III. JOSEPH, the son of Jacob, and Matth. i. 15, 16.grandson of Matthan, the blessed Virgin’s spouse, and foster-father of Jesus Christ. All that is said of his age, and of the other circumstaances of his life, excepting what is read in the Gospel, having no better foundation than apocryphal authorities, we shall not insist upon them: Many of the Antients were of opinion, that before his marriage with the blessed Virgin, he had another wife, whose name was Escha, or Mary, by whom he had S. James the lesser, and the rest who are called in Scripture the brethren of Jesus Christ. But this is an absolute contradiction to those who maintain, that Joseph kept always his virginity intire; an opinion favoured by S. Jerom against Helvidius, and generally received at this day by the Latins. Besides, the opinion declaring S. James the lesser to be the son of Joseph and Mary, supposed to be the blessed Virgin’s sister, is not maintainable, since Mary the mother of James was still living at the time of our Saviour’s passion, unless any one will say, that she was Mark xv. 40.divorced by Joseph, in order to marry the blessed Virgin, or that this Saint was married at the same time to two sisters; which is entirely contrary to the Law. See note Levit. xviii. 18.the 3d of M. Tillemont concerning S. James the lesser.
The apocryphal Gospel of the Virgin’s birth, followed by Epiphanius, and several others, imports, that Joseph was very old when he married the blessed Virgin. Epiphanius says, he was above fourscore, Epiphan. hæres. 51. c. 10.and that he had had six children by a former wife. He married the blessed Virgin not out of choice, but by lot; not with any design of using her as his wife, but to be only the guardian of her virginity. Others think that he was obliged to marry her, as being her nearest relation, and next heir. The blooming rod which the Painters place in Joseph’s hands, denotes the rod which he presented to the High Priest, with others of the house of David, who might pretend to Vid. Grot. ad Matt. i. 16. Casaubon. ad Baron. 1. n. 37. alii ex Epiphan. 78. c. 7. Hieron. in Matth. i. 2. Matth. i. 21. Matt. i. 19.marry Mary. Of all these rods none but Joseph’s blossomed. This is the sign whereby God generally declared his will concerning marriages of this kind, with virgins who were consecrated to him. But let us say no more of these odd conceits taken from apocryphal Books, as S. Jerom calls them, and let us keep close to what we learn in the Gospel concerning Joseph.
Joseph, says the Gospel, was a just man: Matth. xiii. 55. Οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός. Apud Theodoret. hist. Eccles. l. 3. c. 18. Sozom. l. 6. c. 2, &c. Ambros. in Lucam l. 3. n. 2. ex Theophil. Antioch. in Matt. xiii. Justin Martyr. Dialog. cum Tryphon. p. 306.this is the greatest encomium which any one could make of his virtue, since Justice comprehends all virtues. He married the blessed Virgin, whose resolution of keeping her Virginity was very well known to him, and consequently his resolution was the same. His ordinary abode was at Nazareth, particularly after his marriage; for there are some authors, who believe that the true place of his birth was Capernaum, others think it was Bethlehem. He lived by the labour of his hands, and worked at his trade; tho what that trade was is not agreed. Some will have it he was a Carpenter, others a Lock-smith; others a Mason; Justin the martyr says, that he worked upon yokes and ploughs. The Apocryphal Book Of the infancy of Jesus, which is of very great antiquity, relates a miracle wrought by our Saviour in his father’s shop, who was a carpenter. S. Ambrose says, that he was employed in felling and cutting trees and in building houses: but at the same time he speaks of the utensils belonging to a smith, which he handled, and made use of. Libanius asking a Christian in the way of raillery, what Jesus Christ was doing, he replied, that he was making a coffin for the Emperor Julian. The author of an imperfect work upon S. Matthew1, S. Thomas, and a great number of modern interpreters, assert likewise that he was a Carpenter.
They who maintain that Joseph was a Smith or Farrier cite S. Hilary, S. Peter Chrysologus, venerable Bede, and the He- Hilar. in brew Gospel of S. Matthew published by Matth.
