Saint Joseph’s door and Mary’s door

In chapter 32 of her Autobiography, Saint Teresa of Avila recounts the "vision of hell," which the Lord let her briefly see in 1559: "This is one of the most exceptional graces that the Lord granted me. It produced the greatest profit in me, taking away the fear of tribulations and contradictions of life, and giving me the courage to bear them."

This vision gave its full meaning to a new reality about to be born, on August 24, 1562, and presented in this same chapter 32, which is the exact opposite of hell: the first reformed Carmel of Saint Joseph of Avila. This Carmel was like another Holy Family on earth, a little convent after the heart of God that Jesus had described to her one day after Communion:

"He wanted it to be dedicated to Saint Joseph. This saint would guard one of its doors, Our Lady the other, and Jesus himself would stand in the middle. This monastery would be a star that would shine brightly."

There we have it: God’s world is Joseph’s world. It has two doors: the first one, the front door or street door, is entrusted to Joseph. It allows us to leave a complicated, mixed-up, hostile and dangerous world. The other is the mysterious door through which Jesus enters the world, Mary’s door, which opens onto Heaven.

Father André Doze

Joseph Ombre du Père ("Joseph: God’s Shadow") - Éditions des Béatitudes