From the pages of the Gospel, we have a story about Saint Joseph, who, according to Christian dogma, being betrothed to the Virgin Mary, abstained from marital relations, keeping her purity and chastity. That is why it has become a tradition to call him not a husband, but only the Betrothed of the Mother of God. The great honor fell to his share to keep and protect Jesus Christ in the early years of His earthly life.
Fiance of the Immaculate Virgin
Being a direct descendant of King David, Saint Joseph nevertheless led a very modest life, settling in the small town of Nazareth and earning his livelihood by hard carpentry. Evangelists are silent about his age, but from the apocrypha - religious writings not recognized by the official church - it is known that by the time of his betrothal to the Blessed Virgin he was at least 80 years old, while She had barely reached the age of fourteen.
This is explained by the fact that, observing the Jewish law, the Virgin Mary was obliged at such a young age to leave the Temple in Jerusalem, where she spent her childhood, and get married. However, having made a vow of eternalchastity, She could not become a wife in the conventional sense of the word, and marriage to an 80-year-old man was a kind of compromise.
In a number of apocrypha it is even said that the high priests of the Temple themselves chose Saint Joseph as the guardian of the virginity of their former Pupil. It is also known that he was a widower and had 4 sons from a previous marriage: Jacob, Judah, Josiah and Simeon. The gospel also mentions his daughters, but neither the names nor even the number is indicated.
Guardian of the Purity of the Blessed Virgin
The Evangelist Matthew tells that shortly after the marriage, Joseph became aware that his Wife, whom he had not touched, was pregnant. Suspecting adultery, but not wanting public disgrace, the elder decided to let Her go, but an angel who appeared in a dream told him about the conception from the Holy Spirit and the imminent birth of the Messiah.
Having humbly accepted everything God's messenger said, Joseph continues to preserve the purity of the Virgin Mary and the Baby who was born and, according to the Revelation received, calls him Jesus, while becoming his formal father. That is why Saint Joseph is often depicted on icons holding the Christ Child in his arms.
Revelations of the heavenly messenger
From the pages of the Gospel of Matthew it is also known that God sent two more Revelations to Joseph the Betrothed. From the first, he learned about the danger that threatens the Infant from King Herod, and hastened to take refuge in Egypt with his family. Another time he wasreported the death of the hated king and the possibility of returning to his homeland. Having fulfilled God's command, he returned to the Land of Israel and settled in the Galilean city of Nazareth.
The last mention of St. Joseph refers to his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he went with his whole family to celebrate Easter. This is an episode from the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Luke, in which the twelve-year-old Jesus, lagging behind His earthly parents, takes part in a theological discussion arranged in the Temple by the Jewish wise men.
The end of Elder Joseph's earthly journey
It would be appropriate to recall the Apocrypha, which appeared in Egypt at the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries. and received distribution under the name "The Story of Joseph the Carpenter." It says that, foreseeing his death, the Betrothed of the Virgin Mary made a pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple to ask the Archangel Michael for help at the hour of death.
The same essay mentions the promise given to him by Jesus Christ, according to which his body will remain incorrupt until the Second Coming of the Lord and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. Joseph died, according to the nameless author of the apocrypha, at the age of 111 years and was buried by heavenly angels.
Without contradicting this statement, many biblical scholars - researchers who study the Holy Scriptures - believe that Joseph's death occurred even before the start of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. The place of his burial was the Gethsemane cave, in which by that time the bodies of Saints Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Blessed One, had already rested. Virgin Mary.
Honoring God's Stepfather in the Catholic world
From the time of early Christianity, Joseph the Betrothed, or, as Catholics call him, the Worker, enjoys universal reverence. In Western tradition, his memory as the patron saint of the Holy Family has long been celebrated on March 19th. However, in 1955, Pope Pius XII decided to give the Labor Day celebrated on May 1 a religious connotation. To this end, he connected him with the name of Joseph the Worker, declaring him the patron of all who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Thus, the Latins celebrate his memory twice a year: March 19 and May 1.
In honor of the Betrothed of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they built numerous churches located both in Catholic and Orthodox countries, among which the most notable is the Church of St. Joseph in Nikolaev (Ukraine), the photo of which is given above. Built at the end of the 19th century by Polish emigrants, it amazes with the nobility of its forms and the high spirituality of its architectural concept. In addition, St. Joseph's Catholic parishes have been established in many other countries of the world, such as Great Britain, Poland, USA, China, France, etc.
Orthodox traditions of honoring the Betrothed of the Virgin Mary
In Orthodox churches, St. Joseph's Day is celebrated annually on January 8, that is, immediately after the birth of Christ. Here he also enjoys deep reverence, and in many parishes on the wall of the temple you can see his icon, on which God's Stepfather is depicted with the EternalBaby in arms. Most of them fully express the elder's feelings for the Savior of the world, whose guardian and mentor he became by the will of the Almighty.
It so happened that among the Orthodox states, his most widespread veneration was established in Belarus, on the territory of which the churches of St. Joseph were built in Orsha, Volozhin and Rubezhevichi. In Russia, despite the fact that a temple in his honor was erected only in Tyumen, the veneration of the Betrothed of the Virgin Mary has a long and strong tradition. Every year on January 8, an akathist and prayers to St. Joseph are heard in all churches, the text of one of which is presented in our article. In addition, fragments of gospel texts are read in which his name is mentioned.
Prayers to the Holy Betrothed of the Blessed Virgin
What is it customary to ask for in prayers offered before the icon of this saint, who has become one of the most striking characters of the Holy History? First of all, they turn to him for a petition before the Lord for the gift of strength to overcome the temptations that the devil places a person on his life path. This is no coincidence, because Joseph himself, being tempted by the enemy of the human race, was able to resist and accept the words of the heavenly messenger into his heart.
In addition, Saint Joseph is asked for help in gaining love for one's neighbor, humility, meekness and mercy. As mentioned above, he is considered the patron saint of all workers, so prayers are often turned to him when starting some new business. He does not leave without his help and juvenile orphans, widows, prisoners andtravelers.
Mysterious old man hiding his hooves
The iconography of St. Joseph has one very curious feature that previously caused heated discussions among representatives of the scientific world. The fact is that on the icons of the most ancient writing there was often an image of a small old man, bent over the years, applied in the lower corner. The saint himself was presented facing the audience, but with his eyes closed.
For many years, historians and art historians tried to explain this strange image, until the answer to the question was found among the records of the old Palekhov icon painters. As it turned out, the old man depicted in the corner symbolizes the enemy of the human race - the devil, in a dream inspiring elder Joseph with suspicions about the adultery of the Virgin Mary. The bowed posture serves to hide the horns and hooves from Joseph, who is being tempted by him. This allegorical interpretation of the image, once borrowed from Western icon painters, gradually became a tradition and was repeated over the centuries by Russian masters, sometimes misunderstanding its meaning.
