1.0 Introduction
In the Sacred Scripture mention is being made of the name “Joseph.” First in the line, was the 11th son of Jacob who was sold into slavery and later rose to an important position in the Egyptian Government.[1]Secondly, the father of one of the spies sent into Canaan was also called “Joseph.”[2]Son of Asaph was also referred to as “Joseph”;[3] the man who married a foreign wife during the exile also go by the name “Joseph.”[4] A priest of the family of Shebaniah also answered the name “Joseph.”[5] We can as well see in the Scripture, a converted Jew of Arimathea in whose tomb Jesus was laid was named “Joseph.”[6] Lastly, the four gospels described a young man called “Joseph” as the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus.[7]
In the course of this work, we are going to take into consideration the latter figure, whom the four Evangelists made reference to: St. Joseph the foster father of Jesus Christ and husband of Mary.
St. Joseph could be rightly described as an inconspicuous figure in the pastoral traditions of the Church. Though references have been made concerning his fostering role as the father of the child Jesus, during the visit by the shepherds and magi. His presence at the presentation in the temple and flight to Egypt with the child and mother (his wife) also proved his fatherly care and support. Joseph right from the moment of birth, through infancy has been in great support and care of the child and the mother.
Surprisingly, along the line his fostering paternal care lost in history, thus creating a sort of lacuna (or missing link) in the traditional history of the Church. Over the years some ecclesiastical writers and popes have made efforts to bring in St. Joseph once again into the line of events such as St. Bernhard, Pierre D’Ally, Johannes Gerson, Hermann Josef, Berhardin Von Siena, etc.While Popes like Leo XIII, Pius XII, Benedict XV and Francis have made great efforts in giving the pride of place to St. Joseph as the Patron of the Universal Church.
Consequently, this work aims at reflecting on the life and times of St. Joseph in the light of the Church’s teachings through the age; with special reference to Pope Leo XIII’s Quamquam Pluries and Pope Francis’ Patris Corde. It will also give an in-depth study of the historical background of St. Joseph, his call to fatherhood (though on the grounds of a foster parenthood), how he is seen as an inconspicuous figure in Christendom, recommendations and conclusion.
2.0 Historical Background of St. Joseph
Everything we know about Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus, comes from the Sacred Scripture, and mentions of him are very significant. The thirteen Pauline’s letters/epistles in the New Testament make no reference to him at all. But the four gospels made reference to St. Joseph as a father of Jesus and husband of Mary.[8]The mention of St. Joseph first appears in the Bible in the four gospels, of which Evangelist Matthew traces Joseph's lineage back to King David. And no other books in the New Testament make reference to him, apart from writings from the church historians and scholars.
However, the actual dates of birth and death of St. Joseph – foster father of Jesus are unknown. Some extant documents asserted that, he must have flourished in the 1st century B.C., in Nazareth, a city in Galilee found in the region of Palestine. The Holy Scripture described him as the earthly father of Jesus, put it right “the foster father or care giver” of Jesus Christ; and husband of our Lady, Blessed Virgin Mary. He is being traced to the ancestry line of the house of King David.[9] The second century historian Julius Africanus, a native of Israel gave an account of Joseph’s descent tracing it to Matthan as his grandfather, who married a woman named Estha, who bore a son named Jacob. After Matthan died, Estha married his relative Melchi and bore a son named Heli (marrying relatives was a common tradition among Jews at this time). Jacob and Heli were then half-brothers. Heli died childless, so Jacob married his widow and fathered Joseph, who was biologically the son of Jacob but legally the son of Heli.[10]
Later in life, a young lady (Blessed Virgin Mary) was betrothed to him, which he later on found to be with a child. The situation that puts him off-balance. “Being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, he made plans to divorce her in secret.”[11]This secret plan was thwarted with the appearance of the angel Gabriel, who admonished him: “… Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and will bear a son, whom you shall call “Jesus” for He will save His people from their sins.”[12]Obeying the angel, Joseph took Mary as his wife. After Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem in Judaea, where the Holy Family received the Magi, an angel warned Joseph and Mary about the impending violence against the child by King Herod the Great of Judaea, whereupon they fled to Egypt. There the angel again appeared to Joseph, informing him of Herod’s death and instructing him to return to the Holy Land.
