Saint Joseph - old or young?

Today we celebrate the solemn feast of St. Joseph.

We see St. Joseph's image is everywhere, but how much do we really know about this saint?

He is the patron and protector of the Church, just as he was he protector and patron of Our Lord and Lady while they walked this earth. We know that he was a "just and holy man" - the perfect pious gentleman. We usually think of him as a bearded man in green and brown holding the Christ Child and a staff of lilies.

But how much more do we know?


St. Joseph never speaks in the Gospels. We find him in Matthew and Luke, but only briefly. The Gospels say little about him. Yet we know that he was a carpenter. We read that he was a "just man" from the line of David. His age at the time of his betrothal and marriage to Our Lady is highly debated.

Many of our statues and images depict him as a middle-aged or even elderly man. We sing in the Cherry Tree Carol "Joseph was an old man, a very old man was he, when he married Mary in the land of Galilee."

But was Joseph really old?

The concept of the elderly Joseph comes from the apocryphal gospel The Protoevangelium of James. There we read:

And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of the priests, saying: "Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, lest perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord?"

And they said to the high priest: "You stand by the altar of the Lord; go in, and pray concerning her"... behold an angel of the Lord stood by him, saying unto him: "Zacharias, Zacharias, go out and assemble the widowers of the people, and let them bring each his rod; and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be." And the heralds went out through all the circuit of Judæa, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded, and all ran.

And Joseph, throwing away his axe, went out to meet them; and when they had assembled, they went away to the high priest, taking with them their rods. And he, taking the rods of all of them, entered into the temple...and Joseph took his rod last; and, behold, a dove came out of the rod, and flew upon Joseph's head.

And the priest said to Joseph, "You have been chosen by lot to take into your keeping the virgin of the Lord."

But Joseph refused, saying: "I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl. I am afraid lest I become a laughing-stock to the sons of Israel."

And the priest said to Joseph: "Fear the Lord your God, and remember what the Lord did to Dathan, and Abiram, and Korah; how the earth opened, and they were swallowed up on account of their contradiction. And now fear, O Joseph, lest the same things happen in your house."

And Joseph was afraid, and took her into his keeping. And Joseph said to Mary: "Behold, I have received you from the temple of the Lord; and now I leave you in my house, and go away to build my buildings, and I shall come to you. The Lord will protect you."

Here we see St. Joseph as an old widower, with children, and frankly, a bit of a jerk.

So was that St. Joseph? The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, certainly did not think so as he condemned the Protoevangelium as "apocryphal ravings."

While St. Thomas doesn't offer any insights on the life of St. Joseph, a number of holy mystics do. Ven. Maria de Agrida and Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich both write of St. Joseph as seen in their visions.

Ven. Maria writes in The Mystical City of God that:

"Among the number was Joseph, a native of Nazareth. and then living in Jerusalem; for he was one of the descendants of the royal race of David. He was then thirty-three years of age, of handsome person and pleasing countenance, but also of incomparable modesty and gravity; above all he was most chaste in thought and conduct, and most saintly in all his inclinations. From his twelfth year he had made and kept the vow of chastity. He was related to the Virgin Mary in the third degree, and was known for the utmost purity of his life, holy and irreprehensible in the eyes of God and of men."

Bl. Anne Catherine, in The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, does not specify St. Joseph's age, but merely that he was "unmarried." His actions and demeanor in her writings do, however, seem more reflective of a younger man than an older one.

To note a third: Padre Pio reportedly insisted the St. Joseph was even younger - perhaps only 18 when espoused to Our Lady.

Numerous other scholars and theologians have agreed that Joseph was certainly not old. A number believe that he may have been even as young at 16 - only a year or two older than Our Lady.

Why would St. Joseph's age matter? Perhaps it doesn't, but it seems easy enough to believe that an old man, already a father, would be more likely to live chastely with a girl he could regard as his granddaughter (or at least daughter). The virtue required of a teenage or young adult man to care for a pregnant girl, help her raise her son, all the while living a perfectly chaste life, without committing a single personal sin, would be truly heroic. That is the kind of virtue that merits the title "Patron of the Universal Church" and the kind of virtue you'd hope the patron of husbands would possess.


Further Reading:

The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich
The Mystical City of God: The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, Ven. Mary of Jesus of Agrida
Redemptoris Custos, Pope John Paul II
or follow any of the links in the text
Cross-posted over at the Pious Sodality.

Semester's Starting...and other Thoughts

Well, today's shaping up to be a busy day at work. TGIF.

I wrote the following a couple days ago, didn't publish, and guess I might as well post now on my lunch break:

As I said before, married life is great! However, this past week’s been fairly stressful because:

1. The house has a lot more work than we’d planned on, and,
2. School’s starting! That means a bit more commotion and excitement than I’d like right now.

