Baras Rizal Online

I’m part of a team who’s making a book about a parish in Rizal province. Saint Joseph happens to be part of the saints in that church. Here’s the article I’ve written for that book.

Joseph came from the lineage of David, considered to be the greatest king of Israel. There were two accounts in the Gospel that mentioned Joseph’s father, though both accounts conflict each other. In Luke 3:23-24, Joseph was said to be the son of Heli. In Matthew 1:16, he was said to be the son of Jacob. He was a “tekton” a Greek term which loosely translates to being a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). He is considered to be the foster-father of Jesus.

Mary was pledged to marry Joseph but before the marriage could take place, Mary was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. He didn’t want to expose Mary to public humiliation so he decided to leave her.

An angel of the Lord then appeared to him and said “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, an angel again appeared in sleep to Joseph to warn him of an impending danger. “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him,” the angel said. After Herod died, Joseph was commanded again by an angel to go back to Israel.
No word in the Bible was attributed to Joseph. It was believed that he died before Jesus started preaching.

According to Catholic tradition, he died in the arms of Jesus and Mary. In the 8th of December 1870, Pope Pius IX proclaimed Joseph as the patron of the Universal Church. March 19 is celebrated as the Solemnity of Joseph. The May 1 festivity of Saint Joseph the Worker was introduced by Pope Pius XII in 1955.

As guardian of Jesus, the Child Jesus is Joseph’s common attribute in arts. Although the Bible didn’t make any mention of his age, he is depicted as an elderly. The flower that Joseph held is a lily. Lily is considered to be a symbol of purity. There were some accounts saying that Joseph was chosen to become the husband of Mary because of all the suitors in the temple, only Joseph’s staff (or stick) bore flowers. The most common colors in Saint Joseph’s clothing are green, which symbolizes hope and fertility, and yellow for faith in God.