He avoided, Bethlehem out of fear of Herod’s successor, and thensettled in Nazareth, where Joseph taught his craft of carpentry to Jesus.[13]The last time Joseph was mentioned in the scripture was when he was in the company of our Lady in great searched for Jesus in Jerusalem, where they found Him in the Temple.[14]
But it is traditionally believed that he died about 18AD in Nazareth before the crucifixion of our Lord (cf. John 19:26-27). Though the circumstances surrounding his death was unknown. Some of the subsequent apocryphal narratives concerning Joseph are extravagantly fictious. The 2nd century Protoevangelium of James and the 4th – century History of Joseph the carpenter present him as a widower with children at the time of his betrothal to Mary, thus contributing to the confusion over the question of Jesus; brothers and sisters. The allegation that he lived to be 111 years old is spurious. Reliable information about St. Joseph is found only in the Gospels, for the later pious stories distort his image and helped delay his commemoration.[15]
Melanie Rigney, described him to have come from a royal lineage, but that he was not blessed with worldly goods.[16] Though the scripture has already designated him as carpenter, and it further told us of the offering presented at the presentation of the child in the temple, instead of the offering of the traditional lamb offering, the Holy Family had a pair of turtle doves. Though this was not in any way obstruct the child Jesus to be presented, but it deeply explains the lowly state of the Holy Family.
3.0 St. Joseph as an unremarkable figure in Christendom
It will be a surprise to have no one christened after St. Joseph, no Church named after him, no shrine erected in his honour. Then a lot of harm would have been done on this great man of faith, who not only a foster father of Jesus but the protector and guardian of the Holy Family. St. Joseph though designated as a foster father of Jesus and husband of Mary by the two Evangelists - Matthew and Luke, was as an inconspicuous figure in Christendom. His relevance was relegated to the background after the presentation of our Lord in the temple. Nothing so much was said about him, even how and where he died remains a story yet to be told. His paternal assistance to our Lord and His Mother cannot be over-emphasized. He was as well seen as a “father in the shadow” as a result of the fostering responsibility entrusted to him. Though a foster father, but he carried out the duty every biological father could. He was there in and out of seasonfor the Holy Family. Amidst these obligations exercised by him, to an extent he is still ignored to a mere spear-carrier in the pageant of salvation. For the Byzantine Christians St. Joseph has not been accorded an independent cult or feast day but he is being include among other holy ancestors of Christ.[17]
However, the long obscurity of this great pillar of faith, whose identity is being exhumed in a very special way with the proclamation of the year in his honour to mark the 150th year anniversary of his pronouncement as the patron of the universal Church. In the light of this unremarkable fame of his, the scripture is noted to provide minimal resources for a popular cult of St. Joseph. The gospels made reference to him by name “Joseph” which means “God adds or God gathers” only fifteen times. He appeared briefly in connection with the early life of Jesus, then simply disappears. Sandra Miesel observed that, the evangelists did not record any word spoken by St. Joseph, without making reference to a traditional burial place or him leaving behind bodily relics. She further avers that; the early Church writers and scholars were anxious in defending the virgin birth and perpetual virginity of our Lady. And that it seemed to many Christians of that time that minimizing St. Joseph Mary is magnified. It is on this note that, the Fathers of the Church remained studiously incurious about his life. Although they mention him occasionally in passing, there is not a single listing for St. Joseph in the saints’ index to Migne’s Patrologiae Latina, a 221-volume collection of Church writings up to 1216AD.[18]
Notably, the popularity of St. Joseph had no root in the East, thus making Mohammed to be strange to the name among Christian informants. But got to hear of the unmarried Virgin Mary. This therefore pave way for her recognition in the Koran, where Sura 19is titled “Mary”. There are other extant documents which described the unremarkable nature of St. Joseph, stating that he was discussed only feasts of our Lord or that of our Lady because he lacked a feast of his own. Another outstanding area where St. Joseph is being seen in the lowly state is in the work of Arts. Despite his debut in an illustrative mosaic at St. Mary Major in Rome (Circa 440), St. Joseph was marginalized in medieval art. He did not rate a separate image, even in prayer books. In Northern Gothic artists St. Joseph was not given an active role in caring for the child Jesus, but only in menial chores like fetching water, cooking or swathing the infant in his wooly hose, Sandra Miesel observed.
