Josephology: List of Must-Read Books
Happily, there are Lots And Tons Of Many Great Josephite Books out there, but occasionally, I'll come across one in which the author whines something like, "Poor Joseph, there's really not much written about him! Oh, well!" To that I reply: You are full of crap!
There are
loads of excellent books written about Joseph, ranging from devotional to scholarly and all shades in-between, and whenever an "author" whines that they "couldn't find anything", it immediately suggests that he/she Didn't Do Jack in the way of
basic research. It's like plopping yourself down in a bubble bath and then whining that you don't see any water. Puh-LEEZE!
Now, I'm not a university professor or scholar or anything special, and yet, with just a teeny bit of searching, little ol'
me has managed to turn up tons of reading material over the years. I've cited a few of the titles in
my Joseph posts, and I figured hey, why not list 'em all in one spot for ease o' reference?
So, following is a handy-dandy list of Josephite books for all your Josephy needs (and I own all of 'em save the
Bibliographie, which, at 55 bucks a pop, I'm working my way up to ordering). I'll update this post as I find more, and please note that I'm only listing books that I think are
good and useful.*
Lisa's List of Happy Fun Josephy Books That You Should Read :-)The Must-ReadsJoseph: The Man Closest to Jesus: The Complete Life, Theology and Devotional History of St. Joseph by Fr. Francis L. Filas, SJ
Considered to be
the definitive Josephological tome out there, this is essential reading. Seriously. Anyone who considers themselves devoted to Joseph must read this (honkin' big) sucker; not reading it is akin to a chemist waving off study of the Periodic Table of Elements. While it's out of print, you can find a copy through used booksellers (I got mine through
AbeBooks.com) or borrow one from your local library. Get crackin'!
Joseph the Silent by Michel Gasnier, OP
If you only read one Josephite book, make it this 'un. (Though you really should also read the previous one, but hey, this'll do if you're draggin' yer heels.) Gasnier presents a vivid and moving portrait of Our Glorious Patriarch, and it's all based on extensive research and serious study. This dude knows his stuff (no whiny crap here), and he presents it all in a relatively short, yet engrossing, read.
Joseph in the New Testament by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
The amount of info. that Fr. Toschi is able to draw from the NT about Joseph is just mind-bogglingly amazing. Sure, Scripture doesn't say a lot, but what it
does say offers tons of food for thought, and Fr. Toschi delivers. I luv Fr. Toschi.
The Good-to-ReadsNow that we've gotten those Top Three outta the way, here are the rest (alphabetical by title). This isn't a comprehensive list, just my faves.
Bibliographie sur saint Joseph et la sainte Famille by Roland Gauthier, CSC
THE be-all, end-all Josephological bibliography, weighing in at 1,365 pages, with 19,725 entries! As the book's description says, it's "the single most important source of information about publications of all kinds (ecclesiastical, theological, devotional, artistic, etc.) on St. Joseph and the Holy Family." I got a look at this baby thanks to the wonders of interlibrary loan requests, and hoo-boy! You could cause some
serious damage with it; it's especially useful for whacking "I-couldn't-find-anything-on-Joseph!" authors upside the head.
Just Man, Husband of Mary, Guardian of Christ: An Anthology of Readings from Jeronimo Gracian's Summary of the Excellencies of St. Joseph (1597) by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, MA
A Manual of Practical Devotion to St. Joseph by Fr. Antony-Joseph Patriganani, SJ
Saint Joseph by Boniface Llamera, OP (out-of-print)
Saint Joseph: Patron of the Triumph by Fr. Richard Foley, SJ
Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father by Fr. Andrew Doze
Saint Joseph Studies: Papers in English from the Seventh and Eighth International St. Joseph Symposia, Malta 1997 and El Salvador 2001 edited by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
St. Joseph: A Theological Introduction by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
St. Joseph and the Third Millennium: Traditional Themes and Contemporary Issues edited by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
St. Joseph in Early Christianity: Devotion and Theology: A Study and an Anthology of Patristic Texts by Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church by Dominic De Domenico, OP
-------
* Books like Saint Joseph: His Life and His Role in the Church Today by Louise Bourassa Perrotta, in which she whines about "not finding anything on Joseph", do NOT make the cut. (Perrotta's book is pretty lame on top of it all. How she snookered Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR into writing the Forward is a mystery.) Kthanx.Labels: books, joseph, josephite, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Fatherhood
While chattin' with pals recently, I realized that it's been awhile since I've tossed out a Josephy post, which must be remedied forthwith! For this go-round, let's look at Joseph's unique and glorious fatherhood!
"
48. So what is the most exact title we should use to express Joseph's fatherhood?In reality, none of the terms suggested entirely expresses the totality of Joseph's relationship with Jesus. As [the great Jesuit theologian] Suarez asserts, Joseph possessed 'everything proper to a father, apart from his virginity.' He shared in the very dignity of Mary, Jesus' mother. His fatherhood is unique and supernatural. Faced with the lack of any precise word to completely designate this special fatherhood, we may simply call Joseph 'Jesus' father,' as Scripture itself does (Lk. 2:27, 33, 41, 43, 48; Mt. 13:55), without adding any adjective to the title."
~ Fr. Jose Antonio Bertolin, OSJ; "Josephology 1A",
Guardian of the Redeemer, Volume XII, Number 1 (March-May 2006)
* * *
"I often explain that if a dove ... drops a date from its beak into a garden, we say that the palm tree that grows from that date belongs to the owner of the garden. If that is so, who would doubt that as the Holy Spirit, like a heavenly dove, let fall a divine seed into the 'garden enclosed' of the Blessed Virgin ... and a garden that pertained to Joseph as a wife pertains to her husband; who I ask, would deny that the divine Palm Tree, which bears the fruits of immortality, belongs to the Blessed Joseph?"
~ St. Francis De Sales
* * *
"It is most important to look first at the way in which St. Joseph is not the father of Jesus. ... There is a variety of ways in which one may be referred to as a father other than as the natural father. There is, of course, a more spiritual use of the term, such as in those who are founders of religious orders. Still, let us confine ourselves to those forms that we find in the family.
