vladimirgrebenar 
We call saints persons who have left the world, some by ascension to heaven like the prophet Elijah, some by natural death like Moses, some by premature death due to a serious illness like Sister Faustina, and some by martyrdom for witnessing to the faith like Ignatius of Antioch. Is there a testimony in Scripture of the activities of the saints directed toward the people of this world? The event of the transfiguration of Jesus took place on Mount Tabor before the apparition of the prophets Elijah and Moses who left the world long before the birth of Jesus.
What did Moses and Elijah, as the greatest saints of the Old Testament, talk to Jesus at Tabor a few days before his death before the eyes of the three frightened apostles? They certainly encouraged him to persevere until his death on the cross in order to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, that is, to fulfill God’s plan and achieve victory over the kingdom of darkness and death. Revelation, as the last book of the Bible, contains the testimony of the apostle John who saw the events of the last days, and described the victory of Jesus’ kingdom as the wedding of the “Lamb” – Jesus and the “bride” – the Church as a community of saints: “She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones” (Rev 19:8).
The Apostle John was given to see the heavenly Church made up of saints who did righteous deeds during their life on earth by faith in the true God. The history of holiness in the first and only Church dates back to the middle of the second century. From the earliest times, the Church has developed a doctrine of saints based on the following: a) the saints give us an example of the Christian life, and b) the saints intercede before God for our needs. The oldest record of the veneration of saints refers to the martyrdom of Bishop Smyrna Polycarp in 155.
The first canonized saints were exclusively martyrs from the period of the first three centuries of early Christianity. At the end of the third century, the Church recognized as an ideal of the Christian life the examples of persons who did not endure martyrdom, but who witnessed with their lives their love for Christ and their neighbors. After the recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 387, the cult of saint worship in the one Church became more and more intense. The Western Church developed more the worship of relics, and the Eastern the image of saints.
The first schism of the Church in the 11th century into the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Churches retained the cult of saint worship, but each Church has since proclaimed and worshiped its saints, so that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have common declared saints before the schism. Every Church has its saints after the schism. However, the Church’s teaching on holiness recognizes that holiness as a criterion for entering Paradise depends on faith and works that affirm that holiness, which means that there are many saints about whom we know nothing but are in Paradise and pray before God for our needs.
The German Augustinian priest and theologian Martin Luther started the Western Church Reformation movement in the 16th century which, in addition to another Church schism, resulted in a modified teaching on the cult of saints in separate Reformed church communities generally called Protestants. Although today the number of Protestant church communities is estimated at over thirty-three thousand in the world, they are generally considered to have two common foundations of faith, the first “Nicene” from the 4th century which is common to all Christians and even Protestants, and the second “Augsburg” from 16th century which is common only to Protestants. The Augsburg Reform Belief teaches about the cult of saints and for Reformed church communities abolishes the worship of relics and images of saints, abolishes the teaching of intercession of saints for the needs of the individual, and explains that saints pray only for the general needs of the community. The teaching remains that the saints give us examples of life in the faith, although no Protestant church community proclaims them saints.
To this day, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have not significantly changed their attitude towards the doctrine of the saints, but have further strengthened the cult of piety towards the intercession of the saints and following the example of their lives for Christ. According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the holiness of a person is proved by acts of grace of intercession before God. The Church declares a person holy only when God irrefutably affirms the holiness that is proven by extraordinary miraculous healings for some individuals who have prayed for the intercession of the saint for the grace of healing from God. Devotion to the saints puts Christ at the center, not the saint.
The saint intercedes before Christ and when we pray to the saints we are actually praying for their intercession with the Lord Jesus for our needs and intentions. Throughout the history of the Church, special devotions to the saints for special intentions have developed, so today we attribute to some saints a particularly strong intercession for some kind of intention, such as the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua for lost property, St. Vid for mental illness, St. Erasmus for the protection of seafarers and others. A particularly strong intercession for business intentions and the initiation of entrepreneurial initiatives and extraordinary graces from God can be obtained through the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker and the Entrepreneur.
