THE ANNUNCIATION TO MARY AND THE DREAM OF ST JOSEPH

As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to him that sent him, for he refresheth his soul. — Proverbs 25:13

After Mary and Joseph were betrothed to one another, the date of their marriage was set, according to church tradition, for January 23. It was between the betrothal or quiddushin, and the actual marriage ceremony, nissu’in, we believe, that the Archangel Gabriel paid homage to the Virgin Mary:

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women!” When she heard him she was troubled at his word, and kept pondering what manner of greeting this was. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold, you will conceive . . . and will bring forth a son; and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David . . . and of His kingdom there will be no end!. . . The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”  — St. Luke 1:28-36

THE AGONY OF ST. JOSEPH

During the period of time between the engagement and the marriage, Joseph busied himself with his work because soon he would be supporting his wife. As the time drew closer, Joseph was even more earnest in his anticipation and all was going well for him, until one day:

“. . . before they came together, she was found to be with child…” — St. Matthew 1:18

Yes, Joseph found out that his virgin bride was with child. It has been said by the mystics that the Blessed Virgin Mary did not tell Joseph of the annunciation and who this child was to be.

Joseph wanted what was best for Mary, yet he didn’t know if he could take her as his wife anymore. Did he doubt her story? Eastern Church tradition says that Joseph was tempted by the devil at first; being told that Mary was indeed an adulteress and that Joseph was a fool for believing her. The Devil tries to convince

Joseph to abandon Mary therefore interfering with God’s ultimate plan of salvation. This temptation of Joseph is depicted in many Eastern Nativity icons as he is shown being approached by the Devil who is disguised as an elderly shepherd. On his face is a look of anxiety and helplessness which is all too inviting to the Devil as he feeds off human weakness. The deep sorrow and grief that penetrated into St. Joseph’s heart is expressed by Venerable Maria de Agreda:

The man of God, Joseph, was wounded to his inmost heart by an arrow of grief, unable to ward off the force of evidence, which at the same time wounded his soul. The principal cause of his grief was the most chaste, and therefore the most intense love with which he cherished his most faithful spouse, and in which he had from the beginning given over to her his whole heart . . .

The most intimate cause of his sorrow, and which gave him the deepest pain, was the dread of being obliged to deliver over his spouse to the authorities to be stoned, for this was the punishment of an adulteress convicted of the crime. The heart of Saint Joseph, filled with these painful considerations, found itself as it were exposed to the thrusts of many sharp-edged swords, without any other refuge than the full confidence which he had in his Spouse.

But as all outward signs confirmed the correctness of his observations, there was no escape from these tormenting thoughts, and as he did not dare to communicate about his grievous affliction with anybody.  — Venerable Maria de Agreda

Yes, even in his sorrow he thought more on what would happen to his beloved if she were accused of committing adultery. It was time for him to make the hardest decision of his life: to send Mary away quietly and without scene. Though he was a just observer of the Law, he would not make the accusation against her. He would spare her life as well as the life of her unborn child.

If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife . . . both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. — Leviticus 20:10

Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to expose her to reproach, was minded to put her away privately. — St. Matthew 1:19

No doubt this would have caused both Joseph and Mary a lot of heartache and despair. Was their marriage not ordained by God? What of the miracle that announced their engagement? So many thoughts, full of confusion, must have swarmed through his head as Joseph called out in anguish to the heavens. We hear him cry out to the night sky:

“Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call! Have pity on me, and answer me! Of you my heart speaks; You my glance seeks; Your presence, O Lord, I seek. Hide not your face from me! Do not in anger repel your servant. You are my Helper . . . Forsake me not, O God, my Savior!” — Psalm 27:7-9

THE ANNUNCIATION TO ST. JOSEPH

The Blessed Virgin Mary must have wept at night as she gazed up at the same starry sky, asking God to make things right, to take pity on Joseph, to enlighten him to ease his suffering. God Himself felt deep sorrow at seeing Joseph so distraught and so the Lord, being full of mercy and compassion, sent the Archangel Gabriel once again to deliver a message:

