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19March

Saint Joseph, fiancé of Our Lady the Virgin Mary.

He is Joseph son of Jacob, son of Mattan, from the house of David the king and Abraham the father of the fathers (Cf. Mt. 1:1-16). Joseph is the greatest among saints, and the most noble one, because what he got from God was beyond compare. God the Father appointed him to father and raise up his Only Son, the Incarnated Word. God the Son took him as his earthly father and God the Holy Spirit choose him to be the fiancé of His bride, Mary the most holy. Thus, the choice of the Holy Trinity to saint Joseph is the proof for his righteousness, as the evangelist declared: “and her man Joseph, was righteous” (Mt. 1:19).

God who became man, loved us in our poverty and desired to be like us poor, humble, and so he choose his parent, Joseph, a simple, poor man, rich in virtues and love. Joseph’s firm faith and unshakable trust in God were his help and guide in hard times. His first trial was to find out that his fiancée is pregnant. This got him perplexed; however his noble character prevented him from hurting her, and while he was planned to quit her in secret, the Angle of God appeared to him and revealed to him the truth of Mary’s virgin and divine pregnancy. From that moment on, Joseph vowed his life to the service of the Virgin Mary and her child Jesus. He was there for them in the stable, he accompanied them to the temple to perform the law, he was with them in their flight to Egypt back and forth, he was with them in Nazareth, and searched for Jesus with Mary, when the boy was lost and found in the temple.

Saint Joseph always cared of Jesus and his mother Mary, with firm faith, great love, and silent hard work, until he died surrounded by Jesus and Mary, and thus became for us the patron of peaceful death. The Church also assigned him the patron of the Christian families and workers.

The devotion to Saint Joseph is quite spread out in the Western and Eastern Church. To his name many churches, fraternities and sororities were dedicated. In the Maronite Church, it was Patriarch Boulos Massad who introduced the blessing rite with the icon of Saint Joseph. There is also a Safro, Ramsho & Leelio prayers in Aramaic dedicated to Saint Joseph’s feast-week; which go back to the year 1484. May his prayers be with us. Amen.