Joseph, Husband of Mary

Righteous carpenter from Nazareth and legal father of Jesus, descended from King David through Solomon (Matthew 1:16). When his betrothed Mary was found pregnant, Joseph planned to divorce her quietly to protect her from scandal, but an angel revealed in a dream that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and Joseph obediently took Mary as his wife (Joseph’s Dream). He traveled with Mary to Bethlehem for the census where Jesus was born (Birth of Jesus), fled with the family to Egypt to escape Herod’s massacre (Flight to Egypt), and raised Jesus in Nazareth as a carpenter. Last mentioned when Jesus was 12 at the Temple, Joseph likely died before Jesus’s public ministry. Though he speaks no recorded words in Scripture, his faithful obedience to God’s commands through dreams, his protection of the holy family, and his righteous yet merciful character make him Christianity’s model of quiet, sacrificial fatherhood. Honored as Saint Joseph in Catholic and Orthodox traditions.