Name: St Joseph

Lived in Bethlehem 1^st Century

Patron Saint of the universal Church, unborn children, fathers, workers, travellers, immigrants

Feast Day: March 19

Bio: Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus comes from Scripture.

We know that he was a carpenter, a working man and wasn’t a rich man. Despite this, we do know that Joseph came from a royal lineage.

In the Gospel’s of Luke and Matthew, they both say that Joseph is a descendant of David, the greatest King of Israel (Mtt 1:1-16 and Lk 3:23-38). We also know this because when the angel, who first tells Joseph about Jesus, greets him as “son of David” a royal title also used for Jesus.

We know Joseph to be a caring and compassionate man because of the way he looked after Mary while she was pregnant and by the way he was a loving Father to the child, Jesus.

We also know that Joseph respected God. He followed God’s commands in looking after Mary and Jesus. As Joseph doesn’t appear in Jesus’ public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph had already died before Jesus had entered his public ministry.

Prayer:

‘Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son. Amen’