St joseph biography catholic

This is not the place to recite the many and most various endeavors to solve the vexing questions arising from the divergences between both genealogies; nor is it necessary to point out the explanation which meets best all the requirements of the problem see Genealogy of Christ ; suffice it to remind the reader that, contrary to what was once advocated, most modern writers readily admit that in both documents we possess the genealogy of Josephand that it is quite possible to reconcile their data.

At any rate, Bethlehem, the city of David and his descendants, appears to have been the birth-place of Joseph. When, however, the Gospel history opens, namely, a few months before the Annunciation, Joseph was settled at Nazareth. Why and when he forsook his home-place to betake himself to Galilee is not ascertained; some suppose—and the supposition is by no means improbable—that the then moderate circumstances of the family and the necessity of earning a living may have brought about the change.

Josephindeed, was a Greek: tekton, as we learn from Matt. The word means both mechanic in general and carpenter in particular; St. Justin vouches for the latter sense Dial, cum Tryph. It is probably at Nazareth that Joseph betrothed and married her who was to become the Mother of God. When the st joseph biography catholic took place, whether before or after the Incarnationis no easy matter to settle, and on this point the masters of exegesis have at all times been at variance.

Most modern commentators, following in the footsteps of St. Thomas, understand that, at the epoch of the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin was only affianced to Joseph ; as St. Thomas notices, this interpretation suits better all the evangelical data. It will not be without interest to recall here, unreliable though they are, the lengthy stories concerning St.

These dreams, as St. Joseph was an old man at the time of his marriage with the Mother of God. This marriage, true and complete, was, in the intention of the spouses, to be a virgin marriage cf. Thomas, III, Q. But soon was the faith of Joseph in his spouse to be sorely tried: she was with child. What must have been the thoughts of the holy man at the birth of the Savior, the coming of the shepherds and of the wise men, and at the events which occurred at the time of the Presentation of Jesus in the Templewe can merely guess; St.

In Matthew, Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry Mary. Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Joseph is told by an st joseph biography catholic in a dream to take the family to Egypt to escape the massacre of the children of Bethlehem planned by Herod, the ruler of the Roman province of Judea. Once Herod has died, an angel tells Joseph to return but to avoid Herod's son, and he takes his wife and the child to Nazareth in Galilee and settles there.

Thus in Matthew, the infant Jesus, like Moses, is in peril from a cruel king, like Moses he has a fore father named Joseph who goes down to Egypt, like the Old Testament Joseph this Joseph has a father named Jacob, and both Josephs receive important dreams foretelling their future. In the Gospel of Luke, Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph and Mary have to travel there to be counted in a census.

Subsequently, Jesus was born there. Luke's account makes no mention of him being visited by angels Mary and various others instead receive similar visitationsthe Massacre of the Innocents, or of the flight into Egypt. The last time Joseph appears in person in any of the canonical Gospels is in the narrative of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old, which is found only in Luke.

No mention is made of him thereafter. Joseph is not mentioned as being present at the Wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus' mission, nor at the Passion at the end. If he had been present at the Crucifixionhe would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by Joseph of Arimathea.

Nor would Jesus have entrusted his mother to the care of John the Apostle if her husband had been alive. While none of the Gospels mentions Joseph as present at any event during Jesus' adult ministry, the synoptic Gospels share a scene in which the people of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, doubt Jesus' status as a prophet because they know his family.

In Markthey call Jesus "Mary's son" instead of naming his father. In Matthewthe townspeople call Jesus "the carpenter's son," again without naming his father. Joseph appears in Luke as the father of Jesus and in a "variant reading in Matthew". According to Matthew "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary", [ 38 ] while according to LukeJoseph is said to be "the son of Heli ".

The variances between the genealogies given in Matthew and Luke are explained in a number of ways. One possibility is that Matthew's genealogy traces Jesus' legal descent, according to Jewish lawthrough Joseph; while Luke's genealogy traces his actual physical descent through Mary. In the Gospels, Joseph's occupation is mentioned only once. The Gospel of Matthew asks about Jesus:.

Other scholars have argued that tekton could equally mean a highly skilled craftsman in wood or the more prestigious metal, perhaps running a workshop with several employees, and noted sources recording the shortage of skilled artisans at the time. Analysis of the landscape and other evidence suggest that in Joseph's lifetime Nazareth was "oriented toward" the nearby city, [ 57 ] which had an overwhelmingly Jewish population although with many signs of Hellenization[ 58 ] and historians have speculated that Joseph and later Jesus too might have traveled daily to work on the rebuilding.

Specifically the large theatre in the city has been suggested, although this has aroused much controversy over dating and other issues. The name "Joseph" is found almost exclusively in the genealogies and the infancy narratives. The canonical gospels created a problem: they stated clearly that Mary conceives Jesus virginally, and Joseph is not his father; however, Jesus was described unambiguously by John and Matthew as "Joseph's son" and "the carpenter's son", and Joseph's paternity was essential to establish Jesus' Davidic descent.

The theological situation was complicated by the gospel references to "brothers and sisters" of Jesus[ 63 ] who may have been: 1 the sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph; 2 sons of Mary, the wife of Clopas and sister of Mary the mother of Jesus; or 3 sons of Joseph by a former marriage. Modern positions on the question of the relationship between Joseph and the Virgin Mary vary.