"... [W]e might speak of a man as the 'legal father' of the child. ... St. Joseph was recognized publicly and socially to be the legal father of Jesus in one sense, but not as understood in the eyes of Jewish law according to a limited sense of the term, in which a brother would attempt to have a child by the wife of a brother who died so that the dead brother could have legal descendants.
"... Another title one might bear is that of 'foster father.' ... This is most certainly a true and clear way to express the fatherhood of St. Joseph. Yet, as we shall see, it does not completely explain the way in which St. Joseph is father to Jesus. ... [This term] is far weaker ... because it often refers to a very temporary form of relationship.
"... [A]doptive fatherhood does not express the nature of St. Joseph's fatherhood. ... Jesus was not born from another marriage or relationship and then adopted. St. Thomas says, 'Christ was the fruit of this marriage; neither a child born in adultery nor an adopted son ...' ... Thus, the title of adoptive father is inadequate to explain the paternity of St. Joseph.
"... [Stepfatherhood] would not apply to St. Joseph. For Jesus was not the child of a previous marriage or relationship between a man and a woman. Thus, to call St. Joseph a stepfather would be offensive to the Virgin Mary."
De Domenico then goes on to explain that Joseph is Jesus' father (not in the biological sense): 1) because Jesus is the Good of the
marriage; 2) because Jesus is the Possession of the marriage; 3) because Joseph and Mary gave full consent to the marriage; 4) because of Mary's consent at the Annunciation, which, since
she was already Joseph's wife, by default included Joseph's consent; 5) through Joseph's holiness; 6) through
Joseph's virginity; 7) by the command of God; 8) by exercising the office of father.
Thus, "this fatherhood of St. Joseph is entirely new. There has never been anything like it. It is unique and one of a kind. The fatherhood of St. Joseph is superior even to natural human fatherhood as also adoptive fatherhood. ... 'He is father in the supernatural order, not according to nature, but according to the spirit ... In brief, he is father in the most noble, most sublime and divine sense. The bond which unites him with his august Son is moral and therefore more intimate and stronger than a physical bond.' Hence the fatherhood of St. Joseph is only surpassed by the fatherhood of God."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the ChurchLabels: joseph, josephology
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, & Joseph
Oh, how I love
this feast day! It reminds us that Jesus came to us from
within a family, as the ultimate good of
Mary and Joseph's marriage. With them, He formed a union of divine and human hearts, and established an earthly trinity to help us better comprehend the mystery of the heavenly Trinity.
And He gave us not just a means of contemplating the heavenly Trinity, but a living example for us all -- from the very start of His life on earth, He gave us a family in which "all men might behold a perfect model of domestic life, and of all virtue and holiness." (Pope Leo XIII) "
God wanted to be born and to grow up in a human family. In this way he consecrated the family as the first and ordinary means of his encounter with humanity." (
Pope Benedict XVI)
What a gift! What a wonderful source of inspiration to meditate upon. And in this spirit of meditation, here are some reflections on the Holy Family and the history of this Devotion in honor of today's feast.
Union of Hearts"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph comprise the Holy Family, the basic human unit of God's strategy for the Incarnation and Redemption. They belong together in the history of salvation. The three are inseparable, and should always be seen and understood together theologically, pastorally, and in church art. Their special identities in God's plan are interrelated. To see them separately is regrettable and misleading."
~ Br. John M. Samaha, SM, "
Like Wife, Like Husband"
* * *
"[St. Francis de Sales] avers that Christ Jesus Himself joined the hearts of Mary and Joseph in an indissoluble union 'by the heavenly bond of a completely virginal marriage, so that [Joseph] might be [Mary's] helper and coadjutor in the guidance and education of His divine infancy.'
"... Without the marriage of Mary and Joseph, there would be no Holy Family. According to [St. Francis de Sales], the bond of love that binds the members of the Holy Family is a union of hearts which comes about through the marriage of Mary and Joseph. Mary and Jesus were so completely united with one another that they 'had but one soul, but one heart, and but one life, so that the Blessed Mother, although living, yet did not live herself but rather the Son lived in her.' And through the indissoluble union that Jesus establishes between Joseph's heart and Mary's heart, He draws the saint into union with His own divine heart. Jesus was 'the dear Child of [Joseph's] heart,' and Joseph was Jesus' 'great friend and His beloved father.' "
~ Fr. Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS,
The Holy Family Devotion: A Brief HistoryOrigin of the Holy Family Devotion"Devotion to the Holy Family first appears in the late Middle Ages. Prior to this period, there were two major obstacles impeding the emergence of this cult. First, a strong, positive theology of the person and mission of St. Joseph was lacking. Veneration of the Holy Family is inextricably linked with devotion to St. Joseph, and the former did not appear until the latter flourished. The image of St. Joseph as an active, full-fledged participant in the Holy Family had to be established before it was possible to consider Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as forming an integral and credible family unit. Second, there was no word or expression to denote nuclear family. At the time, the word 'family' was understood to mean 'extended family' (or all those living under the authority of the
paterfamilias), rather than 'nuclear family,' as it does today. Both of these obstacles would be removed in the late medieval period, due principally to the efforts of Jean Gerson (1363-1429), the eloquent and prolific chancellor of the University of Paris.
"Gerson has been described as 'the founder of that branch of theology which today we call "Josephology." ' He conducted an active campaign to rescue St. Joseph from the relative neglect of earlier periods, to correct mistaken notions about him found in the apocryphal gospels and often reflected in art and literature, and to promote his cult among the faithful. Gerson systematically reworked St. Joseph's image from that of an aged, ineffective attendant to the Virgin and Christ Child to a vigorous, youthful man* who was the divinely-appointed head of God's household, a paradigm of perfection who had been sanctified in the womb and was thus incapable of sin, the protector of God's plan for salvation, an industrious provider for the Holy Family, and, along with his spouse, Mary, an exemplar of holy matrimony. As if to underscore that the cult of St. Joseph is the foundation for that of the Holy Family, throughout his writings, Gerson always refers to Jesus, Joseph, and Mary in that order.
