First for two parts
Not a single phrase or word in the Scriptures can be attributed to this illustrious scion of David. Yet, he is the epitome of faithfulness to God’s will.
According to the Holy Fathers, Saint Joseph’s silence in the gospel does not demonstrate an “empty interior”, rather, “the fullness of faith in his heart, permeated with the contemplation of the mystery of God in an attitude of total availability to the divine will.”
Sorrows and joys of Saint Joseph
Only Joseph, the obedient and chaste saint, according to theologians, could claim that “at all times and in all places, I possess God in my heart.”
It is to Joseph, the foster father of Jesus on earth, and his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, that God entrusted His two jewels on earth.
Joseph means “God will add” in Hebrew. An angel spoke to his parents, Rachael and Jacob of Nazareth, to name him Joseph.
He died at 61 when Jesus was 29 years old. Jesus himself washed Joseph’s body crossed his hands over the breast and, blessed it to preserve him from corruption, according to Fr. Anthony Joseph Patrignani, SJ, in Manual of Practical Devotions to Saint Joseph.
Saint Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church, is honored as the husband of Mary in the liturgical calendar of the church on March 19. His joys and sorrows had been made into a chaplet of prayers, although they did not include the climax of all sorrows, the crucifixion of Jesus and the joy of the Resurrection of the Messiah.
He “died before the Lord for he could not have endured the crucifixion of Jesus. He was too gentle and loving,” Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich said.
An angel erased Joseph’s doubts
At the age of 3, Mary was presented in the temple and placed under the care of a prophetess, Anna.
When she was 13-and-a-half the Lord spoke to Saint Simon, the high priest of the temple in his sleep, commanding him to arrange the marriage of Mary with a bachelor from the lineage of David. Among the many men who vied for her, it was Joseph who was chosen.
But Joseph found out before the marriage that Mary was pregnant. Anguish and sorrow filled his being. A righteous man and unwilling to expose her to shame, he decided to divorce her quietly, according to Matthew 1:19.
His plans did not materialize for an angel told him in a dream to cast away his fears and doubts.
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her,” said in Matthew1:20.
Joseph was instructed to name the child Jesus, because he will be the savior of many people.
Poverty of the Messiah’s birth
Joseph and Mary of Nazareth traveled to Bethlehem, the city of David, in compliance to Caesar Augustus’s directive that people should be enrolled in the city they come from.
During the trip, Mary’s time came to give birth. There was no room available in the inns so Jesus was born in a manger “filled with straw and moss with a cloth over it,” according to Luke 2:6-7.
The poverty of Jesus’ birth made Joseph very sad. His sadness, though, was compensated by angels singing: “Glory to God in the highest…shepherds glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” by the angels, as said in Luke 2:14-20, and the Magis who “paid their homage and presented their gifts,” said in Matthew 2:11.
Circumcision of Jesus
The Law of Israel requires every male child to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. The mystics say this is the beginning of Jesus’ sufferings in obedience to God the Father’s will.
According to the mystics, a towel was placed on the Blessed Mother’s lap and Jesus was placed on it. The priest performed the ceremony of circumcision with a small flint knife, while Saint Joseph recited the ritual prayer. True to his human nature, Jesus cried as other children do. Joseph was in sorrow for Jesus’ blood offering.
But the name Jesus filled Saint Joseph with peace. He had the privilege of imposing the sacred and mysterious “name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb,” according to Luke 2:21.
To be concluded