Who is Saint Joseph?
Who, exactly, is St. Joseph?
This seemingly simple question has a remarkably complex answer. While the Gospels tell us that he was Jesus’s foster father (since, of course, Jesus was the Son of God), and he was the husband of Mary, that’s pretty much all we know for sure! The rest of what we know is through tradition and has been handed down since the earliest days of the church. Luckily for us, however, there’s recently been a renewed interest in getting to know this humble, yet incredibly important saint.
Most of what we know about St. Joseph comes directly from the Gospels. We see St. Joseph keeping Mary from scandal when she became pregnant with the Son of God. We saw him taking his young family to Egypt to protect them from King Herod. We saw him searching for days, only to find Jesus back in the temple, teaching to the elders. We know that he was a carpenter, and as the earthly father of Jesus Christ, would have had a critical role as Mary’s counterpart in raising Jesus, instilling values, and being the head of the Holy Family.
The rest of what we know about St. Joseph we can extrapolate from those facts. Since we don’t see him in the later parts of the Gospels, we assume that he died before Jesus entered the public eye. It’s for this reason that St. Joseph is patron saint of the dying. We know that he was a carpenter, and we can believe he instilled in Jesus the values of hard work. For this reason, he’s also the patron saint of craftsmen, engineers, and all workers. We also know that St. Joseph was the head of the Holy Family, tasked with providing for, protecting, and leading Mary and Jesus. For this reason, he is also the patron saint of the universal Catholic church!
We love the example St. Joseph sets for us in his humility, leadership, and faith. We wanted to create something that would honor him for his two feast days - one on March 19th for St. Joseph the Husband of Mary, and the other on May 1, for St. Joseph the Worker, so we created a pendant, cast in beautiful sterling silver, that highlights his role as Jesus’s earthly father and also as head of the Holy Family. On the front is an image of St. Joseph and baby Jesus holding the world, and on the back, is a crown on top of three hearts - Mary’s immaculate heart with roses and a sword on the left, on the right, St. Joseph’s heart with lilies, symbolizing his integrity and commitment to keeping the Blessed Virgin Mary pure, and in the front, the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This stunning medal is our tribute to Jesus’s earthly father, the humble yet venerable St. Joseph, and the Holy Family that he led. When you wear this sterling silver medal, ask St. Joseph to intercede for your own family, and help you grow in humility, love, and integrity. St. Joseph, pray for us!