Saint Joseph

Joseph "of the House of David" (heb.יוֹסֵף also Saint Joseph, Joseph the Betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth, and Joseph the Worker) was, according to Christian Gospel accounts and tradition, the husband of Mary and the legal father of Jesus of Nazareth, although Christian faith tradition holds that Joseph did not physically beget Jesus, but that Mary had conceived him through divine means (see Virgin Birth). Little else is known of Joseph except that he was apparently a skilled craftsman (often held to have been a carpenter) and for many years lived in the town of Nazareth. Joseph's death is not recorded; he is thought to have still been alive when Jesus was around 12 years old, due to scriptural mention, but the lack of any mention of him in the Biblical accounts of Jesus' adult ministry (some 18 years later) is often taken to imply that he had died before then.

In the Roman Catholic and other traditions, he is the patron saint of workers and has several feast days (see Saint Joseph's Day). Saint Joseph was also declared to be the patron saint and protector of the universal Catholic Church (along with Saint Peter) by Pope Pius IX in 1870, and is the patron of several countries and regions.