Honoring St. Joseph, head of the Holy Family – Mainline Media News

Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus Christ, was probably born in Bethlehem in 90 BC and probably died in Nazareth in 18 AD.  His mission was “to legally insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born and to act as his father and guardian.”

The scriptures mention nothing of St. Joseph’s age and previous life.  However, one early tradition believes that he was an older man and a widower with children from a previous marriage.  Most of our information about Saint Joseph, “the silent man” comes from the first two chapters of St. Matthew’s Gospel.  There are two major feast days in his honor. On March 19th our veneration is directed to him as being an important part of redemption, while on May 1st we honor him as the patron of workers throughout the world.

Saint Joseph was an ordinary manual laborer, a carpenter, although descended from the royal house of David.  The angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as “the son of David,” a royal title used also for Jesus Christ.

According to God he was to become the spouse of the Mother of God.  Sacred Scripture describes him as a “just man” which indicates how faithful he was to protecting and guarding the lives of Mary and Jesus.  He was not rich as he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified as he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).

We know that Saint Joseph was a compassionate man when we find out that Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, and he knew the child was not his but was not yet aware that she was carrying the Son of God.  He knew any women accused of adultery could be stoned, so he resolved to send her away quietly to not expose her to shame.

However, when an angel came to Joseph in a dream, the angel told him that “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary into your home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).  He did as the angel told him and took Mary as his wife.

When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything and fled to a strange country with his young wife and baby.  He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to return home.  We also know that St. Joseph searched with anxiety for Jesus when the Messiah was teaching in the Temple (Luke 2:48).

The symbols associated with St. Joseph are a carpenter’s square and a lily.  The carpenter’s square symbolizes Joseph’s job as a carpenter and also the concept of truth.  The lily is over a logo over the letter J represents purity and Joseph’s celibate marriage to the Virgin Mary.

Liturgical veneration of St. Joseph began in the 15th century and was fostered by St. Brigid of Sweden and St. Bernadine of Siena.  St. Teresa of Avila also did much to further his cult.

In 1870 Pius IX declared him patron and protector of the universal family of the Church.  On the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis proclaimed a Year of St. Joseph beginning December 8, 2020 until December 8, 2021.  In fact, St. Joseph was essentially the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father.  He protected Jesus and acted as his father and protector and provider throughout his whole life.   He is also the patron saint of the dying because Jesus and Mary were at his death bed.

On March 19th a table full of good Italian food honoring St. Joseph is a traditional Sicilian custom.  The feast of San Giuseppe began in the Middle Ages when Sicily was suffering from a severe drought and the people begged St. Jospeh for rain.  When they received rainy weather, they held a huge feast in honor of St. Jospeh.  Today, Sicilians go to Mass on St. Jospeh’s Day and have their tables decked out with flowers, breads and all sorts of Italian foods.  The priest often comes and blesses the table and all shout:  “Long live Saint Joseph!”  Saint Joseph, Patron of Our Church, pray for us.

The Rev. Gus Puleo serves as director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program and the Spanish Department at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where he also teaches English and Spanish. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown.