Wyatt North - The Life and Prayers of Saint Joseph

Next to the crucifixion of Christ, there is probably no single scene in all of Christendom so widely recognized as the nativity scene. Most crucial to this scene is of course the infant Savior, but he is at this young age nearly inseparable from his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The scene may include others, men and women who have come to adore the blessed child, but one more figure is almost always present: the child s earthly father, Saint Joseph.

More often than not, we find him on the outskirts of the scene. It is Mary who holds the child, and others who worship him, while Joseph watches with love and gentle protectiveness from the corner of the stage. In this we see a hint as to why Saint Joseph is often called the hidden saint .

Although we find Joseph almost as often in the Scripture as we do the Blessed Virgin, the role of Joseph can easily be perceived as merely supportive. Unlike Mary, he never speaks in Scripture, which is why he is also sometimes called the silent saint .

His actions, as they are relayed to us, are always protective of the Savior and his blessed mother. We are often reminded that, in a sense, Joseph is superfluous; not because he does not play a very important part, but because the role of father to the Savior is already taken by the Lord himself. Joseph keeps the Savior and his mother safe, but we never forget that he is the father of a man who already has a father.

Leaving the Scripture behind for the time being, Joseph has historically played a minor although often complicated role. Mary, being integral to the debate on the divinity of Jesus, became an important figure in the greater Christian community early on. Interest in Joseph went hand in hand with this increased interest in the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Family, but Joseph rarely took the center stage.

In apocryphal texts dealing with the youth and family life of the Savior, we find many of the parts of Joseph s life which have been left out of the Bible. In the second century Protoevangelium of James lie the earliest records of Joseph s life before he knew Mary.

It is followed by The Infancy Gospel of Thomas , a third century text, which tells us of the childhood deeds of Jesus. It is there that we first truly meet Joseph as a parent. There are several apocryphal texts which derive from these two, including the very influential Syriac Infancy Gospel from the late sixth or early seventh century.

Another early seventh century source, in which we meet Joseph, is the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew , and the very similar Gospel of the Nativity of Mary . Lastly, there is the earliest surviving text dedicated entirely to Saint Joseph: the History of Joseph the Carpenter , which was written in the fifth century. It records of a conversation between Jesus and the apostles, during which Jesus tells them about the life and death of Saint Joseph. The conversation, we learn, was written down by the apostles and dutifully copied. This ancient apocryphal text, the only one entirely dedicated to Joseph, comes down to us in only two copies: one in Coptic and one in Arabic.

Although there is so little written about Joseph in the Scripture and in the apocrypha, or perhaps because there is so little written, the life of Saint Joseph can be quite a complicated subject. The theological study of Saint Joseph, known as Josephology, shows us how differently the saint has been perceived throughout history, in different parts of the world, and in different denominations.

Most things about Joseph have been disputed, starting with his genealogy. We find several Josephs: one who had multiple children, one who was a perpetual virgin; one who was a husband to Mary in every way, one who was her fatherly protector; one who was a poor man, one who was a man of wealth. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Joseph is commonly held to have been a widower betrothed to Mary, but never married to her. In the Catholic Church, Joseph is most certainly perceived to have been the husband of Mary, and sometimes as virginal as she herself.

As we go looking for Saint Joseph, we must be aware of this winding path. From the sometimes conflicting evidence, and our faith, we must make our own informed judgments.