Description

38cm St Joseph Marble Statue

Dimensions;

140mm L x 110mm W x 380mm H

Please note that all our Marble Art Statues are made on order. There is a lead time of approximately 10 working days.

Our statues are priced for


“Cast Marble White”.

Hand Painted





at an additional cost – please email us orders@catholic-shop.co.za for a quotation on any one of the alternative options.

An example of a painted marble statue by South African painter – Caryn York-Hart

This is an example of a bronzed marble statue

St. Joseph

St. Joseph

Feastday:

March 19


Patron

of the Universal Church

Everything we know about the husband of

Mary

and the foster father of

Jesus

comes from

Scripture

and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.

We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55). He wasn’t rich for when he took

Jesus

to the

Temple

to be circumcised and

Mary

to be purified he offered the

sacrifice

of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).

Despite his humble work and means,

Joseph

came from a royal lineage.

Luke

and

Matthew

disagree some about the details of Joseph’s genealogy but they both

mark

his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and

Luke

3:23-38). Indeed the

angel

who first tells

Joseph

about

Jesus

greets him as “son of David,” a royal title used also for Jesus.

We know

Joseph

was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered

Mary

was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce

Mary

according to the

law

but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused to

adultery

could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25).

We know

Joseph

was

man

of faith, obedient to whatever

God

asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the

angel

came to

Joseph

in a dream and told him the

truth

about the child

Mary

was carrying,

Joseph

immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took

Mary

as his wife. When the

angel

came again to tell him that his

family

was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his

family

and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in

Egypt

without question until the

angel

told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).

We know

Joseph

loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of

Nazareth

out of fear for his life. When

Jesus

stayed in the

Temple

we are told

Joseph

(along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that

Joseph

treated

Jesus

as his own son for over and over the people of

Nazareth

say of Jesus, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” (Luke 4:22)

We know

Joseph

respected God. He followed God’s commands in handling the situation with

Mary

and going to

Jerusalem

to have

Jesus

circumcised and

Mary

purified after Jesus’ birth. We are told that he took his

family

to

Jerusalem

every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.

Since

Joseph

does not appear in Jesus’ public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe

Joseph

probably had died before

Jesus

entered public ministry.

Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus’ public life, he died with

Jesus

and

Mary

close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.

We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for

Joseph

the Husband of

Mary

and May 1 for

Joseph

the Worker.

There is much we wish we could know about

Joseph

— where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But

Scripture

has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was — “a righteous man” (Matthew 1:18).

In His Footsteps:

Joseph was foster father to Jesus. There are many

children

separated from families and

parents

who need foster parents. Please consider contacting your local

Catholic

Charities or Division of

Family

Services about becoming a foster parent.

Prayer:

Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son.

Amen