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If you begin to feel overwhelmed at any point when reading this article, please pause and seek guidance from a trained mental health professional, a trusted friend, or a mentor.
Tria Corda Ministry is named in honor of the three hearts of the Holy Family for two reasons:
- They are a great source of healing.
- They are also great examples of healing and resilience following trauma that we can look to as examples and intercessors.
We don’t know much about the lives of the members of the Holy Family, but from what we do know, we know they faced a lot.
First, we know that the Holy Family, along with all of Israel, was living under political occupation from the Romans. We also know from history that the Romans were violent and unjust with those they occupied. Hence, the Holy Family probably experienced significant fear throughout their lives and witnessed potentially traumatic events.
Second, not long after Jesus was born, the King of Israel, Herod, felt threatened by what he heard about the baby Jesus. An angel informed Joseph in a dream that they needed to flee to Egypt to protect the life of Jesus, so they went to live as refugees in Egypt, away from their homeland, most likely for a few years. Additionally, King Herod had thousands of baby boys killed to try to kill Jesus, leading to a community trauma (Matthew 2:13-23)
Third, tradition and the lack of mention of him after the finding in the temple tell us that Joseph most likely died sometime before the start of Jesus’ public ministry, leaving Mary a widow and Jesus without his earthly father.
Finally, Jesus faced persecution throughout his public ministry, culminating in his death and crucifixion, which we know Mary accompanied Jesus along and witnessed (John 19:25).
So, overall, the Holy Family faced political occupation and threats against their lives, loss of a family member, community trauma, and eventually brutal death, and bearing witness to it.
Lessons We Can Learn From the Holy Family
As we can see, the Holy Family went through a lot, but they kept their faith in God, which helped them to remain resilient and accomplish God’s will.
There were two keys to their healing and resilience through all of this:
- They kept up with all their Jewish traditions and practices, which the Bible mentions quite a bit, such as going to Jerusalem for Passover and fulfilling the law. These practices helped them maintain their relationships with their community and with God.
- Additionally, through the horrible trauma of witnessing her son’s brutal murder, Mary stayed by Jesus’ side and continued to remain by his side until his burial. Mary’s physical presence with Jesus is an example of what we can do when facing trials, remaining close to Jesus on the Cross, which keeping up with our spiritual life can help us do.
How to Grow in Devotion to the Holy Family
One great way to grow in devotion to the Holy Family is through consecrations. You can consecrate yourself to the merciful love of Christ and to Mary and Joseph through Jesus. I recommend the following consecrations, which you can pick up copies of below: