Catholic holidays - Saint Joseph's Day

On March 19, the Catholic Church venerates the pious husband, Joseph the Betrothed, the husband of Borogorodtsy The saint was called the betrothed because he entered into only a legal, and not an actual, marriage with a virgin who decided to devote herself to the Lord In those days, there was a tradition according to which a girl was introduced to the temple at the age of three, was at the temple until she reached twelve (according to some sources - fourteen) years, after which she was transferred under the protection and patronage of an imaginary spouse This is exactly the story that all canonical sacred books regarding the Virgin Mary describe As a child, she turned out to be dedicated to God, and at the age of three she confidently and unconditionally made the decision to enter the temple When the time came, after which the virgin could no longer be at the temple, a betrothed was chosen, an imaginary husband, who was supposed to keep the vow of celibacy of the pious girl Joseph the carpenter from the family of King David turned out to be chosen on the basis of his miraculously blossoming staff Finding his betrothed already pregnant, the carpenter was embarrassed and decided to quietly, without publicity, give Maria a letter of divorce But on the night before the day that Joseph set for divorce, the angel of the Lord, Archangel Gabriel, came to him in a dream He convinced the husband to accept his wife by telling him who exactly the virgin was carrying in her womb and how the conception took place The carpenter believed, submitted, and did not divorce Mary Then, in a dream, he was given instructions about the baby’s name That's why Joseph named his wife's son Jesus The Betrothed received revelations in a dream not only this time After both shepherds and wise men visited Bethlehem with gifts and worship, Joseph the carpenter experienced another appearance of the angel of the Lord He pointed out to the father of the family the danger posed by King Herod and his desire to kill all the infants the same age as Jesus Following the admonition of the angel, the Betrothed takes his family and flees with the young mother and newborn to Egypt, where he waits for the end of Herod’s reign and thereby saves the great child For 12 years Joseph the carpenter nurtured and worshiped Jesus, the son of Mary After this age, there are no mentions of the Betrothed in the biography of the Savior The last time the legends about Joseph are mentioned is in the description of the pilgrimage of the Holy Family to Jerusalem on the occasion of the Jewish Passover On that journey, the parents, Mary and Joseph, lost sight of Jesus and separated from the boy The virtue of the Betrothed's deeds was rewarded with long years of life He died at a more than respectable age, at one hundred and ten or one hundred and eleven years old He was buried by angels in the Cave of Gethsemane, in the same place where, according to legend, the parents of the Virgin Mary had already rested The date March 19, chosen by Pope Sixtus IV in 1479, is taken from ancient Frankish calendars of the ninth and tenth centuries Then, on March 19 or 20, the day of remembrance of Joseph was held Sixtus IV included the memorable day in contemporary calendars, and since that time the feast of the memory of Joseph the Betrothed has been celebrated in the churches of Rome