Historical Information about St. Joseph
  

There are a lot of legends and traditions about St. Joseph that you are probably already aware of, but do you know the historical information about St. Joseph? Do you know who he was and why he is venerated today? In case you have only heard the legends here is some information about St. Joseph that you might find interesting.

St. Joseph is best known for being the step father of Jesus. Mary was already engaged to Joseph when she found out that she was to be the mother of Jesus.  In the culture that they lived in at that time an unmarried woman getting pregnant was bad enough but an unmarried woman getting pregnant by someone other than fiancée was a terrible thing. Joseph could have called off the engagement and publicly shamed Mary and her family but instead he chose to accept her as a bride anyway and raise Jesus as his own child.

The Bible says that an angel of God spoke to Joseph and told him that the child that Mary was carrying was to be named Jesus and that he was the son of God and that Joseph had been chosen to raise Jesus.   Joseph had doubts at first about marrying Mary and raising the child but in the end he was moved by the words of the angel and went through with the marriage and claimed paternity of Jesus. Because he was such a good man and took on the responsibility of raising a child that wasn’t his and because he raised Jesus to be a good person and instilled good values in him St. Joseph today is the patron saint of families.   Whenever you are having trouble with your family or with your children you should pray to St. Joseph for help and guidance.

St. Joseph was a carpenter by trade but he came from a very famous family even though he didn’t have a lot of money. David was a descendent of King David, who is one of the most famous kings in the Old Testament. King David was renowned for being a very just and fair king, although he did make some very mistakes. Joseph’s royal lineage did not play a huge factor in his life and he was content to live as a simple carpenter with his family.

Even though Joseph was always considered a saint for his role in Jesus’ life he was not officially recognized by the Church or given his own feast day until the 1600’s.   In the 1400s at the Council of Constance there was a motion put up for a vote to raise Joseph’s status in the Church to be equal with that of Mary and to raise Joseph above the Apostles in standing but that move was defeated. In 1870 Pope Pious the IX declared Joseph the patron saint of the Universal Church which gave Joseph more standing as the patron saint of the entire church.

In addition to being the patron saint of the Church Joseph is also the patron saint of real estate, home and family, and workers.   Many countries and cities also claim St. Joseph as their patron saint and pray to him to watch over their land and keep it safe. Because St. Joseph is so closely affiliated with the land the tradition of burying a statue of St. Joseph upside down in the yard of a property that you want to sell is observed by thousands of people every year and is supposed to be a very good way to get your house to sell more quickly, even if it’s been on the market for a long time. This is most of the information about St Joseph that you can find these days.