Is St. Joseph the greatest saint after Mary? Read this excerpt from Fr. Sebastian Walshe, OPraem to discover more about the holiness of St. Joseph!
Perhaps the first point we should address is the question of Saint Joseph’s proximity to Jesus; in other words, his degree of holiness. The eminent sanctity of Saint Joseph has been admitted by Christians down throughout the ages. But the degree of Saint Joseph’s sanctity relative to the other saints had been an open question for centuries.
For example, the words of Jesus concerning Saint John the Baptist seemed to be an assertion that Saint John the Baptist held the highest place in heaven after Our Lady: “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John” (Lk 7:28).
It is only in recent times that the magisterium of the Catholic Church has settled the question of the relative priority of Saint Joseph to the other saints, after the Blessed Virgin Mary: “There can be no doubt but that Joseph approached as no other person ever could that eminent dignity whereby the Mother of God towers above all creatures.”
What is the evidence given for Saint Joseph’s preeminence among the saints? The principal arguments for this conclusion center upon Saint Joseph’s unique relationship to Mary and Jesus, as well as upon his exalted mission from God concerning them. We can also add arguments from the types of Saint Joseph discussed above.
Pope Leo XIII argues both from Saint Joseph’s relationship to Mary as her spouse, and to Jesus as His guardian: “The special motives for which St. Joseph has been proclaimed Patron of the Church, and from which the Church looks for singular benefit from his patronage and protection, are that Joseph was the spouse of Mary and that he was reputed the father of Jesus Christ. From these sources have sprung his dignity, his holiness, his glory.”
Based upon the nature and purpose of marriage, it is evident that marriage demands a sharing of lives and goods. For marriage is, by definition, a kind of communion of persons. In fact, the child itself is shared as a common good of the spouses. And it is evident from Scripture that Saint Joseph did not fall short of the demands of marriage.
The Scriptures portray him as being docile and obedient to God’s will even as expressed in dreams. He cared for Mary and Jesus to the point of total sacrifice, believing, with the love that believes all things, in the chastity of his pregnant wife and fleeing to Egypt where he had no work or close relations. Nor should we underestimate the power of the Virgin Mary’s constant prayers made for the man to whom she owed the greatest gratitude.
Finally, since Mary was subject to Joseph as her husband, and since her every action was a source of grace, present and future, for the whole Church, it was necessary that Saint Joseph be granted a sanctity of sufficient loftiness that his direction of the Virgin contribute always and everywhere to the benefit of the Church and the salvation of souls.
ooo
This article is taken from a chapter in Saint Joseph: The Man Closest to God by Fr. Sebastian Walshe, OPraem which is available from TAN Books.