As for the house, (it’s a very small place, mind you) it’s a very monotonous, monochrome place. All the walls are a dirty ivory color that is crying out for a change. The floors completely carpeted – bathroom included – in this deep brown low-pile carpet. I’ve already bought some paint, and have even painted the bathroom. The flooring will be tricky, but it has to go. The carpet is so dirty that walking around on it barefoot will leave your feet a despicable shade of black. We’ll see what the landlord will help us out with. He’s a gruff guy and he’s already had to replace half the pipes in the basement, the bathtub faucet, and a lot of outdoor wiring since we’ve moved in, so he probably won’t be too keen on the re-carpeting idea, but it has to be done.

As for the rest: I’m quite the creature of habit, and with the start of school there hasn’t been a chance for any habits to really be established. Today was the fist day of class, and this morning Matthias was still working on picking his class schedule. (Yikes! What a procrastinator :-P ) On top of that, the office rotation here at work has recently been mixed up and turned around, so I’m out of my work routine.

Last Wednesday marked the first visit of the in-laws (all except dad-in-law). Brother-in-Law (BIL) happily transferred into Notre Dame this semester. So MIL & SIL came to move him in to his new dorm…and of course they stayed with us. They left on Friday and the next day my family came out to bring my Brother back to Holy Cross. It’s been fun, but also very hectic having everyone around!

Hopefully things will calm down soon and we’ll get settled into a good routine.
____________

PS Ummm now it's Friday and things still haven't calmed down!

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One of my favorite parts of marriage is wonderful ability to seriously consider having children. Babies! So exciting! My summer housemate and I spent a good deal of time together in preparation for our weddings just grinning from ear to ear at the thought of them.

Maternal instincts set to hyper-drive, baby fever has set in, and that’s just the way it is.

Fortunately our husbands are well aware of this. Her’s even made an attempt to quell the infantile storm by proposing a ban on the word ‘baby’ and using ‘progeny’ in its stead. Somehow with the right intonation, squeal of delight, and goofy grin that word has the same effect. He tried.

From my end, working at a pregnancy resource center is the worst way to fuel the familial fire. Babies, babies, babies all day long! Girls my age coming in to the office who are on their 5th or 6th pregnancy (seriously) are no salve.

Trying to extend the family tree right away is probably a really bad idea for a few reasons. So, we’ve lumped ourselves in a group with most of our friends who’ve gotten married this summer: we’re going to try to wait two or so years before we actively try to conceive. (Or something like that….That’s what we’re all saying…..we’ll see how that goes!)

The best reason, that’s actually sating my baby fever for now (surprisingly), is health. I really need to get myself healthy to be the best mom I can. On my to do list: gain a few pounds, eat more, eat healthier, work out, get back into shape – and then maintain that healthy lifestyle.

Rats. That all sounds like the rest of the world: running around frantically screaming about diet and exercise. …expect that I’m trying to gain instead of loose.

A book entitled, “Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy” was sitting on the shelf at work, so I picked it up and have been reading it. It starts out with a section on “The Pre-Pregnancy Diet: Things to do three months to a year prior to conception.” Well, three months to a YEAR – ok, I’ll just focus on the year then. I’m sure my body could use it. In a very short time, the book informed me that I really under eat. (Surprise, surprise) Of course, on the flipside, I have to wonder how much the book’s perspective is tainted by the fact that the average American woman is seriously overweight and therefore needs many more calories than my body does.

Regardless, I’m going to read it and see what it says.

Sounds like fun! :-P

Marriage

Reeee!

I love being married :-)


Last Saturday my dear Matthias and I finally tied the knot at my home parish.

We went on a lovely little roadtrip honeymoon this past week and really enjoyed ourselves!

Now we're back in South Bend, here for two more years since he'll be in the MTS (theology Masters) program at Notre Dame. We just can't leave this place.

We found ourselves a cozy little bungalow very near the St Joe River not too far from campus and began moving in yesterday.


I have to laugh because one of my bridesmaids, Miss D., kept asking me in the days and hours preceding the wedding: "So! Any profound thoughts!?" Most of the time I had nothing to offer her since I was too caught up in making sure all the little details of the wedding and reception were in order - way too caught up in the practical - and unfortunately that couldn't be helped. But now that it's been a little over a week, the profound thoughts are really coming, Miss D.

Right now, I'm really just in awe of the beauty of it all. How lucky am I to be married to my best friend? How lucky am I to be married to one of the kindest, most intelligent, gentle, strong, and (can I add) goofiest and silliest people I know? I really am blessed! :-) Really, just in awe.

It is truly magnificent! I just can't wait for him to pick me up from work in a couple hours :-)


Reeeeeee!