Patron Saint of a Happy Death, Saint Joseph

Patron Saint of a Happy Death, Saint Joseph 

Eileen Renders

As the years add up and we enter middle age, and soon become seniors, we all lose family members, friends, and relatives near and dear to us. Consequently, we begin to reflect on how or why they passed on, often at a younger age than we have already reached. We may even institute healthier lifestyle changes, and others reflect upon our lives, mistakes of the past, and how our Creator might view us.

We do not know much about St. Joseph, there is not much written in the bible. We know that he was older than the Blessed Virgin, as she was just sixteen years of age at the time when the angel visited her and told her she had been chosen to become the mother of our Savior. Mary replied, “How can that be? I have not been with a man?” The angel answered saying, “You will be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.” Mary replied, “Be it done unto me according to God’s will. Mary was engaged at the time to Joseph, as people in that era married at a young age. Joseph was alarmed to hear that Mary was pregnant, but the angel appeared to Joseph, explaining that God was sending our Savior into the world, and she had been chosen to become His mother. Joseph trusted the angel, and He and Mary married.

There is not much written about Saint Joseph, however, we know that Jesus worked with His stepfather as a Carpenter, yet when Jesus began His ministry in the Temple, we do not hear much about Saint Joseph. It is believed that He passed on before Jesus was Crucified, as there is no mention of Him being at the foot of the Cross. Therefore, we are told that when Saint Joseph left the world, He was with Jesus and Mary. And we know that Jesus said to His disciple John while on the Cross, “Behold your mother”, making the Virgin Mary mother to all of us. Turning to His mother, Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son.” John took the Virgin Mary into his home to live with him after Jesus died on the Cross.

It's difficult even to imagine a more comforting death than dying in the arms of Jesus and Mary, feeling their love and comfort. The assurance of where he was going, offering unending joy. Therefore, we can pray to Saint Joseph and Mary to be with us at our hour of death, as we do in the rosary when we repeat the prayer “Hail Mary.” We can also work to practice those virtues that we see in Mary and Joseph to give us hope and trust for that day when we, too, are called to leave our earthly life. Those virtues are, and always will be, those of love, mercy, trust, empathy, and humility.