Today, March 19th, is the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and patron saint of the Church, celebrated in Western Christianity. It's also a day to remember Joseph as the earthly father of Jesus.
Joseph was likely born in the small town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was also born, but he moved to Nazareth with Mary and Jesus after returning from Egypt in order to keep Jesus safe from Archelaus, the ruler of Judea. Though there are a number of apocryphal writings about him from the first several centuries, nothing is known about him for certain except what is contained in the Gospels. But the Gospels tell us all we need to know about this holy, obedient, and just man, who was given authority over the Son of God and continues to exercise a holy authority over the entire Church.
Saint Joseph was truly the father of Jesus. Of this truth, Saint Augustine writes, “By reason of their faithful marriage, both of them deserve to be called Christ’s parents, not only his mother but also his father, who was a parent in the same way that he was the mother’s spouse: in mind, not in the flesh.” Joseph’s fatherhood is also clearly established by the fact that the angel gave him the responsibility of naming Jesus. “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus…” (Matthew 1:21).
In the Gospels, Joseph is the quiet man. He is rarely mentioned and always in connection with Mary and Jesus. As a saint, he is not an alpha male. He is not a planner but a responder. He does what God asks him to do.
Joseph receives most attention in the Gospel of Matthew. We meet him when he is confronted with the pregnancy of Mary. He has decided not to shame her but to separate from her quietly. The Angel, however, explains to him in a dream that Mary’s pregnancy is through the Holy Spirit and he should live with her and her child. After Jesus’ birth, an angel then warns him in a dream that Herod wants to kill Jesus as a threat to his throne infant and that he should take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. After Herod dies, the Angel tells him that he should return to Israel. Since Herod’s son rules there, Joseph makes his own decision to live in Galilee.
Matthew writes his Gospel for an audience for whom the stories of Scripture are alive. His presentation of Joseph echoes the stories of the earlier Joseph in the Book of Genesis. In his genealogy of Jesus, Matthew describes Joseph as the son of Jacob, as was the earlier Joseph. The earlier Joseph was also known for his dreams, and was sold into slavery in Egypt. There he was able to save his family from famine in their own land. In the Scriptures, he is the bridge between the Jewish people’s slavery in Egypt and their freedom under Moses. Jesus will be the second Moses.
Apart from Matthew’s stories, Joseph is mentioned only once by name, when people surprised by Jesus’ mission ask dismissively, ’Is he not the son of Joseph the carpenter?’ That line has led painters to represent St Joseph with a hammer or saw. He also accompanies Mary when Jesus is lost and found in the temple. Elsewhere the Gospels mention Mary and Jesus’ family but are silent about Joseph. For that reason, an early Christian story of Joseph represents him as an elderly man who died during Jesus’ childhood.
Devotion to Joseph spread in the Western Church when Christians became fascinated by the human details of the life of Jesus and the saints. Joseph became a central figure in the cribs that St Francis of Assisi encouraged. Pictures of the Holy Family represented Joseph teaching Jesus how to use the tools of his trade while Mary attended to the cooking. In more recent years, Joseph became the patron saint of workers. His feast is celebrated to emphasise the dignity of workers in the social teaching of the Church. His feast was celebrated on 1 May, which is also International Workers Day.
St Joseph is also patron of the Universal Church. On the anniversary of this feast day, Pope Francis spoke in Patris Corde powerfully about St Joseph as a father. He described him as a father much loved in the Church, as tender and loving, obedient, accepting, courageous, as a worker, and as God’s shadow in which Jesus grew up and we live. An attractive model of fatherhood, and indeed of parenting today.
On December 8, 1847, Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph to be the Universal Patron and Protector of the Catholic Church. This unique title reflects the same truth that Mary is the Mother of God and the Mother of the entire Church. Since Joseph was the father of the Son of God, His guardian and protector, over whom he was given authority, and from Whom he received obedience, then we, too, can trust in Joseph’s guardianship over us. We must have confidence in submitting to his spiritual authority in our lives, for we are members of the Body of Christ.
Saint Joseph was not perfect, but his absolute obedience to the Father’s will and his unity in marriage to the Mother of God makes him our father, just as he was the father of Jesus. As a loving father, he will direct us with the authority of God the Father, will protect us in times of trouble, and is the one uniquely chosen to be the father of the family to which we belong.
Joseph is the patron saint of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.
Joseph is also patron saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travellers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.
We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker. March 19 has been the most commonly celebrated feast day for Joseph, and it wasn't until 1955 that Pope Pius XII established the Feast of "St. Joseph the Worker" to be celebrated on May 1. This is also May Day (International Workers' Day) and believed to reflect Joseph's status as the patron of workers.
Many places and churches all over the world are named after St. Joseph, including the Spanish form, San Jose, which is the most commonly named place in the world. Joseph is considered by many to also be the patron saint of the New World; of the countries China, Canada, Korea, Mexico, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Peru, Vietnam; of the regions Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol, Sicily; and of several main cities and dioceses.
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