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In the past years, I have noticed that whenever the debate of what a woman's role in the church is (or isn't, for that matter), St. Mary always provides a solution. If the debate continues, and the women who are involved are unsatisfied with how women are, and should be, portrayed within the church, someone always concludes the debate by saying that, "Although there are some restrictions placed on women, St. Mary was a woman and she is placed higher than any man ever to be born; she is exalted by the Cherubim and worshiped by the Seraphim." Although I am speaking as a female, and I do appreciate the "status" that women have due to St. Mary, I must admit that I find it odd that St. Joseph is never given as much attention as he deserves.

Aside from approximately five verses in the Gospels of the New Testament, little is mentioned in the Bible about Joseph. In fact, not a single word of Joseph has ever been recorded; we only have record of him as to what he did, and not by what he said. We know about him by what he "did": "by their fruits you shall know them" (Matt 7:16). This proves that Joseph was not a man who was known by his knowledge of the Scriptures, but of his quietness, and therefore, his righteousness. All we know about Joseph from the Bible is that he was a carpenter by trade, and in Matthew 1:19, it states that Joseph was "a just man." It has been mentioned that "the hiddenness of Joseph encourages us to seek holiness in life through the ordinary events of daily life" (Stainsby, Billy). St. Joseph wasn't a man who did miracles, or raised people from the dead; he was a humble servant of God who was considered worthy enough to be Jesus Christ's father in the flesh.

According to the Coptic Synaxarium (the third day of the blessed month of Kiahk), when Mary had completed twelve years in the sanctuary, the priests took counsel in order to find someone whom they could give her to, in marriage, to protect her because she was consecrated to God and when Mary had reached this age, she was no longer allowed to stay in the temple. The priests wanted to find a man who would protect her and keep her safe; they gathered twelve righteous men from the house of David of the tribe of Judah (St. Joseph's lineage is in Matt 1:17 and Luke 3:23) and gathered these men's staffs to put them in the Sanctuary. The next morning, the priests went into the Sanctuary and found that St. Joseph's staff had blossomed into a flowering rod ("the flower of the rod of Jesse"). This, by the way, is usually how St. Joseph is pictured–with his flowering rod. The priests knew that this was a sign from God and that St. Mary was to be with St. Joseph. The Holy Gospel bore witness that he was a righteous man, and God chose him to be betrothed to the all-pure, our lady, the Virgin St. Mary (Coptic Synaxarium, twenty-sixth day of the blessed month of Abib).

St. Joseph and St. Mary had determined to keep their betrothment sacred and pure to God, but alas, St. Mary was with child. St. Joseph was greatly grieved by this and was considering what to do when an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him, "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 1:20). After the appearance of Archangel Gabriel, St. Joseph was a man of obedience; he never questioned what was asked of him. St. Joseph accepted everything the angel told him and vowed that he would take care of St. Mary. When the angel appeared to St. Joseph the second time to tell him to take St. Mary and the Child and escape to Egypt because of Herod's anger, he immediately obeyed. When St. Joseph and his family returned to Nazareth, after the third appearance of Archangel Gabriel, he continued to support his family as a carpenter (the child Jesus and St. Joseph are often pictured together in a workshop).

It is important to note that, while St. Mary went through many hardships during her lifetime, St. Joseph was also present for many of them (plus some of his own hardships): the contemplation in his heart about what to do with St. Mary when he found out she was pregnant; the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem (in accordance with the Roman decree that all people be "registered, everyone to his own city." (Luke 2:3)) with his expectant wife; and the realization that his Son's life was at risk because of King Herod. St. Joseph also shared in St. Mary's anxiety when the twelve year old Jesus separated from them in Jerusalem, at the Feast of the Passover, and was later found in the temple preaching to the scholars (Luke 2:41-50).

The last time that St. Joseph is mentioned in the Bible is when he and St. Mary found Jesus in the temple preaching to the scholars. It is believed that St. Joseph departed this world shortly after this time. It is definite that he departed before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ because, if not, St. Mary would not have been given to St. John by Jesus to care for her; she would have stayed in the care of St. Joseph. In the Coptic Synaxarium (the twenty-sixth day of the blessed month of Abib), it states that "when he finished his course, his strife, his toil in the journey with the Lord and the Virgin Lady from Bethlehem to the land of Egypt, and the tribulations that befell him from the Jews, he departed in peace." When it was time for St. Joseph to leave this world and enter the land of the living, Jesus was present at his departure, and laid His hands upon St. Joseph's eyes. At the time of his departure, St. Joseph was 111 years old!! His departure was in the sixteenth year of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Recently, a great deal has been written about the life of St. Joseph. In fact, not until the late 1800's was St. Joseph even recognized as a saint in the Universal Church. His recognition seems to have first been established among the Coptic Church, although he played no part in early Christianity. Consequently, many of the sources that are written about St. Joseph are inaccurate. It is important to remember to always check the sources from where you have found your information. Also, as a word of advice, the Apocrypha writings have not been acknowledge by our church, and therefore, when quoting information from these sources, it is extremely important to "double-check" your information with someone who has knowledge of that particular subject.