There is no evidence that Joseph was a virgin. Tradition says that he is a widower and had 6 children by the first wife. They are the brothers and sisters of Jesus referred to in the bible.In the marriage of Mary and Joseph they were both dedicated virgins and didn’t actually procreate. Is that possible today? Can there be two individuals who have dedicated thier bodily pleasures to God and still be married? I ask because in the vows of matrimony you must be open to children and to seal the marriage sacrament is consumation.
Read this laughin book, Myself a MandarinIn the marriage of Mary and Joseph they were both dedicated virgins and didn’t actually procreate. Is that possible today? Can there be two individuals who have dedicated thier bodily pleasures to God and still be married? I ask because in the vows of matrimony you must be open to children and to seal the marriage sacrament is consumation.
The tradition is that Mary was a virgin dedicated to the Temple, Joseph an old widower who married her to care for her and guard her. This is tradition, not history, so who really knows.The only statement linking that argument is “Brethren of the Lord,” which is also proven to be “cousins” or other family members of Christ.
If Joseph was not a virgin it would change the entire idea of the Holy Family completely. St. Joseph gave himself to Mary through their spiritual union. Why would God give Mary a husband had already given himself to another woman. Why couldn’t he have been a young, attractive man full of passion and fire? If we think of Joseph as an old, widowed man there is a definite downplaying of what our beautiful Lord can do.
Why do you think we say in the Divine Praisies …Blessed be Saint Joseph her Most Chaste Spouse…?
Just to be on the careful side, I want to point out that both the theories that Joseph was an elderly widower and that he was a young man at the time he married Mary are widely held and neither, so far as I am aware, is authoritative teaching.Nor did I know that, by tradition, St. Joseph was supposed to be a widower, the father of six children.
Why does it need a young, handsome man? If you noticed, there is value in the Bible on old people having children beyond their child bearing years. Isaac was born to an older Abraham and Sarah. St. John the Baptist was born to an older Zachariah and Elizabeth. Even Mary, as tradition tell it, is born of an older Joachim and Anne.The only statement linking that argument is “Brethren of the Lord,” which is also proven to be “cousins” or other family members of Christ.
If Joseph was not a virgin it would change the entire idea of the Holy Family completely. St. Joseph gave himself to Mary through their spiritual union. Why would God give Mary a husband had already given himself to another woman. Why couldn’t he have been a young, attractive man full of passion and fire? If we think of Joseph as an old, widowed man there is a definite downplaying of what our beautiful Lord can do.
Why do you think we say in the Divine Praisies …Blessed be Saint Joseph her Most Chaste Spouse…?
To add, one can engage in sexual intercourse and be chaste. And that is if the man and woman are married.also keep in mind when we refer to Joseph as Mary’s most chaste spouse, that doesn’t mean that he could not have had children in a previous marriage if his first wife died.
there is nothing unchaste about having children within marriage, chastity simply means purity in sexual matters according to one’s state in life. one can be a widower and be perfectly chaste throughout one’s life.
To validly enter marriage, one must have the **ability **to engage in sexual intercourse.In the circumstances of a handicapped party, would a Josephite marriage apply? Or do physical limitations change the union?
However, per canon 1142, a non-consummated marriage may be dissolved by the Holy Father “for a just reason.”To validly enter marriage, one must have the **ability **to engage in sexual intercourse.
A couple may choose not to exercise that right for a time, or indefinitely, but they must be able to.
What if someone was impotent? Does that obstruct the ability to get married?To validly enter marriage, one must have the **ability **to engage in sexual intercourse.
A couple may choose not to exercise that right for a time, or indefinitely, but they must be able to.
Joseph and Mary were not married under any Catholic Church canon. What we see as valid or invalid in our eyes today does not apply to them. They’re not even Catholic, they were Jewish.To validly enter marriage, one must have the **ability **to engage in sexual intercourse.
A couple may choose not to exercise that right for a time, or indefinitely, but they must be able to.
I was going to add the above.Joseph and Mary were not married under any Catholic Church canon. What we see as valid or invalid in our eyes today does not apply to them. They’re not even Catholic, they were Jewish.
If impotency is a certainty, the Catholic Church will not allow you to get married.What if someone was impotent? Does that obstruct the ability to get married?
In the East, not in the West, and there is greater evidence for Saint Joseph’s virginity than his widower-hood.There is no evidence that Joseph was a virgin. Tradition says that he is a widower and had 6 children by the first wife. They are the brothers and sisters of Jesus referred to in the bible.
Although there is no historical evidence of Joseph’s age, why choose to view him as a old man married to a 16 year old. Albeit protecting/guardian image, but wouldn’t God choose a man pure and chaste through will-power/virtue rather and aged man with a decreased sex-drive, who is the foster-father of Jesus. This is the Holy Family we are talking about here, not another blessed couple in the bible.Why does it need a young, handsome man? If you noticed, there is value in the Bible on old people having children beyond their child bearing years. Isaac was born to an older Abraham and Sarah. St. John the Baptist was born to an older Zachariah and Elizabeth. Even Mary, as tradition tell it, is born of an older Joachim and Anne.
Chastity is different from virginity. A married couple having sex is remaining chaste even if the virginity is gone. Sex within marriage is chaste.