Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father to Jesus, Joseph was,
according to the New Testament, betrothed to Mary at the time of the
Annunciation. Although descended from David, the king of Jews, he was poor and a
carpenter by trade. Saint Matthew's Gospel describes him as a just man and
records how his initial distress at Mary's pregnancy was dispelled by an angelic
vision; and it tells of how, after a warning in a dream, he took his family to
Egypt to escape Herod's persecution. After the king's death, and again in
response to a dream, Joseph returned to Israel. Here, fearing Herod's son,
Archelaus, who reigned in Judea, he settled in Nazareth in Galilee.
His last appearance in the New Testament is when he and Mary, on their way back
from celebrating the Passover at Jerusalem, are forced to return to the city to
find the 12 year-old Jesus who was preaching in the Temple. Most authorities
believe that Joseph was dead by the time of the Crucifixion.
From the book "Saints, over 15o Patron Saints for Today" E.H.
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The church honors the Saints who are already with the Lord in Heaven because
they inspire us by the good example of their lives, and because we ask them to
pray for us.
We Honor the Saints when we try to be like them and when we pray to them. They
pray for us in heaven.
From the "book of Saints. By F.Lovasik. |
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