"Gerson's transformation of St. Joseph's image made it possible to think about the Holy Family in a new way. Gerson also made it possible to speak about the Holy Family by coining the expression 'earthly trinity' to speak about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a nuclear family in the modern sense. Although Gerson did not explicitly compare the earthly trinity of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with the blessed Trinity in heaven, such a comparison is implicit since previously the use of the word was reserved to the three divine Persons. Henceforth, it became popular to refer to and to depict in the visual arts the Holy Family as a trinity which replicated on earth the blessed Trinity in heaven."
~ Fr. Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS,
The Holy Family Devotion: A Brief History-----
* A wealth of historical research has born out Gerson's assertions of Joseph's youth. For more information, see Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary and Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary, Part II.Labels: joseph, josephology, liturgy, mary
Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, Part II
I started typing up a really long honkin' reply to a comment left on my previous post,
Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, but 'cause it got s'darn long, I figured I might as well make another full post outta it. :-P
A frequently-made argument about Joseph and Mary's marital status is by citing Bible passages "proving" they weren't actually married at the time of the Annunciation. However, this is the result of
POOR TRANSLATIONS, not
historical reality.
It is a MISTRANSLATION when you read Mary say, "I'm not married". A more accurate translation is, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" (NAB) or "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" (Douay-Rheims); you also find this in many other translations. Also, the angel commands Joseph to take Mary into his home to complete the final stage of marriage; it is again a MISTRANSLATION when you read versions that tell him to "not be afraid to marry" her.
The fact that Joseph and Mary were married, not betrothed, prior to the Annunciation has absolutely, positively nothing to do with
opinions or religious differences. It is simply a case of the
historical reality of Jewish marriage customs at the time, which is clearly documented by many authors; you can read just a few resources in
my previous post.
But, what the heck, here are some more. :-)
Mistranslations of Luke and Matthew"Current translations of Matthew 1:20 are based on the suspicion hypothesis and separate 'do not fear to take Mary your wife' from what follows by a comma, and by a conjunction such as 'for,' thus interpreting that the clause 'that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit' is new information for Joseph. Such news, however, would hardly be a reason to allay fear in the above biblical sense, but rather a cause for it. Grammatical analysis of the conjunctions
gàr and
dè in Matthew 1:20 shows that they may be interpreted in the sense of 'indeed ... but," rather than "for ... and.' The angel is telling Joseph that he should not hesitate to continue with the marriage, for though Mary is indeed pregnant by the Holy Spirit, he is nevertheless to have an important role in that work: to act as Mary's husband and to name the child. The translation could thus read: 'Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife even though that which is conceived in her is indeed of the Spirit and that is Holy. She will bear a son, whom you will give the name Jesus ...'
...
"Mary conceives as a virgin while betrothed to Joseph, who is of the house of David. 'Betrothed' is again understood to mean that all the formal contractual agreements for the marriage had been finalized, while Mary's statement to the angel indicates that Joseph had not yet made the final step of taking her into his home. Luke 1:34 should be translated 'since I have no marital relations with a man,' which is a common meaning of
ginōskō (know) when applied to a man and a woman, used also in Matthew 1:25. It should
not be translated 'since I have no husband,' as the Revised Standard Version does, since the betrothed could be called husband and wife even before the act of coming together in the same house, as seen in Matthew 1:16,19,20,24."
~ Larry M. Toschi, OSJ;
Joseph in the New TestamentMarriage Customs of Joseph and Mary's Time"Since the question [of Mary and Joseph's espousals] is of interest strictly to Catholics, it seems preferable to quote non-Catholic authorities. None of these can justly be accused of interpreting the gospel account in favor of any Catholic theory regarding Mary's vow of virginity and St. Joseph's fatherhood. We will present here four representative non-Catholic opinions.
"Montefiore, the eminent Jewish scholar, comments on Matthew 1:18 as follows: 'They had not yet lived together in one house as man and wife although they were legally married according to Jewish law.'
"The Jewish Encyclopedia repeats the same thought. 'The root, "to betroth," from which the Talmudic word "betrothal" is derived, must be taken in this sense, i.e., to contract an actual though incomplete sense of the rabbinical law declares that the betrothal is equivalent to an actual marriage, and only to be dissolved by a formal divorce.'
"According to Gorge Foot Moore, 'Betrothal was a formal act by which the woman became legally the man's wife; unfaithfulness on her part was adultery and punishable as such; if the relation was dissolved, a bill of divorce was required. Some time elapsed after the bridegroom claimed the fulfillment of the agreement before the bride was taken to her husband's house and the marriage consummated. The term employed for betrothal,
kiddushin, has religious associations; it is an act by which the woman is, so to speak, consecrated to her husband, set apart for him exclusively.'
"Finally, we turn to Shailer Mathews, who appears to hold no brief for the virginal conception of Christ but who definitely considers Jesus the legitimate son of the marriage because of the betrothal. He writes, 'Betrothal among the Jews in the time of Jesus was in the process of transition. ... The status of the man and woman was ... practically the same as that of married persons, although now it was generally customary for the wedding ceremony proper to be celebrated at the expiration of a year. ... There seems to have been no reason why betrothed persons should not live together as man and wife without a subsequent marriage ceremony. The children of such a union would be legitimate.' He concludes that according to the narrative of Matthew and Luke, the contemporary Jewish customs were followed out by Mary and Joseph.
"... The summaries of many other studies can be adduced to uphold this view that the betrothal of Joseph and Mary linked them in a valid marriage, which was later solemnized by the wedding ceremony. This conclusion is further confirmed by a sort of aprioristic argument proposed by Macabiau and modeled on reasoning of Suarez: The gospels make it clear that Jesus was considered the legitimate son of Mary and Joseph. Therefore, one would be prone to conclude that Jesus had been conceived in Mary at a time when genuine marriage rights were considered by the public to belong to His virginal parents."
~ Francis L. Filas, SJ;
Joseph: The Man Closest to JesusSee also: Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage [Part I]Labels: joseph, josephology, mariology, mary
Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage
As Christmas approaches and we contemplate the birth of our Savior, I think it's a good time to clear up the confusion over what led up to His birth -- namely, that Mary wasn't married at the time of the Annunciation.
Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Mary
was not an "unwed mother" at the moment of the Incarnation, nor was she merely "engaged" to Joseph -- she was truly and legally married to him; a wife. Jesus was conceived, as is proper,
within the bond of Holy Matrimony, not outside it. Following are some resources that address the nature and validity of Joseph and Mary's marriage.
Joseph and Mary's Marriage and the Incarnation"In Hebrew Law the betrothal was not a simple promise of marriage in the future, but, with binding force, was equivalent to it. In Deuteronomy, as in the Gospel, the betrothed was called 'wife' because she was indeed that. Accused of infidelity, she would be obliged to suffer the punishment for adultery, and she would be stoned to death. Did her betrothed die, she would be looked upon as a widow. Nor could she be rejected except through the same process of divorce as the Law required for a married woman.
"Cohabitation, however, was generally postponed for some months, perhaps a year. The rabbis held the bride should be given the time to prepare her trousseau, the groom, to fulfill the promises of the [marriage] contract and prepare the home.
"Actually, the betrothed could have marital relations and if the bride conceived a child by her groom, no fault would be found.
Because of these facts, the endless controversies carried on later about Mary's conception of the Incarnate Word, some affirming that she was truly married, others denying it, are absolutely pointless -- a mere war of words." [emphasis added]
~ Michel Gasnier, OP;
Joseph the Silent* * *
"In the Book of Luke we read that the Angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary, betrothed to a man named Joseph. From the point of view of our own time and culture, this seems to tell us that, at the time the angel announced the conception of the Son of God, Mary and Joseph were merely engaged.
"Was this really so? ... According to Jewish custom, the betrothal was not merely an engagement but had the force of marriage, including the marital rights.
"... Lest there be any doubt about this understanding of 'betrothal,' the Church herself has given us an explanation of the 'betrothal' of Joseph and Mary. 'According to Jewish custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal, or true marriage was celebrated, and then, only after a certain period of time, the husband brought his wife into his own house. Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her 'husband.' " (Op. cit.,
Redemptoris Custos, n. 18)
"Thus the betrothal of Joseph and Mary refers to an actual marriage. Yet there was a period of possibly [up to] one year following the betrothal in which the couple did not live together. ... The Jews did not consider it unlawful or even necessarily unusual for a woman to conceive a child during the one-year period. This explains why no one thought it was unusual or at least unlawful for Mary to be with child during this time. Otherwise, it would have been a great scandal in the little town of Nazareth, and it could have made her subject to the law and its punishment."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church* * *
"Nor let the word 'espoused' be understood, as by some it has been understood, as if Mary were at the time only promised in marriage, that is, betrothed. No. The nuptials had already been celebrated, according to the true sense of Scripture, a point which has been clearly established by the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and, in particular, by the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas. Thus we find St. Matthew calling Joseph the husband of Mary, and Mary the wife of Joseph."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. JosephThe Validity of Joseph and Mary's Marriage"The Scripture testifies clearly that Joseph was the husband of Mary and that Mary was his wife. One could not be a husband or a wife if one did not marry. The Scripture would not call him husband if it meant that he was not Mary's husband. (Cf.
Mt. 1:18-20)
"Still, one should not wish to rely here on a private interpretation of the Scripture unless it is consistent with Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. The Fathers of the Church, including St. Augustine, have unanimously upheld the genuineness of this marriage. It is also the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the universal Doctor of the Church. Besides, the teaching has been upheld by papal encyclicals in more recent times.
"According to the view of St. Augustine, there are three goods of marriage: offspring, fidelity, and sacrament. All three of these, he says, have fulfillment in the marriage of Joseph and Mary. ... Offspring is more perfectly fulfilled in the marriage of Joseph and Mary because the offspring is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who infinitely surpasses all created persons.
"There is fidelity because there is no adultery. ... As the offspring of the marriage, Jesus is also the final end or cause of this marriage. In this sense, the marriage is a sacrament of the New Testament. Following the appearance of an angel in a dream to Joseph, we see that their previously valid marriage becomes a marriage of two people who believe in Christ, a new reality."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church* * *
"It is clear from more than one passage in the Holy Gospel that Mary was truly Joseph's wife, and Joseph truly Mary's husband, for she is expressly called the wife of Joseph, as Joseph is called the husband of Mary. If Joseph be sometimes styled by the Fathers simply the guardian, not the husband, of Mary, this way of speaking was not intended to exclude the reality of the matrimonial bond which united them, but only to rebut any possible surmise which might arise against their virginal purity."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. JosephSee also: Josephology: On Joseph and Mary's Marriage, Part IILabels: joseph, josephology, mariology, mary
Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence, Part II
"The other Saints supplicate Jesus and Mary, St. Joseph commands them; this bold idea of Origen has been adopted by several Doctors. St. Joseph speaks as a father; but a father does not petition his son, he commands him. The other Saints throw down their crowns at the feet of the Lamb, and pray as supplicants; St. Joseph supplicates as one commanding, or rather, the humility of this holy man is too great to permit him to command the Lord Jesus; but the goodness of Our Lord is so condescending, that He accepts the prayers of Joseph as paternal commands, and grants all he requests. Happy Patriarch! who alone of all men has relations so special, union so intimate with the Saviour of the world, and His most holy Mother! The Son of Mary owes obedience to you; your spouse owes you honour, you have the right to command them both; can you then fear to pray to them for your clients?
"When two just men consent upon earth concerning anything whatever that they demand in the name of Jesus Christ, it shall be granted to them by His Father in heaven. (Mt 18:19) Here, indeed, is this promise of the Savior verified. When Mary and Joseph plead together before the throne of their Divine Son, in favour of one of their servants, is there any grace which they cannot obtain? Great God! give to me those two all-powerful advocates; grant that they may always plead my cause before Thine adorable Majesty, and that I may ever render to them acceptable service. Where is there to be found an object more beloved by thee and more worthy of our love than those two noble hearts?"
