St. Joseph

Their story

For centuries God had promised that a savior would come from the family of King David. Joseph, a descendant of David, stands at the moment that promise was fulfilled. He was a carpenter in Nazareth, engaged to a young woman named Mary. When he learned she was expecting a child, he decided to end the engagement quietly so that she would not be shamed. Then an angel came to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). Joseph obeyed at once. Again and again God spoke to him in dreams, and each time he acted. He took Mary and the newborn Jesus and fled to Egypt to escape King Herod. He brought them home again and settled in Nazareth. There he worked with his hands, gave Jesus his name, taught him a trade, and protected and provided for the Holy Family. Scripture does not record a single word spoken by Joseph. His holiness is shown in what he did: he listened, he trusted, and he obeyed. The Church calls him a “just man.” In 1870 Blessed Pope Pius IX named him Patron of the Universal Church, entrusting the whole family of God to his care.