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| Piece of Cloak of Saint Joseph and Coffin of the B.V.M. |
Mary (Judeo-Aramaic: מרים, Maryām, from Hebrew Miriam, Greek Μαριαμ
or Μαρια, in Arabic مريم Maryam, Syriac: ܡܪܝܡ), and
called since medieval times Madonna (My Lady), resident in Nazareth in Galilee, is known from the New Testament as the mother
of Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament describes her as a young maiden – traditionally, Greek parthénos signifies an
actual virgin – who conceived by the agency of the Holy Spirit whilst she was already the betrothed wife of Joseph
of the House of David and awaiting their imminent formal home-taking ceremony (the concluding Jewish wedding rite).
Blessed Mary gave birth to Our Lord Jesus at Bethlehem; but because there was no place for them in the inn, she had to
use a manger as a cradle. She was present when Jesus worked his first public miracle at the marriage in Cana by turning water
into wine at her intercession. Our Blessed Mother was present during the crucifixion of Our Lord. And Mary is the only one
to be mentioned by name—other than the twelve Apostles and the candidates—of about 120 people gathered, after
the Ascension, in the Upper Room on the occasion of the election of Matthias to the vacancy of Judas.
The corporeal assumption of Mary was formally declared to be dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950. Pope Pius XII states in
Munificentissimus Deus: "[W]e pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother
of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.
Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him
know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith."
The Blessed Virgin Mary is commemorated on as many as 25 different days. The most universally observed are The Annunciation
on 25 March and The Assumption 15 August.
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| Holy Family by Raphael (1506) |
Joseph "of the House of David" (Hebrew יוֹסֵף, also known as Saint
Joseph, Joseph the Betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth, Joseph the Worker and other titles) is known from the New Testament as the
husband of Mary, mother of Jesus and although according to Christian tradition he was not the biological
father of Jesus, he acted as his foster-father and as head of the Holy Family. Joseph is venerated as a saint within the Roman
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches.
Pope Pius IX proclaimed Joseph the patron of the Universal Church on December 8, 1870. Joseph is the unofficial patron
against doubt and hesitation, as well as the patron saint of fighting communism, and of a happy death. Joseph having died
in the "arms of Jesus and Mary" according to Catholic tradition, he is considered the model of a pious believer who receives
grace at the moment of death.
In addition to his primary feast day in the Catholic Church (March 19), St. Joseph is honored by the Feast of St. Joseph
the Worker (May 1), introduced by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to counteract May Day, a union, workers and socialists holiday. This
reflects St. Joseph's status as what many Catholics and other Christians consider the "patron of workers" and "model of workers."
Catholic and other Christians teachings and stories about or relating to Joseph and the Holy Family frequently stress his
patience, persistence, and hard work as admirable qualities which believers should adopt.
We give our prayerful thanks to The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals for the the notice of validation
of the authenticity for the above relics.
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