Joseph of Nazareth

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Guido Reni , Joseph of Nazareth (1640)
Caspar Jele , St. Joseph with the baby Jesus (1848): Joseph with lily
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo , The Holy Family with the Johannesknaben (between 1655 and 1660): in the background Joseph as a craftsman

Joseph ( Hebrew יוֹסֵף, Greek Ἰωσήφ ) from Nazareth or Joseph of Nazareth is in the New Testament bridegroom of Mary , the mother of Jesus . The Gospels and the Proto- Gospel of James report that he was a carpenter or building craftsman from Nazareth , which is why he is also referred to as "the carpenter" in the Christian tradition.

In the New Testament, John says that Joseph was viewed by the population as the father of Jesus ( John 1.45  EU : “Jesus from Nazareth, the son of Joseph”), and Jesus' brothers and sisters are mentioned, including James ; that Joseph was their father is not explicitly mentioned ( Mt 13,55  EU and Mk 6,3  EU ). The evangelists Matthew ( Mt 1.18  EU ) and Luke ( Lk 1.35  EU ), on the other hand, emphasize that Joseph was only the legal father of Jesus, since Mary did not receive him through human generation but through the action of the Holy Spirit . This is followed by the church doctrine of the virgin birth . In Catholic literature in particular, Joseph is often referred to as the foster father (Latin nutritius ) or foster father of Jesus.

Life

In the New Testament , the evangelists Matthew and Luke report details of Joseph in their childhood stories of Jesus and each give - clearly differing from one another - a family tree of Jesus , which says that Joseph comes from the family of the Israelite King David . Jacob is named as the father of Joseph in the genealogy of the Gospel of Matthew ( Mt 1.16  EU ), whereas Eli ( Lk 3.23  EU ) is mentioned in the genealogical register of the Gospel of Luke . This was already explained by the early church with reference to Eusebius of Caesarea with the regulation of the levirate marriage , according to which Joseph had a biological and a different legal father, which results in different lines of origin depending on the perspective.

His occupation is indicated by the Greek τέκτων Tekton ( Mt 13,55  NA ), which at that time meant something like 'builder', also ' architect ' or ' builder ' and included all activities in house building. A tecton was generally trained to work with wood and stones.

According to the evangelist Matthew , Joseph was betrothed to Mary and, on the instructions of an angel who had appeared to him in a dream one night, took her as his wife, even though she (not his) was pregnant. According to Christian teaching, this is one of the testimonies that Mary received Jesus from the Holy Spirit . The Matthean Joseph recalls the Old Testament Joseph from Gen 37-50, who, like his namesake, is descended from Jacob (Mt 1.16), dreams (Mt 1.20-25; 2.13.19f.22) and has to go to Egypt in order to to save his family (Mt 2: 13-15). In this way the evangelist reflects not only the origin of Jesus from David and God with the help of the Old Testament, but also the origin of Jesus from Joseph. For how the descendant of the Old Testament Joseph (Jeroboam) has to flee from the enemy king (Solomon) to Egypt, returns after the death of the king and becomes the ruler of an independent northern kingdom (cf. 1 Kings 11: 26-12: 25) the descendant of the New Testament Joseph (Jesus) before Herod's attempted killing in Egypt and after his death he comes back from Egypt and becomes king in Galilee (Mt 2: 13-23).

According to the two Gospels, Jesus was born in Bethlehem because, according to Luke, Joseph, who lived in Nazareth, had to go to his native city with his wife because of a census . According to the Gospel of Matthew, after the birth of Jesus, the family had to flee to Egypt on the orders of an angel whom Joseph received in a dream , as King Herod had all newborn children killed in Bethlehem for fear of the prophesied newborn king of the Jews who would oust him . This child murder in Bethlehem is only sparsely documented in other sources. Later, on divine instruction, which Joseph again received in a dream, the family moved back to Israel, where he did not settle in Judea but in Galilee in the town of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up.

