♔ THE HOLY CHILD SAINT JOSEPH ♔

In the scriptures we are not given any details of St. Joseph’s childhood or his early manhood, so, as with the details of St Joseph’s conception and birth, we have to look to other divinely inspired sources for even a glimpse of Joseph before he appears in the Holy Bible.

Concerning the child Joseph, we have the revelations of Venerable Maria de Agreda, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, and Servant of God Mother Cecilia Baij. We are told that he was a humble and holy boy who possessed great understanding and awareness of God at a young age:

Blessed Anne Catherine  Emmerich: Joseph, whom I saw in this vision at about the age of eight, was very was very gifted and was a very good scholar, but he was simple, quiet, devout, and not at all ambitious . . .  I often saw him kneeling down with his face to the wall, praying with outstretched arms. 

Venerable Maria de Agreda: The holy child Joseph was born most beautiful and perfect of body and caused in his parents and in his relations an extraordinary delight… The  Lord hastened the use of his reason, endowing it with infused science and augmenting his soul with new graces and virtues. … The child began to know God … as the cause and Author of all things. He eagerly listened and understood profoundly all that was taught him in regard to God and his      works. … He was of a kind disposition, loving, and affable, sincere, showing inclinations not only holy but angelic, growing in virtue and perfection and advancing toward his espousal with most holy Mary by an altogether irreproachable life.

Mother Cecilia Baij: Joseph had the best of dispositions … He matured in a most outstanding manner, both physically and spiritually … God fashioned him according to His own heart and spirit, in order to eventually make him a worthy bridegroom for the Mother of the Divine Word. The child gratefully acknowledged these gifts which he was receiving from God. …

Joseph already possessed the gift of the use of reason, together with the gift of sanctifying grace, and as a result had a greater comprehension of  God and of the offences committed by mankind against Him. He shed copious tears in this regard and offered them to God with the plea that He might have mercy upon poor sinners, that He would enlighten them, and    enable them to see their grievous error…