4.0 Regaining His Proper Status
St. Joseph was considered a “father in the shadow”, a title which prompted him to be unremarkable for many ages. In many occasions, his identity was not given attention. For instance, in most of the artistic representations of the Holy family group portrait which was popular in Northern Europe until the end of the middle Ages; He was not given a rightful position as it is today. Until after 1500 does St. Joseph move into the circle of activity and get to touch the Child Jesus. In order to redress the obscurities surrounding the figure of St. Joseph, the Holy Kindred picture was rearranged giving St. Joseph slightly greater prominence. In order to reposition him, some of the manuscripts shows St. Joseph escorting our Lady to St. Elizabeth’s home for the visitation and holds the infant for the Presentation in the Temple, a role previously reserved for the Blessed Mother.
Medieval parents, however, continued to avoid the name Joseph. Only one Giuseppe appears on a list of 53,000 Tuscan householders collected before 1530, whereas that name is now one of the most popular Italian names. The first Catholic saints named for St. Joseph came along later still: Canary Islander Blessed Joseph de Ancheita in 1534 and Spaniard St. Joseph Calasanctius in1556. This slowly building interest would not necessarily have brought St. Joseph to his later fame. What propelled him to saintly stardom were the calamities of the 14th century. That era opened with unprecedented famine around the shores of the North Sea. The Hundred Years' War broke out between France and England. Civil war tore at Castile. Portugal, Scotland, and Poland-Lithuania battled for their national lives. Peasants and urban artisans rose in revolt from Tuscany to Flanders, England to Estonia.
However, heresies, corruption, and religious hysterias disfigured the Church while she suffered the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Western Schism. And over all these miseries rode the Black Death, killing a quarter of Europe's people in its first assault alone. The horrors inflicted on families and communities needed heavenly healing. Reform-minded French theologian Jean Gerson (d. 1429), chancellor of the University of Paris and a noted spiritual writer, turned the spotlight on St. Joseph as the ideal family model and protector. Gerson's 2,957-line poem about St. Joseph, the Josephina, promoted the saint and his marvelous virtues across Western Europe.[19] In another major effort to restore the dignity and status of St. Joseph, Gerson and St. Bernardine of Siena, a spellbinding preacher and reformer of the Franciscan order gathered up existing fragments of devotion to St. Joseph and rewrote his role in the Church. In the course of counter-reformation moment, St. Joseph whom many considered as the unfaltering family saint, was well interconnected with the trend of that time; as his strength and dignity fit the early modern ideals of patriarchal authority. In the same spirit, families were encouraged to imitate harmonious order of the Holy Family headed by St. Joseph.
