Sleeping St. Joseph gets a place in bishop's office

The Society of Saint Joseph of Boston, recently presented Bishop McManus with a replica of “The Sleeping St. Joseph” statue that Pope Francis has on his desk at the Vatican. And now, Bishop McManus has one in his office too.
Frank Mazzaglia, special projects assistant to the Worcester diocesan superintendent of schools, and a member of the Saint Joseph society, presented the statue to the Bishop during the taping of a diocesan television program. The Father’s Day program, part of the series, A Conversation with Bishop McManus, is to air in June, according to Raymond L. Delisle, director of communications and chancellor for the Diocese.
“I was very grateful to Frank Mazzaglia,” Bishop McManus told The Catholic Free Press, this week.
The Bishop said he didn’t realize the significance of the statue to the Holy Father. Bishop McManus placed his statue where he can see it when people come to his office to meet with him. He said that he looks to St. Joseph for inspiration and guidance.
According to a press release from Mr. Mazzaglia, “The society promotes the scriptural words of the Evangelist Matthew who tells us that in his moments of rest an angel revealed God’s will to Joseph at three specific times, and that free of our daily work and obligations, we should also take care to listen when God is speaking to us in the quiet of our hearts.”
Bishop McManus, noting that his middle name is Joseph, said he has a devotion to St. Joseph. For years, he said, he had a prayer to the saint in his breviary, but lost that prayer.  He didn’t know every word by heart, but could stumble through it, he said.
But now he doesn’t have to. A copy of the same prayer was in the letter he received from The Society of Saint Joseph. So now, Bishop Robert Joseph McManus has the prayer back in his breviary and prays it every morning, as he had done for years.