Who was Saint Joseph?
Joseph lived in Nazareth, a little town in Galilee. He came from the family of King David, but he was not rich or famous: he was a carpenter, and all day long he sawed and hammered and smoothed wood for his neighbors. He was going to marry a kind young woman named Mary.
When Joseph learned that Mary was going to have a baby, he did not understand how. Then, one night, an angel came to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because her baby came from the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to name him Jesus. When Joseph woke up, he did just what the angel had said. He took Mary into his home and cared for her on the long road to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.
When King Herod wanted to harm the child, an angel warned Joseph in another dream, and that same night he took Jesus and Mary to Egypt, where they were safe. Later they came home to Nazareth, and Jesus grew up in Joseph’s workshop: people called him the carpenter’s son. In the whole Bible, not one word Joseph spoke is written down. He didn’t need words. He listened to God and did what God asked, right away, and today the Church asks him to watch over families and the whole Church.
When is Saint Joseph’s feast day?
Saint Joseph’s feast day is March 19. It usually falls in Lent, but it’s a solemnity, one of the great feasts of the year. In Spain, Italy and Portugal it’s also Father’s Day, and May 1 is a second feast, Saint Joseph the Worker.
Clara tells the whole story at bedtime, in the Little Prayer Stories app.Get the app →
