March 19
March 19 is the Feast of St. Joseph. The Church honors St. Joseph as the most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and as the adoptive/legal Father of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The New Testament is virtually silent on St. Joseph and St. Joseph himself, who never utters a single word that the Gospels record.
This, however, does not mean that we know nothing of this great Saint. Quite the contrary. In Matthew’s gospel we learn that Joseph is a just man. A just man is one who is consistent in the practice of virtue and who faithfully performs the will of God. We see this played out in the Gospel of Matthew when on three separate occasions Joseph is visited in a dream from an Angel of God and given explicit instructions from God; when Joseph awakes, he immediately does as God has instructed.
It is through Joseph’s kingly lineage that Jesus is shown to be a son of David. Joseph is Head of the Holy family and as such both the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, in his humanity, are subject to him.
It is St. Joseph who provides for all of the needs of the Holy Family, through his labors as a Carpenter. In return, it was St. Joseph, who was privileged to live in intimacy with Our Blessed Lady and Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Imagine the graces within this household, imagine St. Joseph carrying the Christ Child on their Journeys to and from Egypt. Imagine the Christ Child tenderly hugging St. Joseph and bestowing kisses on him; just as any child would to their beloved father.
St. Joseph is invoked as the patron of a happy death. One can only wonder at the marvels that Joseph experienced as he lay dying between Our Blessed Lady and Our Lord Jesus Christ. How can such a death be anything but happy.
Finally, we look to the Litany of St. Joseph and leave you with some of this great saints’ titles, under which we invoke him, to contemplate: Renowned offspring of David, Light of Patriarchs, Spouse of the Mother of God, Chaste guardian of the Virgin, Foster-father of the Son of God, Diligent protector of Christ, Head of the Holy Family, Joseph most just, Joseph most chaste, Joseph most prudent, Joseph most strong, Joseph most obedient, Joseph most faithful, Mirror of patience, Lover of poverty, Model of artisans, Glory of home life, Guardian of virgins, Pillar of families, Solace of the wretched, Hope of the sick, Patron of the dying, Terror of demons, Protector of Holy Church.