St Teresa and St Joseph

St Teresa cherished St Joseph and named him as patron of her first foundation in Avila. I found an article on the net devoted to the relationship between these two saints. The author summarises the help Teresa found in St Joseph under three headings: encouragement to chastity and purity, help in trials and tribulations, support of growth in virtue. I will quote some words the author writes under the first heading.

'We live in a time when it is increasingly more difficult to remain pure of heart and chaste. With media constantly seeking to lead us away from a life of holiness, through which we seek to place the body in the service of the soul, we can become overwhelmed by temptations against chastity in our daily lives. St. Joseph, who was chaste and pure, is the spiritual father who can lead and protect those who are struggling with lust and impurity. St. Teresa of Avila turned to him as the protector of her purity and vow of celibacy. She stated:

I have taken for my advocate and protector, the glorious St. Joseph, to whom I have recommended myself with all the fervor of my heart, and by whom I have been visibly aided. This tender father of my soul, this loving protector hastened to snatch me from the wretched state in which my body languished, as he had delivered me from greater dangers of another nature, which threatened my honor and my eternal salvation.