In the Renaissance era, his reputation continued to thrive with the 16th century Italian’s paintings where he wedded with Mary, the artistic work which exalted the religious significance of matrimony over its social and economic aspects.This raised an argument by the counter-reformation’s arbiter of religious art – Johannes Molanus in 1570, which he demanded a clean sweep of legendary material in Christian art. One of the subjects matters his writings denounced were the Holy Kindred and apocryphal accounts of St. Joseph’s selection as Mary’s spouse.He maintained that St. Joseph should be depicted as a “young” and “vigorous” man with the Christ child firmly placed under his paternal care. This standpoint was not observed by Baroque in his artistic work, as he presented St. Joseph with a miraculous flowering staff. While that of the likes of El Greco, Zurbaran had a strong backing, as they presented St. Joseph as a strong, black-bearded walking hand-in-hand with the Holy Child. The act that Sandra Miesel, a medievalist and a Catholic writer described as a motif of a man leading God by the hand, which captured St. Joseph’s love for our Lord.[20]
However, other reputable artists in the likes of Zurbaran, who in his artistic work presented St. Joseph with the risen Christ awarding His foster father a floral crown of glory. While Murillo on the other way round gave a delightful genre scene of the Holy Family with little bird and his tender St. Joseph the Holy Child Jesus.
Consequently, various Popes across the ages saw him as a prime healer of modern vices. In 1847, Blessed Pope Pius IX ordered the feast to be celebrated everywhere on the third Wednesday after Easter. In 1870, the same pope, now "the Prisoner of the Vatican," declared St. Joseph as the patron of the universalChurch. This latest development served as one of the major reasons, that Pope Leo XIII in 1889 wrote Quamquam Pluries – an encyclical on devotion to St. Joseph. The work which called for the intercession of St. Joseph against the religious and social crises of that time. The Holy Father further asked the poor to invoke himas their guide in seeking justice, and not to see him as a socialist. The rise of communism made this last thought more timely than even Leo could have predicted. In 1930, Pius XI named St. Joseph a special promoter of Russia to counteract Soviet persecution of the Church; he invoked him again in 1937 against atheist communism in general. In 1955, Pius XII replaced the Patronage of St. Joseph with a new feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, the traditional holiday of the working class. Since then, new images of the saint show him holding carpenter's tools rather than lilies.
To draw blessings from the Church's patron, Pope John XXIII made St. Joseph, patron of Vatican II in 1961 and inserted his name in the canon of the Mass in 1963. But John Paul II's apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos in 1989 broadens his predecessors' concerns. For Pope St. John Paul II, the mystery of St. Joseph's heroic obedience to God plays out in the family, the "sanctuary of love and cradle of life." He emphasizes the reality of the saint's marriage and paternity despite the absence of sexual activity: Self-giving love is what matters most. Outside the family, St. Joseph "brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption." He is our model for harmonizing the active with the contemplative life. Inheritor of the Old Covenant, his association with Jesus and Mary in their "domestic church" makes him a fitting patron of the universal Church born of the New Covenant.Redemptoris Custos places St. Joseph firmly in the foreground of efforts to renew family, society, and the Church. Remarkably, the Roman calendar had first listed St. Joseph's feast day in 1479, it was not until the 17th century that grandiose Latin hymns were written for this celebration. He received his own special office in the Roman Breviary in 1714, and his name was inserted in the Litany of Saints in 1729. The Congregation of St. Joseph, founded in Le Puy, France, in 1650 was the first religious congregation dedicated under his patronage.
It is worthy to note that, Montreal’s Oratory of St. Joseph begun by Brother Bessette in 1904 has grown into a huge basilica that still draws legions of pilgrims and promotes the saint worldwide. Although his veneration seems to have begun in Egypt, the earliest Western devotion to him dates from the early 14th century, when the Servietes[21] an order of mendicant friars, observed his feast on March 19, the traditional day of his death. Among the subsequent promoters of the devotion were Pope Sixtus IV, who introduced it at Rome about 1479, and the celebrated 16th-century mystic St. Teresa of Ávila. St. Joseph was already patron of Mexico, Canada, and Belgium, before he was declared patron of the universal church by Pope Pius IX in 1870. In 1955 Pope Pius XII established the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 as a counter- celebration to the communists’ May Day. In 1919, Pope Benedict XV inserted a preface in his honour into the Sacramentary.
It is in the light of this development, that Pope Francis continued in the footstep of his predecessor by bringing into limelight the efficacy of the patronage of St. Joseph in his apostolic letter – Patris Corde:a title which depicts the love of St. Joseph on Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as “the son of Joseph;”[22] to mark the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as the patron of the universal Church.