Josef's dream (from
Henry II's pericope book , before 1014)

The designation "Jesus, son of Joseph" can also be found in the Gospel of John ( Joh 1.45  EU and 6.42 EU ), similarly in Lk 3.23  EU and Lk 4.22  EU . Otherwise Joseph is not mentioned in the Gospels or any other New Testament scripture. From this it was concluded that he died before Jesus appeared in public. According to the church father Hieronymus , Joseph died before Jesus 'baptism , according to apocryphal writings, before Jesus' crucifixion , in the presence of Jesus. The Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions assume that Joseph also married Mary after the birth of Jesus without an apartment (hence Joseph's marriage ). The brothers and sisters of Jesus attested in the New Testament would then be understood as a circle of close relatives.

Adoration

St. Joseph with Jesus, Bulgarian icon (around 1850)
Albrecht Dürer , The Christmas Eve (1504): Josef fetches water
The death of St. Josef, Val Gardena wood carving ( Albino Pitscheider , around 1910)
The death of St. Joseph, chiesa San Carlo Borromeo in San Marzano di San Giuseppe

In the Eastern Church , St. Joseph was venerated very early, but in the Western Church only from around 850 and only very hesitantly, since the legal paternity relationship was considered difficult to understand in the Middle Ages; a theological profiling of his personality as the father of Christ and the husband of Mary and defender of her virginity (Defensor virginitatis) began in the 15th century with Gerson , d'Ailly and Bernardine of Siena . Since the 17th century St. Joseph, who according to tradition died in the lap of Mary and in the presence of Jesus, the patron saint of the dying; its veneration as a refuge for the dying (Refugium agonizantum) was particularly encouraged by the Jesuits , along with the Carmelites .

Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph to be the patron saint of the Catholic Church in 1870. Pope Leo XIII. in his encyclical Quamquam pluries of August 15, 1889, emphatically paid tribute to the outstanding devotion to St. Joseph. The life of St. Joseph and the encyclical were honored on the 100th anniversary of Pope John Paul II on August 15, 1989 with the apostolic letter Redemptoris custos . In the twentieth century, more Catholic churches were consecrated to St. Joseph than any other saint ( excluding the patronage of Our Lady). Certain ecclesiastical buildings are called Josefinum after his patronage . Since 1679, Saint Joseph was the patron saint of the Spanish Netherlands and is the patron saint of Belgium and the Croatians .

Pius XII. introduced in 1955 the memorial day of St. Joseph the Worker as a church counterpart to Labor Day, which is celebrated worldwide on May 1st . In the biblical tradition, Joseph worked as a builder and is traditionally the patron saint of workers, especially carpenters and lumberjacks. He is also considered the patron saint of virgins and married couples. The inclusion of the day of remembrance in the liturgical calendar was a response of the Church to the social movement .

Saint Joseph was founded by Pope John XXIII. next to the Mother of God Maria as the special patron saint of the Second Vatican Council and inserted his invocation in the first prayer , the Canon Missae . With the decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments of May 1, 2013, the mention of St. Joseph was also ordered for the Prayers II to IV.

iconography

Iconographic attributes of the saint are the walking stick - occasionally as a blooming stick -, the square measure or other tools for his profession as a carpenter. In addition, the white lily or in Latin America the tuberose (e.g. in the coat of arms of Pope Francis) is used as a symbol of chastity or purity. In the portrayal of Joseph as sleeping, reference is made to the dreams that he had after the Gospel of Matthew and in which he received the divine instruction to flee to Egypt and to return to Israel. Until the 15th century he was depicted as a young man without a beard, later usually as a bearded older man. His clothes were often bourgeois.

In many churches and monasteries there are images of St. Joseph. In pictures of late medieval art up to the end of the 19th century, Joseph was not depicted as a single significant personality, but almost exclusively in scenes about the life of Jesus, the life of Mary or in the context of the Holy Family . He is often typified as a caring family man: Josef takes care of the child, washes, fetches water, makes a fire and cooks.