~ Père Binet,
The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph* * *
"In heaven the throne of the Virgin Mary is placed above those of the apostles and of the Seraphim, and no other creature deserves to be seated upon it. In heaven, being great is being humble, and on earth, being humble is being great; greatness is not diminished by humility. What saint lodged Mary and Jesus in his home and served as a throne for God, and, not only that, but Mary and Jesus served and respected him? When in heaven Mary passes by the seats of the Seraphim, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, or the most glorious saints, they rise from their seats, reverence, and prostrate themselves at Mary's feet, calling her their lady, queen, and empress. And when she arrives at the seat and throne where St. Joseph is, being as humble in heaven as she was on earth, she does not fail to give signs of her humility, acknowledging that she had served and obeyed him while she was in the world. She whom all others call queen and empress, Joseph can call spouse and wife. And when the whole heavenly court sees that its Queen pays special honor to St. Joseph, they do not hesitate to pay him him reverence."
~ from
Just Man, Husband of Mary, Guardian of Christ: An Anthology of Readings from Jerónimo Gracián's Summary of the Excellencies of St. Joseph (1597), translated and edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
See also: Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence [Part I]Labels: joseph, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence
"In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty that naught created can rank above it. But as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. For marriage is the most intimate of all unions which from its essence imparts a community of gifts between those that by it are joined together. Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life's companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honor, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men."
~ Pope Leo XIII, "On Devotion to St. Joseph" (
Quamquam Pluries), 1889
* * *
"It might appear more difficult to place him above John the Baptist because of Christ's words, 'Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist.' The difficulty is easily met. When speaking thus, Jesus was comparing John to the prophets of the Old Testament, who announced his future coming, while the Baptist's announcement declared him already come and pointed him out to the people. We might say, too, that those words of Jesus were intended to compare John, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, with that new grandeur which confers on the elect the call to the Kingdom of heaven, that kingdom of which the Church on earth is the foundation, and for that reason ... 'Howsoever great the grandeur of John the Baptist who closes the Old Testament, it sinks into insignificance before that of the lowliest Christian.' "
~ Michel Gasnier, OP;
Joseph the Silent* * *
"The whole theology of St. Joseph is included in these two fundamental titles: husband of Mary and virginal father of Jesus. These two titles place St. Joseph on an immeasurable height, a thousand times above all the angels and saints. After God, there is nothing so great and sublime as His most holy Mother. After Mary, nothing can be imagined more sublime than her virginal husband and nutritive father of Jesus.
"Theologians have taken many centuries to notice the huge figure of St. Joseph. ... It is impossible to express in human words the incomprehensible dignity of St. Joseph as nutritive father of Jesus, which places him a thousand times above the angels and saints and makes him reach very close to the
hypostatic order, if it be that he really does not belong to it as an
integral part, even though mediated and accidentally, as serious theologians claim."
~ Fr. A. Royo Marín, OP;
La Virgen María. Teológia y espiritualidad marianas* * *
"A literalist interpretation of Jesus' words that, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist (Mt 11:11, Lk 7:28) has led to giving him general precedence over all other saints except Mary, without regard for the second clause in Jesus' statement that even the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John."
~ Larry M. Toschi, OSJ; "Liturgical Feasts of St. Joseph",
St. Joseph Studies* * *
"Between the ministry of the Apostles and that of Joseph there exists this difference: the former is immediately for men, to conduct them to Christ; that of Joseph is immediately directed to Christ Himself, in order to preserve Him for men, and is therefore so much the more noble and sublime. 'The ministry of Joseph,' says Giovanni di Cartagena, 'both as spouse of the Blessed Virgin and as [earthly] father of Jesus, was closely conjoined with the very Person of Jesus Christ, in such wise [sic] that its dignity appears, more than any other whatsoever, to approach the most sublime dignity of the Mother of God.'
"... Some, however, would allege as an objection the declaration of Christ, who said, 'There hath not arisen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist'; whence they infer that Joseph might, indeed, be equal to the Baptist, but could not surpass him. ... [T]his praise of John detracts nothing from the pre-eminent glories of Joseph, since Jesus, in asserting that none had arisen greater than John the Baptist, was not speaking absolutely, but comparatively. He was speaking of him as compared to the saints and prophets of the Old Testament, and, moreover, was excluding from His general assertion those who ought to be excluded, and excepting those who ought to be excepted, as is the case in all general assertions. Thus from this declaration Jesus naturally excluded Himself and excluded Mary; and so also He excluded Joseph, as belonging to an order much superior to that of the Baptist. Hence Maldonatus, a very learned commentator, speaking of this declaration of Christ, wrote, 'I answer briefly and easily that here the Baptist, as St. Jerome affirms, is compared by Jesus, not to all the saints, but only to those of the Old Testament'. Now, Joseph certainly belongs to the New Testament, and is the first after Mary. Therefore he is excluded. Moreover, St. Jerome, commenting on the words of Christ, observes that Jesus did not in this declaration prefer John to all the prophets and patriarchs, but only made him equal to them.
"... Nothing in what has been said can be viewed as any derogation of the high titles and sublime sanctity of John the Baptist, who attained even to meriting the praises of a God; the sole object being to remove all doubt of the pre-eminence of Joseph, and to prove that in his greatness and glory he must be reckoned, after Jesus and Mary, as excelling all the saints and angels."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. JosephSee also: Josephology: On Joseph's Pre-Eminence, Part IILabels: joseph, josephology
Happy Feast of Joseph, Husband of Mary!
In honor of this splendid day, I've shared some great quotes below on why devotion to the Holy Husband of our Blessed Mother is so important, and the benefits gained from such a devotion.
If you'd like more Josephy goodness,
here are all my Joseph posts.
"Devotion to St. Joseph is inseparable from devotion to Mary: 'What God has joined together no one should separate' (Mt. 19:6) is what Christ himself said, alluding to the indissolubility of the marriage bond. And it is expressly on record in the Gospel that Joseph was 'the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, called Christ' (Mt. 1:16). It is impossible to have a deep and authentic devotion to Mary without also feeling a very special veneration for her virgin husband St. Joseph."