5.0 Revisiting Popes Leo XIII’s Quamquam Pluries and Francis’Patris Corde.
The duo made remarkable imprints in the history of the Church on St. Joseph. While Pope Leo XIII was advocating and popularizing the devotion to St. Joseph as the universal patron of the Church in the encyclical on devotion to St. Joseph - Quamquam Pluries. Pope Francis on the other hand renewed this solemn call and then, put St. Joseph at the centre of our reflection in the wake of deadly COVID-19 pandemic an Apostolic Letter - Patris Corde (with a Father’s heart)
- Popes Leo XIII’s Quamquam Pluries
In 1889 when the world and the Church were faced with the challenges posed by modernity, His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII came out with an encyclical Quamquam Pluries. In the document he became the first pope to draw the lines of a theology of St. Joseph with clearly defined titles that fit into the history of salvation, of human redemption, both at the level of the incarnation, as husband of Mary and father of Jesus, and at the level of the Church’s life as her natural protector. In the work, he urged the Church to pray to St. Joseph seeking his intercession as the universal patron of the Church. The sense behind his choice as the patron of the Church, is that he was the spouse of Mary and foster father of Jesus Christ. However, from these sources have sprung his dignity, holiness, and glory. The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII said: “He [St. 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.” That is why he saw the Holy Family as the foundation of Christianity and society. And that the Holy Family provides an example of the dignity of labour and the obligation of the employer to provide a living-wage. This standpoint came as a result of his opposition meted by capitalism on the family. In the last part of the work, that he prescribed that during the month of October, a prayer to St. Joseph should be said after the Rosary and granted an indulgence of seven years and seven Lents for each such act; the prayer remains enriched with a partial indulgence in the current Enchiridion Indulgentiarum.
- Pope Francis’ Patris Corde.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic Pope Francis puts down an Apostolic LetterPatris Corde (With a Father’s heart) to mark the opening of a Year of St. Joseph (December 8, 2020 – December 8, 2021). He made reference to the four Gospels for referring to Jesus as "the son of Joseph", even though Joseph was not his biological father. For centuries, Joseph’s name was hardly mentioned, because the very fact that he thought of sending Mary away seemed wrong. Everything changed 150 years ago, when Blessed Pius IX named Joseph Patron of the Catholic Church. In the light of this that the Holy Father, in his reflection in the time of pandemic, when he personally decided to retreat alone in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, there he recognised the contribution being made "by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines, or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history. Doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers, cleaning personnel, caregivers, transport workers, men and women working to provide essential services and public safety, volunteers, priests, men and women religious, and so very many others".
What he praised in them is not only generosity, but a willingness to work patiently spreading "not panic, but shared responsibility" and, in many cases, praying and encouraging others to pray. "Each of us can discover in Joseph - the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence - an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble". Catholics have traditionally held Joseph in great affection. St. Teresa of Ávila often prayed to him and encouraged others to do the same. In view of this, that he made reference to Pope Saint Paul VI who pointed out how St. Joseph concretely expressed his fatherhood “by making his life a sacrificial service to the mystery of the incarnation and its redemptive purpose. He employed his legal authority over the Holy Family to devote himself completely to them in his life and work. He turned his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of himself, his heart and all his abilities, a love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his home”.[23]
He further reminded the faithful of the traditional devotion to St. Joseph, which he stated that Prayers are to be offered to him every Wednesday and the month of March. Pope Francis is convinced that "in Joseph, Jesus saw the tender love of God". That is because Joseph doubted his own ability to do the things God asked him to do. "The evil one makes us see and condemn our frailty, whereas the Spirit brings it to light with tender love. Tenderness is the best way to touch the frailty within us. Pointing fingers and judging others are frequently signs of an inability to accept our own weaknesses, our own frailty". Joseph was able to accept his own weaknesses and Pope Francis is sure this molded the atmosphere in the life of the Holy Family. "Joseph teaches us that faith in God includes believing we can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always sees the bigger picture". Joseph is a fine example, because he accepted Mary unconditionally.[24]
This work of the Holy Father called to mind the need to go back to the tradition, and renew the devotion to St. Joseph, a man whom God chose to be the steward of heavenly realities on earth. He was and remained the renowned offspring of David, light of patriarchs, spouse of the Mother of God and chaste guardian of the virgin.