Chrysolog. Tilius. Cardinal Hugo makes him a Gold-Serm. 48. smith; but does not disapprove their opin- Beda venerab. in ion, who say he was a Mason. Theophilus Marc c. 6. of Antioch, and S. Ambrose, are not against his being a Smith, since he worked, Hugo in Marc. as they say, with fire and bellows. vi.
The mystery of the son of God’s incarnation was not at first discovered to Joseph; and this holy man having observed Mary his espoused wife to be big with child, and not knowing what to attribute it to, was inclined to dismiss her privately, by giving her a bill of divorce, instead of publickly dishonouring her. But while he continued in this resolution, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said to him, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived of her is of the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, or Saviour; for he shall save his people, and deliver them from their sins. After this Joseph took Mary to his own house, and kept her there as his wife.
About six months after, Joseph was obliged to go to Bethlehem, the place of his original, there to be registred2 with Mary his wife, in pursuance of an order issued from the Luke. ii. 1,2,3,&c.Emperor Augustus, which appointed the whole empire to be numbred. While they were in this place, the time when Mary should be delivered came, and she brought her Son Jesus Christ into the world. Forty days after the Child’s birth, it being the time of Mary’s purification, she and Joseph carried him to Jerusalem, and performed all that the Law appointed upon such occasions. As they were preparing to return to Bethlehem, the Angel of the Lord advised Joseph in a dream, to carry the Child into Egypt, because Matth. ii. 13,14.King Herod sought to kill him. How long they continued in Egypt we cannot tell, but it is very probable that they did not sojourn there a long time, since Herod died about the feast of the Passover, some few months after the massacre of the Innocents. Then the Angel again advertised Joseph, that he might return into Judea. When he came thither, being informed that Archelaus had succeeded Herod, and fearing lest this Prince might have inherited his Father’s cruelty, instead of going to Jerusalem or Bethlehem, he retired to Nazareth in Galilee, which did not belong to Archelaus’s kingdom, but to that of Herod Antipas. There he abode till his death, imployed in the business of his trade, living with great simplicity, and practising with great exactness the observances of the Law. He carried Jesus at the age of twelve years with Mary to the Passover at Jerusalem, and they had the misfortune to lose him for three days. When they found him, as they did at last, in the Temple, the Virgin said to Jesus, My Son, Luke ii. 42,51.why hast thou done so with us? Behold thy Father and I have sought thee sorrowing. But Jesus answered them, Why was it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I was about my Father’s business? Or, according to another translation, Did ye not know that the place where I was to be sought for, was my Father’s house. But they did not understand this saying: He returned with them to Luke ii. 49. Ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναί με. Vide Epiphan. hæres. 78. c. 10 Ambros. in Luc. xxiii. & alios.Nazareth, and was subject to them.
This is what we learn from Scripture concerning Joseph. It is believed with great probability, that he died before Jesus began to preach the Gospel. Joseph does not appear either at the marriage of Cana, or in any other circumstance of Mark xv. 40. Matth. xiii. 53. xxvii. 56. Hegesip. apud Euseb. l. 3. c. 11. hist. Eccles. See above the article of S. Joseph. Acts i. 23. Acts i. 13, 14.our Saviour’s preaching; and Jesus Christ upon his Cross recommends his blessed mother to S. John, which, without doubt, he never would have done, if her Husband had been living. Travellers affirm, that his Sepulchre is in the valley of Jehoshaphat, to the east of Jerusalem; but the Antients say nothing of it. There are no relicks of his body shewn any where, but only some particular things which belong’d to him, such as his wedding-ring, which they pretend to have at Perouze in Italy, and in some other places. His name is to be found in very antient Martyrologies upon the 19th of March: but it was very late before any began to keep his festival. The Carmelites are thought to have brought it from the east, and introduced it in the western Churches; and the particular devotion which S. Theresa had for Joseph, contributed not a little in the last age to increase the solemnity of his worship.
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