Roman Catholic Resources: Patron Saints

St. Joseph
Patron Saint of Children & Carpenters
Feast Day: March 19

Saint Joseph was the husband of Mary, the Mother of God. Joseph was a carpenter by trade that lived in Nazareth. Before they were married, Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. To help keep Mary from shame, for he knew that Mary had consecrated herself to God and should not have had relations with anyone, Joseph decided to stand by Mary and allow her to have the baby in secret. It wasn't until Joseph was visited by an angel sent by God that he learned of the truth; that the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit and to be named Jesus and that he should not fear in taking Mary as his wife. He did as he was told.

Joseph was the model father. He looked after, cared for, protected and provided for Mary and Jesus. He shared Mary's pain and fear when they thought they lost Jesus when He was just 12 years old, only to find Him in the temple going about His Father's work. The Bible tells us nothing more about Joseph after this account, but we do know that Joseph taught the child Jesus his carpentry trade and was the model for a moral upbringing and head of the family.

The Feast of St. Joseph, or San Giuseppe, is very important to the Italians, almost as important as St. Patrick is to the Irish. It comes just about halfway through Lent (but always on the 19th of March) and the festivities are enjoyed at a time when everyone is fasting. Remember, the feast of a solemnity always takes precedence over any day in Lent. So theoretically speaking, If St. Patrick's Day fell on Good Friday, you could have corned beef.

St. Joseph, as many know, was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Now you really have to give this guy credit. Just imagine if this situation occurred today. A woman, who he loves, tells him that they have to move from New York City, by mule, all the way to the southern most tip of Jersey. Keep in mind the roads were not as easy to navigate or as paved as the Garden State Parkway either. When he asks "why" Mary tells him she is pregnant, but she didn't have sex with anyone, she is still a virgin, and she needs his help to move hundreds of miles away, and he agrees to move from the city to some barn and to love, support, marry and provide for her. Some would call him a fool (and I am sure they did) but he had such great faith in God and Mary's word of her vision of God, that he gave Mary his full support. Today he would have faced great ridicule, but 2000 years ago, it was hundreds of times worse, at a time when you probably could have been stoned to death not just because she had "visions" of a God which was then not yet accepted by Roman rule, they were still worshipping their pagan gods like Jupiter, Venus, and all the rest. Not to mention the whole getting pregnant out of wedlock deal.

It is for this reason, the Catholics and Christians are so opposed to abortion. What if Mary had chosen the option of abortion? When you think of all the plague, war, terrorism, hunger, murder, and everything else bad in this world, many are quick to say "If there was a God, why don't he fix this problem? Why doesn't he cure AIDS?" Well, perhaps he did send someone, but with millions of abortions each year, how can we be sure one of God's messenger angels sent to fix some of the world's problems was not aborted?

Required Reading for Italian-Americans...

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