~ Fr. A. Royo Marín, OP;
La Virgen María. Teología y espiritualidad marianas* * *
"The evolution of devotion to St. Joseph is in reality another facet of devotion to Mary. Probing more deeply into Joseph's mission leads us to know more deeply the greatness of Mary. St. Joseph's position in relation to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, stems from his position with regard to Mary, Mother of the Redeemer. The parallel holds true also for Mary and Jesus. The better we know Mary, the better we will know her Son, from whom she derives all her dignity and whom she reflects so faithfully. Pope Benedict XV clearly expressed this idea: 'By St. Joseph we are led directly to Mary, and by Mary to the fountain of all holiness, Jesus Christ, who sanctified the domestic virtues by his obedience to St. Joseph and Mary.' "
~ by Br. John M. Samaha, SM; "
Like Wife, Like Husband"
* * *
"St. Joseph is necessarily a part of true devotion to Mary. She will not be honored as she should be until Joseph is honored. Consequently, neither will her Son be sufficiently worshipped and loved. ... By offering all to St. Joseph, it may not seem that we are offering any more service to God than when we simply offered all to Jesus through Mary. A thing cannot be more total than total but it can be more. For example, two glasses may be full but one is larger than the other. This devotion to St. Joseph makes the glass larger, in a sense. He does this because he makes what we offer to Jesus and Mary worth more by enhancing it with his merits.
"... Just as perfect devotion to Mary leads us securely to Jesus, so also this devotion to St. Joseph leads us securely to Mary and the practice of perfect devotion to her. He cannot hinder her in the least. Everything about him points to Mary and through her to the Child. In looking at him, we will always find ourselves at once before the feet of the Child and His Mother. At once the devil will flee, for as the Litany says, Joseph is the terror of demons. Also, with St. Joseph, there is an even greater safety from heresy. For a true knowledge of him causes us to have a great reverence for the Magisterium of the Church and the Holy Father, the successor of Peter."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church: The Doctrinal Basis and Practice of Total Consecration Through St. Joseph and the Church* * *
"In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty that naught created can rank above it. But as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. For marriage is the most intimate of all unions which from its essence imparts a community of gifts between those that by it are joined together.
"Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life's companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honor, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men."
~ Pope Leo XIII,
Quamquam Pluries ("On Devotion to St. Joseph"), 1889
Labels: joseph, josephite, josephology
Josephology: Father of all Joseph books!
Sweet! My library just notified me that they've got my interlibrary loan request in -- I'm so totally psyched!
It's for
Bibliographie sur saint Joseph et la sainte Famille,
THE be-all, end-all Josephological resource out there. Just check out this description:
"This monumental (1365 pages, with 19,725 entries) and multilingual (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, etc.) bibliography is the single most important source of information about publications of all kinds (ecclesiastical, theological, devotional, artistic, etc.) on St. Joseph and the Holy Family. ... Use of Bibliographie sur Saint Joseph et la saint Famille is facilitated by thorough thematic and chronological indices. There is an additional chronological index of contributions by eighty-eight religious orders." Read full description.
:::swoons:::I'd seen this book mentioned in Fr. Filas' bibliography for
Joseph: The Man Closest to Jesus: The Complete Life, Theology and Devotional History of St. Joseph and am thrilled I can read it for myself. God bless the public library system!
Labels: books, joseph, josephology
Josephology: Spiffy video talk on Joseph
Oooh, I just came across
this nice video presentation (short!) on the importance of Joseph in our spiritual lives. God bless them Dominicans!
(And even though I'm a Franciscan, I gotta admit it:
Dominican friars are the handsomest dudes around. :-P But,
Poor Clares are still the beautiful-est women.)
Labels: domincan, joseph, josephology, poor clares
Joseph-i-licious book fun
Husband Mike and I rarely buy books, 'cause we prefer to just check 'em out from the library. It's cheaper, saves space, and gives us an excuse to hang out at our spiffy library. And on those occasions when we actually do pony up for a book, we've usually read the sucker first to make sure it's Something We Really Want To Own.
However, when it comes to Josephological books, well, I'm a bit more willing to flat-out buy 'em sight unseen, and the Oblates of St. Joseph's
Guardian of the Redeemer Bookstore is The place to go. Since it's been months since my last Joseph fix, I've been gettin' twitchy, so I just placed an order for 3 promising-looking titles:
Family of St. Joseph Prayer Manualby the Oblates of St. Joseph
Joseph in the New Testamentby Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
Just Man, Husband of Mary, Guardian of Christ: An Anthology of Readings from Jeronimo Gracian's Summary of the Excellencies of St. Joseph (1597)by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
Of these, I'm most drooling over the last one (
Just Man ...). The
book reviews/descriptions I've read have got me excited -- for example, "Joseph Chorpenning not only gives us a brilliant translation of Gracin's book, but his own commentaries, following each of the chapters, make use of all the major books on St. Joseph from the 16th century to the present."
:::swoon::: And it's got nifty illustrations!
So, everything shipped out yesterday, and I'm on pins 'n' needles awaitin' their arrival. Mebbe I'll post a few reviews once I get my mitts on 'em and have time to digest it all. :-)
Labels: books, joseph, josephite, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Virginity
All-righty, I've shared resources on Joseph's age (
here 'n'
here), and I said I'd get around to stuff that addressed his virginity. So, here ya go -- enjoy! :-)
"If Holy Scripture nowhere expressly speaks of the chastity of Joseph previous to his espousals with Mary, we might well conclude it from the very fact of those espousals. We judge of the nature of a tree from the fruit which it produces; to know, then, that Joseph was the spouse of a virgin and of a Virgin-Mother such as Mary, was quite sufficient to persuade the great body of the Fathers to hold with security that Joseph was a virgin by his own election before he was chosen to be the husband of Mary.
"A few, it is true, too easily crediting the baseless statements of some of the Apocryphal books, which asserted that those who in the Gospel are called the brethren and sisters of Jesus were children of St. Joseph by a previous marriage, were led to withhold from him the gift and glory of perpetual virginity.
