I can’t end this blog without featuring the most inspirational Christian marriage of all time: the marriage of the Holy Family. This is the marriage Jesus grew up observing. This is the marriage that nurtured him throughout his childhood. I hope you find inspiration here and pray often for your marriage (and all marriages) through the intercession of the amazing Sts. Mary and Joseph.
Here are 10 things you might not know, or could use a quick reminder about, regarding Jesus’ parents.
1. Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, are also honored as Saints.
Check out my previous post about Sts. Anne and Joachim here! Additionally, her “relative” (aunt?) Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s husband, Jeremiah, are even another couple of married Saints in the family! And, yes, I have a post about them, too….
2. The Church teaches that Mary was conceived without sin.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception in early December is often confused with the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb, but this feast is actually celebrating the conception of Mary herself without sin. The Church teaches that Mary was conceived without sin so she could be a spotless vessel to bear her Son, Jesus.
By the way, Jesus was still Mary’s Savior, as He is to all of humanity- He just saved her in a different manner. I’ve heard it described like this. There are two ways to save someone from a big hole: you can pull them out of the hole after they’ve fallen in, or you can warn them about the hole so they don’t fall in the first place. Since Mary was conceived without sin, her salvation was like the latter case. Tell your Protestant friends. 🙂
3. Joseph was a carpenter.
He would have trained his Son, Jesus, in this trade. We often honor him as “St. Joseph the Worker,” and people of many trades entrust their own work to him. There is also important connected symbolism in Jesus’ wooden cross, Jesus creating things from wood with His hands as He created (with the Father) all of creation before time, etc.
4. Mary and Joseph are both from the line of King David.
This is important because the Messiah was foretold to come from this lineage. While Jesus was actually only biologically related to his mother, Mary, His society would’ve looked to Joseph’s lineage for this confirmation.
5. There is a tradition in the Church that Joseph had agreed to a chaste marriage before he and Mary were even betrothed.
As Catholics, we believe that Mary is “ever virgin,” meaning that not only was she a virgin before Jesus, but she remained a virgin her whole life. It seems only fair that Joseph would’ve known this going into the arrangement.
Also, it’s interesting that Mary asks the angel Gabriel, “How can this be?” when he tells her she will bear a son. She was already betrothed and about to move in with her husband anytime. If this was to be a normal marriage, she would’ve known exactly “how this could be”- in a few weeks/ months, she would be fully married and conceive a baby with Joseph. Her confusion is one reason for this tradition that a “white” or “Josephite” (chaste) marriage was arranged long before the Annunciation of the angel.
PS many other Saints have had “Josephite” marriages for at least a period if not their entire marriage, including St. Cecilia, Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, Bls. Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi, and (maybe?) Sts. Henry II and Cunegunda. Plus Natural Family Planning requires some periods of abstinence and of us all… So pray for Mary and Joseph’s help when NFP gets tough (because it DOES)!
6. We know exactly 0 words that St. Joseph ever spoke.
While we have some lovely words from Mary in the gospels, we hear nothing from St. Joseph. Many Christians love this about him. Instead, St. Joseph’s actions speak volumes about his character. God chose him out of all the men in the world to be the foster father to His own Son, Christ Jesus. Joseph trusted in God’s plan, revealed to him through various dreams/ messages from angels. He protected “the child and His mother” through the difficult circumstances of Jesus’ birth and the exile into Egypt. Now, he is a spiritual protector for the entire Universal Church.
7. It seems that St. Joseph passed away before Jesus’ crucifixion.
In any case, he does not appear in the crucifixion accounts in any of the gospels. Mary, on the other hand, was at the foot of the cross when her Son died. This is when Jesus gave his mother to St. John, and Catholic tradition holds that in that moment He was also giving Mary to all of us (the whole Church) to be our mother, too.
8. Joseph is honored as the patron Saint of the Universal Church.
He is also the patron Saint of workers, fathers, and a happy death.
9. Mary is honored in the Church as the Queen of Heaven.
The Church teaches that, at her death, Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven and crowned Queen of Heaven. She sits beside her Son, honored as the Queen Mother, an important role in the court of any Davidic king. Mary has dozens of other titles of honor as well, including names of her apparitions. For example, Our Lady of Kibeho warned of the Rwandan genocide (read more about one amazing married couple from that time, the Servants of God Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba, here). Our Lady of Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima- they’re all the same Lady (Mary!), just in different outfits and with different important messages for the people of that day and time.
For more info on Mary, I can’t recommend highly enough Scott Hahn’s book on Mary in the Bible, ‘Hail, Holy Queen.’ Read it and thank me later.
10. Mary and Joseph are the ultimate example of Christian marriage.
I know I already said this a million times, but it’s always worth repeating! There is so much we can learn from them as married people, and I encourage you to continue learning about them and praying for their intercession for your own marriage!
Goodbye for now!
I hope this post was inspirational and you learned (or were reminded) of something! As I wrote a couple weeks ago, this is my last post on this blog, at least for a few months. Thank you again for your support of my blog, book and ministry. May God bless you all and your marriages in 2022!