In baroque iconography , the death of St. Joseph in connection with his veneration as the patron saint of the dying becomes a popular theme. In some depictions the dying Joseph rests in Mary's lap and Jesus holds his hand. The evangelist John or an angel holding Joseph's blooming staff can also be present.

Remembrance day

March 19 has been celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church as the feast of St. Joseph since the 12th century, now as a solemn festival . The day is popularly called Joseph's Day .

Church building

literature

  • Matthias Berghorn: But the genesis of Jesus Christ was like this ... The origin of Jesus Christ according to the Matthean prologue (Mt 1,1-4,16). Göttingen 2019.
  • Jürgen Ebach : Josef and Josef. Literary and hermeneutic reflections on the connections between Genesis 37–50 and Matthew 1–2. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-021036-3 (165 pages).
  • Brigitte Heublein: The "misunderstood" Joseph. On the medieval iconography of the saint in German and Dutch cultures. Vdg-Verlag, Weimar 1998, ISBN 3-932124-17-0 .
  • German Rovira : St. Josef - father and husband. Kisslegg 2005.
  • German Rovira, Richard Schulte Staade: Joseph of Nazareth. The man in the background. Sankt Ulrich Verlag, Augsburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86744-001-1 .
  • Christoph Schmitt:  JOSEF of Nazareth. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 28, Bautz, Nordhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-88309-413-7 , Sp. 877-878.
  • Joseph Seitz: The adoration of St. Joseph in its historical development up to the Council of Trent is represented. Freiburg im Breisgau 1908.
  • Tarcisio Stramare: He gave him the name Jesus. Saint Joseph in the life and teaching of the Church. Edited by Josef Spindelböck , translated by Claudia Reimüller, St. Josef-Verlag, Kleinhain 2005, ISBN 3-901853-11-1 .
  • Ulrich Nachbaur : The Vorarlberg patron saint. A contribution to the veneration of St. Joseph and to the national holidays in Austria . In: Montfort. Quarterly magazine for the past and present of Vorarlberg . 56th year, issue 1/2, 2004, ISBN 3-85430-319-X , p. 74–91 ( full text as PDF on the Vorarlberger Landesarchiv website ).

Web links

Commons : Joseph of Nazareth  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Eusebius, Church History 1: 7 and 6:31
  2. Matthias Berghorn, Genesis Jesu Christi, pp. 105–126
  3. G. Kaster: Art. Joseph von Nazareth In: Wolfgang Braunfels (Hrsg.): Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Seventh volume. Herder-Verlag, Rome-Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1974, Sp. 210–221, here Sp. 219.
  4. G. Kaster: Art. Joseph von Nazareth In: Wolfgang Braunfels (Hrsg.): Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Seventh volume. Herder-Verlag, Rome-Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1974, Sp. 210-221, here Sp. 211.219 f.
  5. Decree on the addition of the name of St. Joseph in the Eucharistic Prayers II, III, IV of the Roman Missal .
  6. https://www.deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de/news/artikel/2013/04/05/tuberose-im-papstwappen
  7. G. Kaster: Art. Joseph von Nazareth In: Wolfgang Braunfels (Hrsg.): Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Seventh volume. Herder-Verlag, Rome-Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1974, Sp. 210–221, here Sp. 212 f.
  8. ^ Walter Pötzl : The activities of (Saint) Joseph in the Gothic Christmas picture. Calendars, legends, oral traditions, songs and games and their reception in pictures . In: Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde , vol. 2014, pp. 71–119.
  9. G. Kaster: Art. Joseph von Nazareth In: Wolfgang Braunfels (Hrsg.): Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Seventh volume. Herder-Verlag, Rome-Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1974, Sp. 210–221, here Sp. 216 f.
  10. G. Kaster: Art. Joseph von Nazareth In: Wolfgang Braunfels (Hrsg.): Lexicon of Christian Iconography. Seventh volume. Herder-Verlag, Rome-Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1974, Sp. 210–221, here Sp. 216 f.
  11. Schott Missal, edition 1936.