"But the great majority, and those of the highest authority, freely recognized this grace among those which enriched and adorned the spouse of the Blessed Virgin. As early, indeed, as the third century St. Athanasius spoke these short but weighty words of Joseph and Mary: that 'both remained intact, as was proved by many testimonies' (
De Incarnatione); and after him St. Jerome, defending the perpetual virginity of Mary against the heretic Helvidius, maintained that, not only Mary, but her spouse Joseph was ever a virgin, so that of this virginal marriage a virginal Son should be born.
"Hence St. Peter Damian asserts in a letter to Pope Nicolas, and also in his work on the celibacy of the clergy, that such was the faith of the Church on this point; for that the Son of God, not content with having a virgin for His mother, willed that he who represented His Father should also be a virgin (
De Coelib. Sacerd. cap. iii.); where we shall do well to observe that this great doctor does not hesitate to qualify this belief as the 'faith of the Church'.
"... [W]e find St. Francis de Sales, a most devout client of St. Joseph, strenuously maintaining his virginity and his vow [of perpetual virginity]. 'How exalted in this virtue of virginity must he have been, who was destined by the Eternal Father to be the guardian or, rather, the companion in virginity of Mary herself!'
"... Now, as the August Trinity in Heaven is the first and the altogether virgin, so also must the second Trinity on earth be altogether virgin. If Jesus is a virgin and Mary is a virgin, how should not Joseph, who completes this most virginal Trinity, be a virgin also? Jesus is the Head of virgins, Mary is the mother of virgins, Joseph is the guardian and patron of virgins."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph, 1888
* * *
"The opinion that Joseph had had a previous marriage -- says
Le Dictionnaire de theologie -- was based entirely on the apocryphal
Protevangel of James. In the first centuries of the Church there were a few Fathers of the Church in sympathy with this theory. Today it has been completely abandoned. The assumption that Joseph had children of this marriage, 'the brothers of the Lord', runs up against too many difficulties to make its acceptance possible."
~ Michael Gasnier, OP;
Joseph the Silent, 1960
* * *
"... [The 'brothers of the Lord'] is virtually a nonissue for anyone who has a glancing familiarity with Hebrew customs. The Hebrew word for 'brother' is a more inclusive term, applying to cousins as well. In fact, in ancient Hebrew there is no word for cousin. To a Jew of Jesus' time, one's cousin was one's brother. This familial principle applied in other Semitic languages as well, such as Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Furthermore, precisely
because Jesus was an only child, His cousins would even assume the legal status of siblings for Him, as they were His nearest relatives."
~ Scott Hahn,
Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God In the Word of God, 2001
* * *
"[T]oday, this opinion [of Joseph's perpetual virginity] has gained 'all but the universal agreement of theologians.' They present many a reason for accepting this belief: in particular, the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph, the near impossibility of the hypothesis that the 'brethren of the Lord' are sons of Joseph, and especially the dignity and holiness of Saint Joseph which flow from his mission as spouse of the Blessed Virgin and foster father of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."
~ Fr. Florent Raymond Bilodeau,
The Virginity of Saint Joseph in the Latin Fathers and Medieval Ecclesiastical Writers, 1957
Labels: joseph, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary, Part II
In
this earlier post, I'd shared some resources pertaining to Joseph's age at the time of his betrothal to Mary, and here are more resources dealin' with this issue:
"[T]he idea that St. Joseph would be an old man of eighty years or more stands in direct contradiction with the requirements of his vocation. Joseph was to appear publicly as the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus, at least in order to safeguard the honor of mother and son.
Yet how could a man of patriarchal years be considered capable of fatherhood? A decrepit, senile guardian of Mary would open the door to public suspicion of adultery and illegitimacy.
"Again, laborious tasks and trying situations of all sorts beset the Holy Family. How could such an old man perform duties that called for a robust provider and protector? The general tenor of the gospel accounts points to the conclusion that Joseph was of an age customary for marriage; and that age was certainly not advanced to the evening of life.
"... In short, there is no fact from history and no logic arising from considerations of propriety that forces us to assume Joseph's advanced age. ... We have no way of determining his age more exactly except to study the customs of his time and determine if possible what the normal marriageable age must have been.
"Information suggested by the Dead Sea scrolls indicates such an average age when the male was considered marriageable. The Essene community wished its members to delay marriage (if they were to marry at all) until well after the customary time, and the twenties were considered beyond that time. We can conclude, then, that the normal age for the male to enter marriage would have been in his middle teens. In such a hypothesis, Joseph would have been about 16 at the time of his espousal to our Lady.
"... On the surface, it is true, the widespread and long-standing tradition of the body of the faithful was in error concerning St. Joseph's age, but fundamentally it did not err. ... The tradition of Joseph's age was manifestly concerned not so much with explicitly fixing the duration of his life. Its real purpose was to elevate the virginal dignity of the Mother of God beyond all doubt."
~Fr. Francis L. Filas, SJ;
Joseph: The Man Closest to Jesus: The Complete Life, Theology and Devotional History of St. Joseph; 1962.
* * *
"While the apocrypha surround this detail with much fantasy, Holy Scripture says nothing at all about [Joseph's age when he was espoused to Mary]. ... The apocrypha paint a very picturesque story but it is not worthy of our consideration, even though it has exerted its influence in Christian art. It is more correct and in accord with the Gospel that Joseph was not a man of eighty when he married the Blessed Virgin, but rather a young man. The Gospel says nothing explicitly, but its simple narration inclines us to this interpretation and there is certainly no statement in Scripture which opposes it. On the contrary, the exegetes observe:
"1) In this marriage, it was fitting and in accord with the custom of the times that there should be no great difference in the ages of the couple.
"2) The ministry divinely committed to him, namely, to conceal the mystery of the Son of God, would require that St. Joseph be a young man. He was selected as Mary's spouse to defend her honor; therefore, Jesus, Mary's son, was thought to be Joseph's son also. He would have to be physiologically capable of fatherhood, otherwise Mary's dignity would not have remained unchallenged.
"3) God willed this union for the consolation, defense and assistance of Mary with her Divine Child. In order to bear the burdens of domestic life, Joseph would have to be a man able to do physical work.
