Saint Joseph

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast Day

March 19

Born

Bethlehem (traditional)

Joseph of Nazareth, descendant of David through Solomon according to Saint Matthew and through Nathan according to Saint Luke, was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus Christ. The Gospels record him as a just man (Matthew 1:19) and identify his trade as that of a tekton, generally translated as carpenter or builder (Matthew 13:55).

Saint Matthew records that on learning of Mary's pregnancy he resolved to put her away quietly, but was instructed in a dream by an angel to take her as his wife and name the child Jesus. He led the Holy Family to Bethlehem for the census, then to Egypt to escape Herod, and afterward to Nazareth. Saint Luke recounts his presence at the Presentation in the Temple and at the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus among the teachers.

Tradition holds that he died at Nazareth before Christ's public ministry began, in the company of Jesus and Mary, giving rise to his patronage of a happy death. Devotion to Saint Joseph spread widely from the late Middle Ages through the preaching of Saint Bernardine of Siena and the writings of Saint Teresa of Avila.

Blessed Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church on December 8, 1870, by the decree Quemadmodum Deus. Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Quamquam pluries on August 15, 1889, expounding his patronage. Pope Saint John XXIII inserted his name into the Roman Canon in 1962, and Pope Francis extended this to all Eucharistic Prayers in 2013. Pope Francis proclaimed a Year of Saint Joseph from December 8, 2020, to December 8, 2021, with the apostolic letter Patris Corde.