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The Glorious Patriarch St. Joseph
On March 19, we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, foster father of our Lord Jesus Christ and Patron of the Universal Church. The genealogy of St. Joseph, as recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, includes 14 Patriarchs from Abraham to David, 14 Kings from David to the transmigration to Babylon; and 14 princes or chiefs of the people from the time of the transmigration up to the birth of Christ. St. Joseph was a descendent of King David, through the line of Salatheil and Zorobabel (Mt. 1), who were the rightful heirs of David’s throne. The genealogy in the Gospel of St. Luke traces our Lord’s royal blood line through the Blessed Mother, from whom he received his human nature (Romans 1:3). While our Lord received his royal blood from His mother, he was heir to the throne of David through Joseph, his father according to the law. If the Jews, rather than the Romans, governed the Holy Land at the time of our Lord’s birth, it would have been St. Joseph, not Herod, who would have reigned as King of the Jews. “In the veins of St. Joseph, therefore, flowed the blood of David and Solomon, and of all the noble kings of Judah. If his dynasty had remained on the throne, St. Joseph would have been the heir and would have sat on the throne in his turn. … injustice had expelled his family from the throne to which he had the right. For this he was no less a king, the son of these kings of Judah, the greatest, noblest and richest in the world. Thus in the census records of Bethlehem, St. Joseph was inscribed and recognized by the Roman governor as the heir of David” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).
As St. Joseph was the rightful heir to the throne of David, so too was his legal son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. From this we can see that our Lord was not only King of the Jews by Divine Right, but also by right of inheritance, which He derived from his legal father, St. Joseph.
The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, teaches that it is a fundamental law of God that when he chooses a person for a particular office, he endows him with the graces necessary to acquit him with the dignity and perfection of such office. Thus, in considering the role of St. Joseph as the legal father of God’s only Son, we can arrive at an appreciation of the measure of grace congruent with such an exalted position.
St. Joseph held the singular privilege of being the human father of the only begotten Son of the Eternal Father. As such, St. Joseph shared in the Divine Paternity of God as father of the Son of God. St. Joseph was also chosen to be the spouse of She who was the spouse of the Holy Ghost. What graces must he have received who was not only a son of the Eternal Father, but the father of the Eternal Son, and the spouse of the spouse of the Holy Ghost?
The following is taken from the revelations of the Blessed Mother to Ven. Mary of Agreda (+1665 AD): “The heavenly Lady was either the instrumental or meritorious cause of the holiness of her spouse, or at least the final object or purpose of this holiness. For all the vast perfections of his virtues and graces were conferred upon St. Joseph for the purpose of making of him a worthy protector and spouse of Her, whom God selected as His mother. According to this standard, and according to the love of God for his most holy Mother, is to be measured the holiness of saint Joseph; and… if there had been in the world a man more perfect and more worthy, the Lord would have chosen this other one for the spouse of His Mother. Since he was chosen by God, Saint Joseph was no doubt the most perfect man upon earth. Having created and destined him for such a high end, it is certain that God, in His almighty power, prepared and perfected him in proportion to the exaltedness of his end.” (Mystical City of God).
According to the same author, St. Joseph was 33 years of age when he was espoused to the Virgin Mary. The learned Gerson (d. 1429 AD), one of the most prominent theologians of the Council of Constance, as well as other holy writers, teach that St. Joseph was sanctified in his mother’s womb and freed from the sources of concupiscence.
On this point, Ven. Mary of Agreda wrote: “He was sanctified in the womb of his mother seven months after his conception, and the leaven of sin was destroyed in him for the whole course of his life, never having felt any impure or disorderly movements. … The Lord hastened in him the use of his reason, perfecting it in his third year, endowing it with new graces and virtues. … At this premature age he already practiced the highest kinds of prayer and contemplation and eagerly engaged in the exercise of the virtues proper to his youth; so that, at the age of seven years or more, St. Joseph was already a perfect man in the use of it, and in holiness. He was of a kind disposition, loving, affable, sincere, showing inclinations not only holy but angelic, growing in virtue and perfection and advancing toward his espousal with most holy Mary, by an altogether irreproachable life” (Mystical City of God).