"4) Finally, while the venerable old man of painters and sculptors was meant to inspire devotion and avoid wrong insinuations, it was not necessary to put forth senility as the only safeguard of the purity of this holy pair. Would not virtue and the power of the Holy Spirt more than supply any defect, if in truth any existed?"
~ Boniface Llamera, OP;
Saint Joseph, 1962
See also: Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary [Part I]Labels: joseph, josephology, mary
Joseph-tastical humor
Ah, the pictures alone made me hoot out loud -- check out
The Curt Jester's take on the (misguided) "practice" of homeowners burying statues of Joseph in the hopes of selling their homes.
Praying to Joseph for his intercession in selling your house is perfectly OK, as is purchasing a statue and using that as an aid to prayer. But burying his statue -- upside-down, even! -- is just plain
stupid and smacks of superstition.
Labels: humor, joseph, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary
Previously,
I'd talked 'bout my love of Joseph, Holy Husband of Mary and Virginal Father of Jesus, and said I'd be sharin' more info. about him. So, awaaay we go!
In trying to better understand the life and person of Joseph it's necessary to address the misunderstandings that're still floatin' around about him -- namely, 1) he was old, and 2) he was previously married and had kids. Happily, we have access to tons of serious Josephological resources (books, articles, videos, etc.) to help us out.
Let's kick things off by dealin' with Joseph's age: He wasn't an old, decrepit man. Studies show that he was most likely only a few years older than Mary. In addition, his youth and perpetual virginity -- though not declared dogmatically -- are echoed and affirmed throughout Church teaching and by a multitude of scholars, saints, and theologians. (We'll look at his perpetual virginity in later posts.)
So, here are some splendid resources that address the question of Joseph's age; more to come later:
"Providence chose to keep [Joseph] in a most complete obscurity during the first centuries of Christianity. Better yet: it, as it were, blurred traces of him. In our modern jargon, we would say that the operation was one of 'misinformation'. To misinform is to spread false rumors the better to lead people astray. Thus, James' Protoevangelium ... invents details about Mary and Joseph. Joseph is presented as an old man who has already been married and has had children with a former wife.
"... Such is the origin of the imagery which presents this young Jew in the guise of a pensive old man, retreated in the corner of pictures, fulfilling a function which is obviously beyond him, his role being reduced to enhancing the presence of his radiant wife."
~ Fr. Andrew Doze,
Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father, 1992
* * *
"Were any faith to be put in certain apocryphal writings (especially
The Epistle attributed to St Jerome and
The Gospel of the Infancy), we might think that Joseph was an old man when he married Mary. St Epiphanius was probably influenced by this idea when he unhesitatingly stated that Joseph had passed his eightieth year. Writers who accepted this theory were evidently trying to prove our Lady's perpetual virginity. Rather a detestable argument, since it attributed Joseph's continence to senility.
"On the contrary, in those days as well as in our own, such an ill-assorted marriage would have been roundly condemned and looked upon almost as a profanation. Ordinary common sense demands that Joseph be in the flower of his age so that, on one side, the fatherhood of the child Jesus might be attributed to him, and that, on the other, he would be able to fulfill the duties of protector and foster father which God was to confide in him.
"Custom in Israel required that young men be married at eighteen or shortly after. Nothing obliges us to think that Joseph was older than others. Some documentary iconographs picture him as a beardless young man. (In the catacombs of St Hippolytus in Rome he is thus pictured on a gravestone of the third century as also on the sarcophagus of St Celsus in Milan, which belongs to the fourth century.) When later artists make him appear an old man, it is probably less in order to accent his age than to underline the perfection of his virtues, especially his prudence and maturity of character."
~ Michel Gasnier, OP;
Joseph the Silent, 1960
* * *
"We must ... give a few words of consideration to the disputed question as to the age of Joseph at the time of his espousals with Mary. Three opinions have been held; one of which would make our saint far advanced in years. This opinion was accepted by some of the Fathers and ancient ecclesiastical writers, chiefly Greek; and in support of it has been urged the custom prevailing among painters of representing St. Joseph as an aged man, sometimes as almost decrepit. This view has, however, been strongly opposed, not only because it had no other ground to rest upon than the statements of Pseudo-Gospels which were current in the third and fourth centuries, and were coupled with the assertion that Joseph was a widower with many children, an assertion forcibly condemned by St. Jerome and a host of other Fathers and theological writers down to the present times, but also as in itself presenting insuperable difficulties.
"As we have already observed, these apocryphal writings, while probably recording some true traditionary facts, are entirely devoid of authority, and contain, moreover, much that we naturally reject as both improbable and unbefitting.
"In the absence, then, of any authentic document on the point, it is reasonable to have recourse to arguments drawn from suitability and decorum. Now, when the tender age of Mary at the time of her espousals is considered, and the providential object of that marriage, which was to shield her reputation and to hide for a time the mystery of the Incarnation; to provide her also with a fitting companion and protector, who was to be an aid and a support to her, especially during their flight into Egypt and in all the labours and sufferings which their exile must have entailed; it would seem surprising, not to say incredible, in the absence of any solid proof, to suppose that it pleased God to select for her husband a man weighed down by the burden of years.
"Again, as regards the evidence to be drawn of Joseph's great age from pictorial representations, we may say that it has become quite valueless ever since patient research has brought to light monuments of much earlier date in the sculptures and paintings of the very first centuries. St. Joseph, the Cavaliere de Rossi tells us, is portrayed in the most ancient marbles and ivories as very young and almost always beardless. Later on, he was given a thick beard and a more mature and even aged appearance. Of the youthful representations he mentions many examples .... However, it was in about the fifth century that the habit of depicting the saint of, at least, a mature age seems to have commenced. Clearly, then, as De Rossi observes, the most ancient monuments, those of the third and fourth centuries, are so far from following the apocryphal legend that, on the contrary, they picture to us the spouse of the Virgin in the flower of his youth."
~ Edward Healy Thompson, MA;
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph, 1888
See also: Josephology: On Joseph's Age at His Betrothal to Mary, Part IILabels: joseph, josephology
