St. Joseph-bridegroom of the Virgin Mary.

St. Joseph was chosen by God as the bridegroom of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the foster-father of his only-begotten Son, as the head, breadwinner, and guardian of the Holy Family. Today the Church worships and invokes St. Joseph also as his heavenly patron, as his special protector and intercessor with God. St. Joseph was born in Bethlehem.

Although he was one of the descendants of King David, he was very poor. He moved to Nazareth, probably for work. There, the Holy Scriptures mention him already as a mature man. He was a carpenter. That’s why they also called Jesus the carpenter’s son. In Nazareth, he became engaged to a girl named Maria. According to the Jewish custom of the time, an engagement was already considered a marriage, but the betrothed did not live together for a year. The Holy Scriptures say that the Virgin Mary was already betrothed to Joseph when the Archangel Gabriel announced to her that she would become the Mother of God.

However, the secret of the Son of God was to remain hidden from people. Even Joseph did not know about him at first. When Joseph noticed that Mary, who was engaged to him, was in a blessed state, although they had not yet lived together, he wanted to release her secretly, that is, give her a release letter, where the reason for the release should also be stated. Josef did not think about an official, that is, a public release, because he was convinced of Mary’s innocence. In a dream, the Lord’s angel urged Joseph not to be afraid to accept Mary, his wife, because what was conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and he will name him Jesus. Here, God’s secret and God’s plan are revealed to us: Joseph, the Nazareth carpenter, Mary’s groom, will be Jesus’ father before the Israeli law, thereby saving Mary’s honor and taking care of her and Jesus.

This was the main cause and purpose of Joseph’s marriage to Mary. We can imagine how much Mary would have suffered from people if it wasn’t for Joseph! Mary would not have been able to refer to the secret of the angels announcing that she conceived Jesus, overshadowed by the power of the Most High. The world wouldn’t believe her. Even Jesus would find it difficult to perform publicly if he could be accused of an illegal origin! Thus, before the world and before the law, Joseph was Mary’s husband and Jesus’ father. The honor and good name of Mary and Jesus were saved. In addition, Mary and the baby Jesus needed a provider and a protector.

About the size of St. Joseph is expressed by St. Augustine as follows: “In heaven, not all are holy in the same way, they do not shine with the same light: the brightness and magnitude of these stars of paradise also depend on whether they are more or less close to the Sun of righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, and to the Immaculate moon, which is the most holy Virgin Mary.

Among all the stars of heaven, among all the saints of paradise, no one can be closer to Jesus and Mary than St. Joseph, since he is the foster-father of one and the purest bridegroom of the other. And it is precisely on this double dignity, which heaven grants him, that his superiority and exaltation over all holy and blessed spirits is based”.