Joseph, Mary’s husband, was an entrepreneur during his lifetime, producing and selling wood products and was popularly called “carpenter”, which means that he was widely known for his professional work. When the Jews of Nazareth saw that Jesus was performing miracles, they wondered: “Is he not the carpenter’s son?” (Mt 13: 54-55), although Joseph was no longer alive at the time Jesus was acting in public. Therefore, Joseph was a well-known entrepreneur. Josip’s carpentry is a picture of today’s entrepreneurial work on operational processes that requires great patience, creativity, skill, will, proactivity, entrepreneurial spirit…
Perhaps the best argument about the power of Joseph’s prayer intercession for business purposes is to say, “Give Joseph a chance and see for yourself!” St. Joseph the Worker has such a strong intercession with the Lord Jesus, according to the power right up to the intercession of Mary. Why? Joseph and Mary said to Jesus, “Yes!”, So Jesus does not want to say “No” to them. It is important to keep in mind that Joseph can only advocate for noble and necessary intentions, not for those motivated by selfishness and vain fame. Praying to Joseph for intentions of material blessing and not wanting to change your life is a complete failure. Joseph, and no other saint can advocate for the sinful intentions or for the intentions of men who reject God’s word and God’s Law.
Before praying to Joseph and other saints, business people should think about the motives of the intention they are praying for in order to convey in prayer the true need that will surely be answered. Everyone who prayed to the saints, and especially to Joseph for business purposes, received a response from God in the form of blessings and grace. Joseph has a strong intercession for great material blessings, but only for those who are poor in heart! In the business world, many believing entrepreneurs testify to the extraordinary power of the thirty days with St. Joseph and the Rosary of St. Joseph for business purposes. Also, I personally pray in continuity of that prayer and testify to the extraordinarily strong influence of St. Joseph on the blessings in the field of business and finance.
Most often an extraordinary blessing by the intercession of St. Joseph occurs on the last day of the thirtieth! Anyone who has experienced Joseph’s help in business, especially in the area of finance, knows that it is reasonable to continue to ask Joseph for help. God is glorified through Joseph even today, as He did two millennia ago. On the one hand small, self-effacing, silent, unobtrusive, humble and modest, and on the other hand so strong in advocating for great business ventures and financial blessings. Joseph in the kingdom of heaven certainly has access to God’s treasures whose wealth cannot be calculated!
Dreams are one of the common ways of communication between God and man. Many wonder why they themselves do not have dreams with meaning from God. No one can receive a message from the Lord through dreams if there are barriers on the part of man to receive that grace, that is, if man’s prayer experience is weak. Joseph of Egypt came to Pharaoh’s court when he interpreted the dream of seven fat and seven lean cows, and seven full and seven short ears: “Pharaoh then said to Joseph: ‘I had a dream but there was no one to interpret it. But I hear it said of you, ‘If he hears a dream he can interpret it.’’ ‘It is not I,’ Joseph replied to Pharaoh, ‘but God who will respond for the well-being of Pharaoh’” (Gen 41:15-16).
In the Holy Spirit, Joseph prophesied to Pharaoh that seven years of abundance and great prosperity in the land would come, followed by seven years of great crisis and famine, and that Pharaoh must make an important business and political decision: “Therefore, let pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt” (Gen 41:33). Pharaoh took the advice and appointed Joseph his deputy. Joseph provided Egypt with great economic and military strength and a positive influence on the whole world during the seven-year great world crisis: “Indeed, the whole world came to Egypt to Joseph to buy a grain, for famine had gripped the whole world” (Gen 41:57).
Thus, through only one dream, God provided his servant Joseph with influence and a name in the whole world, and Pharaoh with great economic success, because he was humble and obeyed God’s advice. The prophet Daniel interpreted dreams to the great king Nebuchadnezzar and therefore, like Joseph of Egypt, he was at the court of the mighty king of Babylon. God spoke to Joseph of Nazareth several times in a dream and instructed him where to take Mary and the child Jesus. Also, many other places in Scripture describe how God revealed Himself in dreams. A man who is open-hearted to listen to God’s will is open to receive dreams from the Lord. The Lord can give through dreams stimuli to some activity and direction of action or admonitions to stay away from certain people and situations.[1]
[1] The article was published with minor changes in: Veritas. Glasnik Sv. Antuna Padovanskog. Croatian Province of St. Jerome of the Franciscan Conventuals. Zagreb. Sveti Duh 31. No. 6. June 2022. p. 30.