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On March 19, we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, foster father of our Lord Jesus Christ and Patron of the Universal Church. The genealogy of St. Joseph, as recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, includes 14 Patriarchs from Abraham to David, 14 Kings from David to the transmigration to Babylon; and 14 princes or chiefs of the people from the time of the transmigration up to the birth of Christ. St. Joseph was a descendent of King David, through the line of Salatheil and Zorobabel (Mt. 1), who were the rightful heirs of David’s throne. The genealogy in the Gospel of St. Luke traces our Lord’s royal blood line through the Blessed Mother, from whom he received his human nature (Romans 1:3). While our Lord received his royal blood from His mother, he was heir to the throne of David through Joseph, his father according to the law. If the Jews, rather than the Romans, governed the Holy Land at the time of our Lord’s birth, it would have been St. Joseph, not Herod, who would have reigned as King of the Jews. “In the veins of St. Joseph, therefore, flowed the blood of David and Solomon, and of all the noble kings of Judah. If his dynasty had remained on the throne, St. Joseph would have been the heir and would have sat on the throne in his turn. … injustice had expelled his family from the throne to which he had the right. For this he was no less a king, the son of these kings of Judah, the greatest, noblest and richest in the world. Thus in the census records of Bethlehem, St. Joseph was inscribed and recognized by the Roman governor as the heir of David” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).
As St. Joseph was the rightful heir to the throne of David, so too was his legal son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. From this we can see that our Lord was not only King of the Jews by Divine Right, but also by right of inheritance, which He derived from his legal father, St. Joseph.
The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, teaches that it is a fundamental law of God that when he chooses a person for a particular office, he endows him with the graces necessary to acquit him with the dignity and perfection of such office. Thus, in considering the role of St. Joseph as the legal father of God’s only Son, we can arrive at an appreciation of the measure of grace congruent with such an exalted position.
St. Joseph held the singular privilege of being the human father of the only begotten Son of the Eternal Father. As such, St. Joseph shared in the Divine Paternity of God as father of the Son of God. St. Joseph was also chosen to be the spouse of She who was the spouse of the Holy Ghost. What graces must he have received who was not only a son of the Eternal Father, but the father of the Eternal Son, and the spouse of the spouse of the Holy Ghost?
The following is taken from the revelations of the Blessed Mother to Ven. Mary of Agreda (+1665 AD): “The heavenly Lady was either the instrumental or meritorious cause of the holiness of her spouse, or at least the final object or purpose of this holiness. For all the vast perfections of his virtues and graces were conferred upon St. Joseph for the purpose of making of him a worthy protector and spouse of Her, whom God selected as His mother. According to this standard, and according to the love of God for his most holy Mother, is to be measured the holiness of saint Joseph; and… if there had been in the world a man more perfect and more worthy, the Lord would have chosen this other one for the spouse of His Mother. Since he was chosen by God, Saint Joseph was no doubt the most perfect man upon earth. Having created and destined him for such a high end, it is certain that God, in His almighty power, prepared and perfected him in proportion to the exaltedness of his end.” (Mystical City of God).
According to the same author, St. Joseph was 33 years of age when he was espoused to the Virgin Mary. The learned Gerson (d. 1429 AD), one of the most prominent theologians of the Council of Constance, as well as other holy writers, teach that St. Joseph was sanctified in his mother’s womb and freed from the sources of concupiscence.
On this point, Ven. Mary of Agreda wrote: “He was sanctified in the womb of his mother seven months after his conception, and the leaven of sin was destroyed in him for the whole course of his life, never having felt any impure or disorderly movements. … The Lord hastened in him the use of his reason, perfecting it in his third year, endowing it with new graces and virtues. … At this premature age he already practiced the highest kinds of prayer and contemplation and eagerly engaged in the exercise of the virtues proper to his youth; so that, at the age of seven years or more, St. Joseph was already a perfect man in the use of it, and in holiness. He was of a kind disposition, loving, affable, sincere, showing inclinations not only holy but angelic, growing in virtue and perfection and advancing toward his espousal with most holy Mary, by an altogether irreproachable life” (Mystical City of God).
continue…