The Eastern Orthodox Churchwhich names Joseph's first wife as Salomeholds that Joseph was a widower and betrothed to Mary, [ 65 ] and that references to Jesus' "brothers" were children of Joseph from a previous marriage. A popular position held by many Catholics, derived from the writings of Jeromeis that Joseph was the husband of Mary, but that references to Jesus' "brothers" should be understood to mean cousins.

Such usage is prevalent throughout history, and occurs elsewhere in the Bible. Abraham 's nephew Lot Genesis was referred to as his brother Genesisas was Jacob 's uncle Laban Genesis Jesus himself frequently used the word "brother" as a generic term for one's fellow man. This custom has continued into modern times, with close friends, colleagues, and fellow churchgoers often called "brothers and sisters.

The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary means among other things that Joseph and Mary never had sexual relations. The term kiddushinwhich refers to the first part of a two-part marriage, is frequently translated as "betrothal". Couples who fulfill the requirements of the kiddushin are married, until death or divorce. The New Testament has no mention of Joseph's death, but he is never mentioned after the story of finding Jesus in the temple when Jesus was This is in contrast with some eastern traditions that made Joseph out to be 90 years old, a tradition intended to protect Mary's perpetual virginity.

In the original Greek the words used to describe Joseph describe him as middle-aged. Mauro Gagliardi presents a hypothesis that Joseph was assumed into Heaven with body and soul because he belongs to the few saints who left no bodily relics. Jesus' brothers are presented as Joseph's children by an earlier marriage. Joseph's death agedattended by angels and asserting the perpetual virginity of Marytakes up approximately half the story.

James and his siblings were not children of Mary but were Joseph's children from a previous marriage. After Joseph's first wife died, many years later when he was eighty, "he took Mary mother of Jesus ". Likewise, Leo stated that Saint Joseph "set himself to protect with a mighty love and a daily solicitude his spouse and the Divine Infant; regularly by his work he earned what was necessary for the one and the other for nourishment and clothing" [ 87 ].

Josephologythe theological study of Saint Joseph, is one of the most recent theological disciplines.

St joseph biography catholic

Together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child JesusJoseph is one of the three members of the Holy Family ; since he only appears in the birth narratives of the Gospels, Jesus is depicted as a child when with him. InPope Francis had his name added to the three other Eucharistic Prayers. Popular customs among Christians of various liturgical traditions observing Saint Joseph's Day are attending Mass or the Divine Servicewearing red-coloured clothing, carrying dried fava beans that have been blessedand assembling home altars dedicated to Saint Joseph.

According to legend, there was a severe drought at the time, and the people prayed for their patron saint to bring them rain. They promised that if God answered their prayers through Joseph's intercession, they would prepare a large feast to honor him. The rain did come, and the people of Sicily prepared a large banquet for their patron saint.

The fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation and is a traditional part of Saint Joseph's Day altars and traditions. Giving food to the needy is a Saint Joseph's Day custom. In some communities it is traditional to wear red clothing and eat a Neapolitan pastry known as a zeppola created in by Don Pasquale Pinatauro in Naples on Saint Joseph's Day.

Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent sawdust since Joseph was a carpenter. Because the feast occurs during Lent, traditionally no meat was allowed on the celebration table. The altar usually has three tiers, to represent the Trinity. Pope Pius X, in order to restore the celebration of Sundays, moved this feast to the Wednesday in the second week after Easter, and gave it an octave.

Pius XII established the feast both to honor Saint Joseph, and to make people aware of the dignity of human work. The Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary is observed in some liturgical st josephs biography catholic e. Pope Francis on 8 Decemberreleased the apostolic letter Patris corde on the occasion of the th anniversary of the declaration by Pius IX, on 8 Decemberof Saint Joseph as patron of the Universal Church; for the same reason he declared a Year of Saint Josephfrom 8 Decemberto 8 December Having died in the "arms of Jesus and Mary" according to Catholic tradition, he is considered the model of the pious believer who receives grace at the moment of death, in other words, the patron of a happy death.

Saint Joseph is well known as the patron saint of fathers, both families and virgins, workers, especially carpenters, expecting mothers and unborn children. Among many others, he is the patron saint of attorneys and barristers, emigrants, travelers and house hunters. He is invoked against hesitation and for the grace of a holy death.

Many cities, towns, and locations are named after Saint Joseph. Joseph is the patron saint of the New World [ ] and of many countries Austria — especially venerated in CarinthiaStyriaand Tyrol[ ] Croatia — proclaimed as a patron saint of Kingdom of Croatia by Croatian Sabor on 9 June [ ] and of several main cities Karlovac [ ]dioceses and administrative regions Karlovac County in Croatia [ ].

Many churches, monasteries and other institutions are dedicated to Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph's Oratory is the largest church in Canada, with the largest dome of its kind in the world after that of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Elsewhere in the world churches named after the saint may be known as those of San Giuseppee. The Sisters of St.

Joseph were founded as an order in and have about 14, members worldwide. Inthe Josephite Fathers of the Catholic Church were created under the patronage of Joseph, intending to work with the poor. The first Josephites in America re-devoted their part of the order to ministry within the newly emancipated African American community. Pope Benedict XVI.

John Calvin. Dalai Lama. Fact and Fiction Everything we know about Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus, comes from the Bible, and mentions of him are underwhelming. Marriage to Mary After marrying Mary, Joseph found that she was already pregnant, and being "a just man and unwilling to put her to shame" Matt. Watch Next.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. The special characteristic of Joseph is hiddenness, remaining in the background. No word of his is recorded in the Gospels. He is not mentioned after the finding of Christ in the Temple. And the place of his burial remains a mystery.