a young man (replacing a common notion that he was an old man when he married Our Lady). It was argued that one catalyst for that change was El Greco’s painting of St. Joseph and the Christ Child done in 1599. Yet Church Fathers and mystics clearly teach he was young, and like Our Lady, had made a private vow of celibacy to God.
The version presented in the movie was probably a bit too young, with the Blessed Virgin Mary being a bit too smiley. Both characters lacked sufficient gravitas. Yet how can misrepresentations be avoided, when sinful beings are attempting to portray supremely holy individuals who never committed actual sin?
Consecrating Oneself to Mary and Joseph
Father Donald Calloway, author of Consecration to St. Joseph, was featured prominently throughout the movie. His book has a 33-day set of consecration prayers to St. Joseph. This same priest has also written a 33-day consecration to Our Lady.
However, The Fatima Center strongly recommends the method of consecration by St. Louis de Montfort. This 33-day Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary is authored by one of the history’s greatest Marian saints, so we shouldn’t expect to find anything better[2]. And it makes theological sense to first complete this consecration, with its annual renewal, before attempting a consecration to St. Joseph.
Of course, you cannot go wrong with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I suppose there needs to be a balance there, however, since there are only 24 hours in the day.
Fatima Connections
There were several conversion stories attributed to St. Joseph. I thought they should have left out the one about the male prostitute (too much information, especially for children). There was also a story about the miraculous healing of a woman with 14 children (too bad they could not get the girls to wear dresses or skirts for the movie). Fatima was mentioned a number of times, mostly to comment on the vision of St. Joseph given to the children on the day of the Miracle of the Sun.
There was a 30-minute short film shown at the beginning, called Our Liberator: St. Joseph and the Priests of Dachau[3]. It told the story of the amazing liberation of Dachau, right before it was scheduled to be burned down before the Americans got there[4]. I could understand if someone put it on a par with the Soviets leaving Austria in 1955 due to the Rosary Crusade. But the Polish commentator declared that it was the “greatest miracle of the 20th century.” Had he forgotten about the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima?
There does seem to be an increase in the devotion to St. Joseph in recent years. Some saints have said this will be a sign we are nearing the End Times (or at least, the end of an age). However, Heaven has specifically asked for devotion to the Immaculate Heart. In fact, Our Lord told Sister Lucia that He would not grant the grace for the conversion of Russia or world peace until Russia was properly consecrated because “I want My whole Church to acknowledge the consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that it may extend its cult later on and place the devotion to this Immaculate Heart besides the devotion to My Sacred Heart.” I wish the movie had made mention of these crucial truths.
As important devotion to St. Joseph is, it is not the solution given by Heaven for our times. Nevertheless, we can hope and pray that an increase in devotion to St. Joseph will lead to an increased devotion to Our Lord’s Sacred Heart and to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.
ENDNOTES:
[1] https://www.goyaproducciones.com/en/portfolio_page/a-fathers-heart/
[2] https://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/consecration-to-st-joseph/p/BKDEV04316
[3] https://www.ncregister.com/blog/a-fathers-heart-fathom-events
[4] If you want to learn more about the priests imprisoned at Dachau, we encourage you to view the conference “The Traditional Mass: A Refuge in a Time of Crisis” (8 min.mark) by David Rodríguez, given in 2018 at a Fatima Conference in Dallas, Texas.