But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Do not be afraid, Joseph, son of David, to take to thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you will call him Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins!” — St. Matthew 1:20-22

Joseph too had seen the angel and heard the message as he experienced the same event as his beloved—his own annunciation! With this dream the angel not only confirmed to Joseph that Mary was indeed with child by the power of the Holy Spirit, but that this child would one day save people from their sins. Also, Joseph is bestowed with the high honour of not only naming the boy “Jesus,” which means “God Saves,” but also raising the Son of the Most High as if He were his own son. God is telling him that he is worthy and has given him the grace necessary to take on this important task. Joseph found favour with the Lord and God Himself wants Joseph for a father! The angel tells Joseph to have no fear and to take Mary as his wife, and assume the legitimate rights and position of true father and true husband. God wants him specifically! Not the rich guy on the hill, not the noble warrior, but the humble worker. 

MEN OF DOUBT

In the Old Testament, we are given a similar story involving the highly revered forefather Abraham. The message is similar but the circumstances are different. Abraham is told that his ninety-year-old wife will conceive and bear a child in her old age, who was to become the great man Isaac. Also, in the New Testament, the messenger Gabriel is sent to the Zechariah to announce that his elderly wife Elizabeth will bear a son to be named John, the cousin of Jesus. Both Abraham and Zechariah place doubt in the messages given to them, whereas Joseph believes the angel completely:

And as Abraham fell prostrate, he laughed and said to himself, “Shall a son   be born to the one who is a hundred years old? Shall Sara who is ninety bear a child? — Genesis 17:17

“. . . thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.” And Zacharias said unto the angel, “Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” — St. Luke 1:13-18

Just as unlikely that a hundred year-old man and his ninety-year-old wife would conceive and have a child born to them, so too was it impossible for a virgin to conceive. However, unlike father Abraham who laughed at this notion and Zechariah who doubted, Joseph the humble accepted the message that was entrusted to him. He might not have completely understood how this was to be, but for him it did not matter. What mattered was his complete trust in God and the utter surrender to His Divine Will.

“Therefore, take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be a pendant on your forehead.” — Deuteronomy 11:18

As soon as the dream was over, he got up and went straight to Mary to tell her the news. God had not abandoned him after all! By getting up and acting as he did, St Joseph had given his fiat – his “yes" to cooperating in God’s mission and by doing this, St Joseph’s emotional wounds were healed, his confidence mended as he became a part of God’s redemptive plan.

Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing . . . In contemplating Joseph, all men and women can, by God’s grace, come to experience healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to him, just as Joseph  entered into the work of redemption through Mary and as a result of what God had already done in her. — Pope Benedict XVI, Yaoundé, Cameroon, March 18, 2009

PRAISE BETWEEN SPOUSES

St. Joseph pledged his love and commitment to Mary, and the unborn Son of God, by promising to be her husband and protector and that he would accept the holy child within her as his son. We imagine St. Joseph serenading his beloved, full of joy and wonder, celebrating her beauty and splendour:

 “Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves! . . . As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among women. . . . You are beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you. You are an enclosed garden . . . a fountain sealed. You are a garden fountain, a well of water flowing fresh! . . . You come forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun . . . how beautiful you are, how pleasing, my love, my delight!” — Canticles of Canticles 1:15, 2:2, 4:7-15, 6:10, 7:7

And the Holy Virgin replies to her husband:

“As an apple tree among the trees if the woods, so is my beloved among men. I delight to rest in his shadow . . . He brings me into the banquet hall and his emblem over me is love  . . . Strengthen me . . . for I am faint with love! His left hand is under my head and his right arm embraces me. My beloved is radiant . . . he stands out among thousands! His eyes are like doves beside running waters  . . . his stature is like the trees on Lebanon, imposing as cedars. His mouth is sweetness itself; he is all delight. Such is my beloved.” — Canticles of Canticles 2:3-6, 5:10-16