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ST. JOSEPH THE BETROTHED HOUSE

Welcome to the homepage of St Joseph the Betrothed House. I am Mrs Hughes and I am Head of St Joseph House. Our house is named after St Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. Although there is not a wealth of information about him, scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: he was a righteous, hard working and selfless individual.

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These are the attributes that we try to emulate within our house, both students and tutors alike. In St Joseph House we have a team of tutors who demonstrate those skills as well as having a wealth of knowledge and experience to deliver the best pastoral care and support for our students. We believe by supporting our students with developing these key attributes we can ensure that they get the very best they can from their education at Archbishop Ilsley. This is not only on an education level but also on a social and spiritual level too. By doing this we believe that we can give our students the very best opportunity to achieve success, regardless of background or circumstance.

WHO WAS ST. JOSEPH THE BETROTHED?

Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture.

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We know he was a carpenter, a working man and that he was not a rich man. Despite his humble work and means, we know that Joseph came from a royal lineage and indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus.

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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 knew women accused of adultery could be stoned to death, so he resolved to send her away quietly to not expose her to shame or cruelty. However, when an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins," he did as the angel told him and took Mary as his wife. (Matthew 1:19-25).

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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).

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We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. 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)

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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.

We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19th for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1st for Joseph the Worker. March 19 has been the most commonly celebrated feast day for Joseph, and it wasn't until 1955 that Pope Pius XII established the Feast of "St. Joseph the Worker" to be celebrated on May 1st. Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters and social justice.

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Many places and churches all over the world are named after St. Joseph, including the Spanish form, San Jose, which is the most commonly named place in the world. Joseph is considered by many to also be the patron saint of the New World; of the countries China, Canada, Korea, Mexico, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Peru, Vietnam; of the regions Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol, Sicily; and of several main cities and dioceses.

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There is much do not know about Joseph but Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18).