St. Joseph experiences four different dreams from God in the Gospel of Matthew. In the first dream, St. Joseph is told by an angel to continue with his plan to marry Mary, even though she has been found with child. After the birth of Jesus, St. Joseph is warned in a dream to flee with his family to Egypt. While in Egypt, St. Joseph is told in a dream to return to Israel, and then in another dream is told to go to Galilee instead of Judea. As we witness vicious assaults on the Church and morality, it comes as no surprise that St Joseph, the Sleeping Giant and Patron of the Universal Church, has been awakened.

Joseph’s rest revealed God’s will to him. In this moment of rest in the Lord, as we pause from our many daily obligations and activities, God is also speaking to us.”The term kiddushin, which refers to the first part of a two-part marriage, is frequently translated as "betrothal". Couples who fulfill the requirements of the kiddushin are married, until death or divorce. [67] [68] Death [ edit ] Joseph ( Hebrew: יוסף, romanized: Yosef; Greek: Ἰωσήφ, romanized: Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. [2] Later apocryphal writings [ edit ] The Holy Family with a Little Bird, c. 1650, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo The glorious St. Joseph was lineally descended from the greatest kings of the tribe of Judah, and from the most illustrious of the ancient patriarchs; but his true glory consisted in his humility and virtue. The history of his life hath not been written by men; but his principal actions are recorded by the Holy Ghost himself God entrusted him with the education of his divine Son, manifested in the flesh. In this view he was espoused to the Virgin Mary. It is an evident mistake of some writers, that by a former wife he was the father of St. James the Less, and of the rest who are styled in the gospels the brothers of our Lord; for these were only cousin-germans to Christ, the sons of Mary, sister to the Blessed Virgin, wife of Alphaeus, who was living at the time of our Redeemer's crucifixion. St. Jerome assures us1 that St. Joseph always preserved his virgin chastity; and it is of faith that nothing contrary thereto ever took place with regard to his chaste spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was given her by heaven to be the protector of her chastity, to secure her from calumnies in the birth of the Son of God, and to assist her in his education, and in her journeys, fatigues, and persecutions. How great was the purity and sanctity of him who was chosen the guardian of the most spotless Virgin! This holy man seems, for a considerable time, to have been unacquainted that the great mystery of the Incarnation had been wrought in her by the Holy Ghost. Conscious, therefore, of his own chaste behaviour towards her, it could, not but raise a great concern in his breast to find that, notwithstanding the sanctity of her deportment, yet he might be well assured that she was with child. But being a just man, as the scripture calls him, and consequently possessed of all virtues, especially of charity and mildness towards his neighbour, he was determined to leave her privately, without either condemning or accusing her, committing the whole cause to God. These, his perfect dispositions, were so acceptable to God, the lover of justice, charity, and peace, that before he put his design into execution he sent an angel from heaven, not to reprehend anything in his holy conduct, but to dissipate all his doubts and fears, by revealing to him this adorable mystery. How happy should we be if we were as tender in all that regards the reputation of our neighbor; as free from entertaining any injurious thought or suspicion, whatever certainty our conjectures or our senses may seem to rely on; and as guarded in our tongue! We commit these faults only because in our hearts we are devoid of that true charity and simplicity, whereof St. Joseph sets us so eminent an example on this occasion. Just like St. Joseph was met with closed doors while searching Bethlehem’s streets for Christ’s birthplace, many today close their hearts to the fullness of truth and God’s will.

Williams, translated by Frank (1994). The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Books II and III (Sects 47-80, De Fide) in Sect 78:9:6. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p.607. ISBN 9789004098985 . Retrieved 18 September 2015. Pope Pius IX proclaimed Saint Joseph the patron of the Universal Church in 1870. Having died in the "arms of Jesus and Mary" according to Catholic tradition, he is considered the model of the pious believer who receives grace at the moment of death, in other words, the patron of a happy death. [109] The holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph presents to us the most perfect model of heavenly conversation on earth. How did those two seraphim, Mary and Joseph, live in their poor cottage! They always enjoyed the presence of Jesus, always burning with the most ardent love for him, inviolably attached to his sacred person, always employed and living only for him. What were their transports in beholding him, their devotion in listening to him, and their joy in possessing him! O heavenly life! O anticipation of the heavenly bliss! O divine conversation! We may imitate them, and share some degree of this advantage, by conversing often with Jesus, and by the contemplation of his most amiable goodness, kindling the fire of his holy love in our breasts. The effects of this love, if it be sincere, will necessarily appear in our putting on his spirit, and imitating his example and virtues; and in our studying to walk continually in the divine presence, finding God everywhere, and esteeming all the time lost which we do not spend with God, or for his honor. Many cities, towns, and locations are named after Saint Joseph. According to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Spanish form, San Jose, is the most common place name in the world. Probably the most-recognized San Joses are San José, Costa Rica, and San Jose, California, United States, given their name by Spanish colonists. Joseph is the patron saint of the New World; and of the regions Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol, Sicily; and of several main cities and dioceses. [ citation needed]While none of the Gospels mentions Joseph as present at any event during Jesus' adult ministry, the synoptic Gospels share a scene in which the people of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, doubt Jesus' status as a prophet because they know his family. In Mark 6:3, they call Jesus "Mary's son" instead of naming his father. In Matthew, the townspeople call Jesus "the carpenter's son," again without naming his father. [16] In Luke 3:23 NIV: "Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli," [17]; or alternatively punctuated: "(ὡς ἐνομ. τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ) τοῦ Ἡλί, ‘the son (as supposed of Joseph, but in reality) of Heli'". [18] In Luke the tone of the contemporary people is positive, whereas in Mark and Matthew it is disparaging. [19] This incident does not appear in John, but in a parallel story, the disbelieving neighbors refer to "Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know". [20] Mentions in the Gospels [ edit ] The Gospels on Saint Joseph

For the use of the term, see: James J. Davis, A Thomistic Josephology, 1967, University of Montreal, ASIN B0007K3PL4 The little-known ‘Sleeping St. Joseph’ devotion that was previously prevalent amongst South American and Filipino Catholics has suddenly been propagated worldwide.The History of Joseph the Carpenter, written in the 5th century and framed as a biography of Joseph dictated by Jesus, describes how Joseph, aged 90, a widower with four sons and two daughters, is given charge of the twelve-year-old Mary, who then lives in his household raising his youngest son James the Less (the supposed author of the Protoevangelium) until she is ready to be married at age 14½. Joseph's death aged 111, attended by angels and asserting the perpetual virginity of Mary, takes up approximately half the story. [70] Church Fathers [ edit ] This first occurred when the Angel of the Lord appeared to St Joseph in a dream after he discovered that Mary was pregnant. The angel told St. Joseph not to be afraid to take the Virgin Mary as his wife, for the child conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit (Mat. 1:20). She said she liked the icon because it reminded her of the passages in the Bible about St. Joseph’s dreams and the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. She said she also likes sleeping icons (she has a statue of baby Mary, asleep) because they seem sweeter and more peaceful. “It reminds you that St. Joseph was human and got tired, too,” Huerta said. “This makes me appreciate the work he did for Mary and Jesus all the more. It’s a vulnerable position, but it’s cool that this is when God chose to speak to him.” The Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary is observed in some liturgical calendars (e. g. that of the Oblates of Saint Joseph) on 23 January. There is a Catholic tradition that burying a statuette of Saint Joseph on the grounds of a home will help to sell or buy [120] a house.; [121] this tradition became so popular through the World Wide Web that some American realtors bought them by the gross. [122]