The Case for the Young St. Joseph
National Catholic Register, 29 April 2021
On the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, it is noteworthy that the usual arguments for Joseph being young are not related to his capacity to work, but rather the desire for a saint who lived the virtue of chastity.
Was St. Joseph old or young? A widower who served more as a guardian for the virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a young, virile husband, who loved her with a virginal love?
Such questions are ancient, but have come to the fore during this Year of St. Joseph as study of the saint grows. Most devotional materials today present Joseph as a young man who lived a real, but virginal, marriage with Mary.
As we draw close to the feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1), it is noteworthy that the usual arguments for Joseph being young are not related to his capacity to work, but rather the desire for a saint who lived chastity. It is thought that an old Joseph would have found chastity insufficiently challenging to live. That likely says more about our preoccupations than it does about St. Joseph.
I find the arguments for the young Joseph more pleasing, and likely favoring a piety more suitable today for young men, married couples and families. At the same time, we should not dismiss how the Church has thought and prayed for the greater part of her history.
Art and Liturgy
The testimony of Christian art — which is a valid witness to the faith of the Church — has long portrayed Joseph as an old(er) man. Indeed, it is only relatively recently that we find sacred art of Joseph as a young man.
More important than the testimony of art is that of liturgy. While the Western (Latin) liturgy is silent on Joseph’s age, the Eastern tradition presents him as an old(er) man.
For example, at Vespers for the first Sunday after Christmas, the feast day assigned to St. Joseph, the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church prays, “In his advanced years, Joseph clearly saw the prophecies fulfilled.”
Father Peter Galadza, professor emeritus at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies in Toronto, notes that paraliturgical hymns (carols or “koliady”) composed during the last several centuries by Ukrainians refer to Joseph as an old man. These hymns are sung to the present day.
While one might prefer a young Joseph, the larger tradition of the Church — in terms of history and cultural breadth — should not be treated dismissively.
Proto-Evangelium of James
The Bible tells us precious little about Joseph’s biography, aside from his lineage and that he was a “just man.” Thus he could be an old man who never married before Mary, a widower with other children by his late wife, or a young man who loved Mary and was willing to live a virginal marriage with her.
The source material for the tradition of Joseph as an older man, a widower with other children (thus the legal, or presumed, half-brothers of Jesus) is the Proto-Evangelium of James. This book was honored by many early Christians as biblical, giving much of the story of the life of Mary, her infancy and her marriage to Joseph.
According to the Proto-Evangelium of James, Mary was presented to live in the Temple at the age of 3. When she came of age and could no longer live in the Temple — women were considered ritually defiled during menstruation — a guardian was sought for her. She would remain a virgin consecrated to the Lord, but would have a husband as a guardian to provide a home for her. Joseph, a widower presumably no longer desirous of the conjugal dimension of marriage, was chosen for this mission.
Here is how the Proto-Evangelium of James records it:
And the priest said to Joseph, “You have been chosen by lot to take into your keeping the virgin of the Lord.”
But Joseph refused, saying:
“I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl. I am afraid lest I become a laughing-stock to the sons of Israel.”
And the priest said to Joseph:
“Fear the Lord your God, and remember what the Lord did to Dathan, and Abiram, and Korah; (Numbers 16:31-33) how the earth opened, and they were swallowed up on account of their contradiction. And now fear, O Joseph, lest the same things happen in your house.”
And Joseph was afraid, and took her into his keeping. And Joseph said to Mary:
“Behold, I have received you from the temple of the Lord; and now I leave you in my house, and go away to build my buildings, and I shall come to you. The Lord will protect you.”
It was when Joseph was away that the Annunciation took place.
The Proto-Evangelium of James was not included in the canon of Scripture; it is not part of the Bible. We might find a hint of why in the passage above. There the priest tells Joseph to be afraid; in the canonical Gospels (Matthew and Luke) the angel tells Joseph not to be afraid.
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