A young wife credits St. Joseph for a fun surprise

A painting of St. Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Christ Child adorns a wall outside the crypt chapel of the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad. The painting was created in the late 1990s by the late Benedictine Father Donald Walpole. (Photo courtesy of Saint Meinrad Archabbey)

By John Shaughnessy

Janet Schnorr Tosick smiles every time she shares the story about the young wife who made an unusual plea to St. Joseph.

The story involves her in-laws, Dr. Bill and Monique Tosick, shortly after they were married in 1940.

At the time, the young couple was living in Boston, where Dr. Tosick was in the early years of his medical career.

“He rarely had a day off, but finally he had a day at home,” says Janet, their daughter-in-law. “Monique wanted to go to the beach, but they didn’t have enough money for gas. While taking laundry outside to hang on the clothesline, she prayed to St. Joseph, ‘Please help us, St. Joseph. Bill and I haven’t had a chance to do something fun for so long.’

“As she hung clothes on the line, she felt a little flutter on her foot. There was a five-dollar bill.

“She ran to the neighbors’ houses to ask if anyone had lost money. No one had. Monique was so happy. She fixed a picnic lunch, and she and Bill spent the day at the beach.

“Monique told me this story years ago and said she always had faith in St. Joseph.”

Janet thought of that story again when she was thrilled to learn that Pope Francis had dedicated this year to honor St. Joseph.

Besides the joyful story of her mother-in-law’s unusual plea, Janet viewed her in-laws’ marriage as a reflection of the approach that St. Joseph had toward the Blessed Mother—a union marked by love, dedication and faithfulness to God.

After World War II, the young couple moved to Indianapolis where Bill became a radiologist at Methodist Hospital. They had five children and were married 42 years before he died in 1982.

“Each morning, before work, Bill received holy Communion at St. Michael [the Archangel] Church in Indianapolis,” recalls Janet, a member of St. Paul Catholic Center in Bloomington. “Dr. Bill was a humble, kind, peaceful person. He and Monique were an example in their marriage and their deep faith.

“My husband was born [on] March 20, close to St. Joseph’s feast day. Monique and Bill named my husband Michael Joseph Tosick.”

The closeness to St. Joseph continues through the generations of the Tosick family.

“Our youngest son, Michael Joseph, told me [recently] the reasons he has always loved stories about St. Joseph,” Janet says. “It’s how he protected Mary and Jesus, and how he taught Jesus carpentry, even if Joseph knew Jesus would most likely do bigger things.

“I feel St. Joseph is watching over our family and our five grandsons. Just [thinking] about Bill and Monique and their early love story encourages me each day to ask St. Joseph for strength and guidance as a wife, mother and grandmother.” †

 

Related story: The gift of St. Joseph: A daughter shares the story of a ‘miracle’ that forever connected a family to a saint