6.0 Recommendations/Conclusion
Bearing in mind the Christ-like example shown by St. Joseph in that moment of tribulation, and his attitude which encourages us to accept and welcome others as they are, without exception, and to show special concern for the weak, for God chooses what is weak to shame the strong.[25] I wish to invite us after a careful reflection on this great man of faith who could be described as the first man who prepared a place for the New Testament (Ark of Covenant – manger), where the magi gather to worship the Divinity in humanity. He happened to be the first custodian of the Ark itself during the flight to Egypt.
In the light of this, I recommend a systematic theological study of St. Joseph in ecclesiastical institutions (as JOSEPHOLOGY) alongside with Christology, Mariology, Pneumatology, etc. This move will assist to bridge the gap which relegation of his person over the years in the minds of the faithful.
- Effective returning to the traditional Wednesday in his honour.
- Rekindling of the spirit of the faithful in the month of October through reflection on the life of this poor carpenter whose docility to the will of God won humanity a place in God’s heart.
- As Fr. Jerome Okonkwo recommended, a right place to be given to St. Joseph as the universal patron of the Church in the introductory rite of the Holy Mass during Act of Contrition. Thus: “…therefore I ask the blessed Mary ever-virgin and [St. Joseph] the ‘patron of Universal Church….”[26]
This call borne out of the Holy Father’s submission inviting us to ask St. Joseph for the grace of graces for our conversion.
In conclusion, St. Joseph remains at the heart of human redemption as the custodian of the New Ark of Covenant which reconciled man back to God after the great fall (cf. Genesis 3:1ff.) Let St. Joseph’s devotion be popularized as his efficacy right from time immemorial remains unquestionable till our age.
[1] Genesis 30:24
[2] Numbers 13:7
[3] I Chronicle 25:2;
[4] Ezra 10:42
[5] Nehemiah 12:14
[6] Matthew 27:57; 59; Luke 15:43.
[7] Luke 4:22; John 6:42; Cf. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3
[8]Luke 4:22; John 6:42; Cf. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3
[9] Cf. Matthew 1:1ff.
[10] Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 1:6:7
[11] Matthew 1:19
[12] Matthew 1:20-21
[13] Cf. Matthew 2:22 – 23
[14] Cf. Luke 2:41-49
[15]https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joseph Last accessed 15/10/2021
[16]https://www.google.com/search?q=historical+background+of+st.+Joseph+the+foster+father+of+jesus+pdf&client=firefox-b- Last accessed 13/10/2021
[17]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4464Last accessed 7/11/2021
[18]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4464Last accessed 7/11/2021
[19]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4464Last accessed 7/11/2021
[20] Ibid.
[21] Members of the Order of the Servant of Mary (O.SM.)
[22] Luke 4:22; John 6:42; Cf. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3
[23] Francis, Mediataion in the Time of Pandemic, March 27, 2020: L’Osservatore Romano, March 29, 2020 p. 10.
[24]file:///C:/Users/PADREPIO/Desktop/Patris-Corde-summary.pdf
[25] Cf. I Cor. 1:27
[26] Okonkwo, J. I., The Plights of St. Joseph: Husband of Mary, Owerri: Multi-Sectors Ltd, 2021, p.40
In Memento of the Year of St. Joseph was observed from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021, as promulgated by Pope Francis to mark the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, a title originally declared by Pope Pius IX in 1870.
© ARCHIVE 19032026
(The Solemnity of St. Joseph)
