The Birthplace and Avocation or Trade of St. Joseph
Excerpt from the book St. Joseph: his life, his virtues, his privileges, his power: a month of March in his honor
Though Holy Scripture does not tell us the place of St. Joseph’s birth, or make clear what his exact vocation was, we have the opinion of the learned Saints and Fathers of the Church to give us some indication of these things. And even though they are not essential to our faith, or even our devotion to St. Joseph, they can help us to form a fuller understanding of the man that he was and his place in salvation history.
Yours in Jesus and Mary,
From the book St. Joseph: his life, his virtues, his privileges, his power: a month of March in his honor by Very Reverend Archbishop Kinane, P.P. (M. H. Gill and Son, 1884, pages 76-80).
The Birthplace and Avocation or Trade of St. Joseph
The Birthplace of St. Joseph
Whether St. Joseph was sanctified before his birth, like St. John the Baptist, and the Prophet Jeremias, we shall discuss when we come to speak of the sanctity of our Saint; here we have to treat only of the place of his birth.
Nations and cities glory, and justly pride themselves in having given birth to heroes, men of renown, men famous in arts or arms. Singular enough, the birthplaces of the greatest men the world has ever seen, like Homer, the prince of poets, have to this day, and likely shall be forever, a subject of dispute among the learned. So it is with, unspeakably the greatest and most holy of men, our great Patriarch St. Joseph. Two cities, Bethlehem and Nazareth, claim the honor and glory of having given birth to the foster-father of Jesus and “husband of Mary”.
The learned are divided in opinion. We shall not enter into the dispute, which has little to do with our subject, which is popular devotion to our great Saint. Suffice it to say that St. John Chrysostom and other Fathers, as well as modern critics, hold that not only was our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem, as we know from the Gospel, but that also it was the birthplace of Mary his holy Mother, and of St. Joseph his reputed father. The Saint thus writes: “Joseph and Mary, citizens of Bethlehem, leaving their native place took up their abode at Nazareth, and there resided.” (Life of St. Joseph Vallejo, p.48)
O glorious and holy Bethlehem! the home and rest of the wearied pilgrim; no wonder that since the dawn of Christianity, countless millions, in every age and every clime throughout Christendom, would turn to thee, and with reverence salute thee, the birthplace of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
The Avocation or Trade of St. Joseph
Of the trade of St. Joseph, all we know for certain from the Gospel is that he was son of an artisan. Speaking of our blessed Lord, St. Matthew says: “And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered, and said: How came this man by this wisdom and miracles. Is not this the carpenter's son (artisan’s son)?” (Matthew 13:54). From the Latin words, fabri filius, all Commentators agree that St. Joseph was an artisan, or tradesman; but to what particular trade he belonged, they differ in opinion, and, as Maldonatus says: “It is a question of very little importance.” Cardinal Hugo, with others, are of opinion that St. Joseph was a gold and silversmith. St. Isidore, from the word “faber” concludes that he worked in iron, or was a blacksmith. St. Ambrose assigns to our Saint the profession of an architect. Notwithstanding the above authorities, popular, constant, and universal tradition assigns to our Saint the employment or trade of a carpenter. St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, St. Thomas of Aquin, Suarez, are of opinion that St. Joseph and our Blessed Lord Himself worked together at the carpenters trade.1
Nor was this employment unworthy of the noble and royal lineage of St. Joseph; for in days of primitive simplicity the Hebrew Patriarchs and kings worked at trades, nay, fed their flocks and herds. In the palmiest days of the Roman Empire, the greatest generals, in times of peace, used to cultivate with their own hands their gardens; and history tells us how often the voice of the nation called from the plough Dictators and Consuls to lead the Roman legions to victory.
After the primeval fall, labor, by the decree of God, is the lot of man. God said of Adam: “With labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life . . . . In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread.” (Genesis 3:17). The Almighty has therefore given to the world an example in the person of St. Joseph, how the most exalted sanctity can be combined with toil and manual labor. No doubt, whilst his hands were employed in labor, St. Joseph’s heart and soul were adoring, praising, and glorifying God.
Prayer
O God! May we imitate the example of St. Joseph. May we do all things to please Thee alone. O God! Holy the hands that were privileged to work and to minister to the wants and comforts of Jesus and Mary. O God, in imitation of St. Joseph, grant us the grace, that whilst our hands labor, our hearts and souls may be employed in praising, blessing, and glorifying God Almighty. Amen.
A. Lapide in Matt. xiii. 55. Suarez, Tom. ii., Ques. xxix., Dis. viii.