18/08/2026
WONDER 3: YOUNG HUSBAND OF MARY
The Catholic Church has no formal, official teaching on the age of St. Joseph. You are free to believe that St. Joseph was an old man when he espoused Mary if you want to. You are also free to believe he was a young man. But the physical demands of his mission make the probability of him being an old man practically zero.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen writes: Joseph was probably a young man, strong, virile, athletic, handsome, chaste, and disciplined. Instead of being a man incapable of loving, he must have been on fire with love. Just as we would give very little credit to the Blessed Mother if she had taken her vow of virginity after having been an old maid for fifty years, so neither could give much credit to a Joseph who became her spouse because he was advanced in years. Young girls in those days, like Mary, took vows to love God uniquely, and so did young men, of whom Joseph was one so preeminent as to be called the "just". Instead, then, of being dried fruit to be served on the table of the king, he was rather a blossom filled with promise and power. He was not in the evening of life, but in its morning, bubbling over with energy, strength, and controlled passion. Mary and Joseph brought to their espousals not only their vows of virginity but also two hearts with greater torrents of love than had ever before coursed through human breasts...
The church needs to re-present to her children an image of St. Joseph that depicts him as strong, masculine, and young. The constant presentation of him as an old man has severely warped our understanding of the greatest saint (besides Mary) to walk this earth! It's time to reclaim St. Joseph!
A man charged with guarding a territory from the intrusion of every foe needs to be a physically powerful man, not an elderly man requiring a cane. Like a powerful cherub, dedicated to the protection and service of the Queen of Angels, St. Joseph was given the task of guarding the temple of Mary’s body, and in particular, her virginity. Mary’s guardian had to be young and strong in order to successfully fulfill his mission. An elderly man would probably not have the strength to guard a young wife. Neither would an elderly man be likely to have the stamina needed to raise an infant son. Saint Joseph’s manhood was a protective shield, a protective cloak, for
the Blessed Virgin. No man or beast could do any harm to the Virgin because St. Joseph stood attentive and ready to defend her, even to the point of death.
As a young husband and father, St. Joseph modeled manhood for his Son, Jesus. Every boy should be able to look to his father to understand what it means to be a man. If St. Joseph had been an elderly man, would Jesus have observed in his father any physical strength or true love put into practice through heroic chastity, hard work, and bodily gestures of piety —kneeling, for example? If St. Joseph were two or three times the age of his wife, what would Jesus have observed in his father: afternoon naps and forgetfulness? Again, there’s nothing wrong with old age. Growing old is part of human life. Saint Joseph himself aged as life went on, as happens to all men. But would God the Father entrust the upbringing and education of his Son — the Lion of Judah and King of Kings — to an elderly and fragile man? Probably not.
What the Church and the world can learn from a younger depiction of St. Joseph — especially in theology, preaching, literature, and art — is that young men can be chaste, heroic, and holy. Indeed, the Church has countless examples of young men who kept themselves chaste and pure for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. And St. Joseph was the greatest of them all. Saint Josemaría Escrivá tells us:
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘗𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺
𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦
𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦
𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺,
𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥
𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦
𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯
𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺.
St. Joseph was a young husband, tender and loving toward his wife, but always chaste, modest, and pure. Mary loved her Joseph. His manly love for her was strong and always controlled by reason and faith. His virile powers, always held in restraint and service to God’s will, made him the most virtuous husband and father ever to walk this earth. No woman ever had a greater man than St. Joseph.
So what are you to gain from this wonder of St. Joseph? Are you required to believe that St. Joseph was young? No, you are not. But do you understand, at least based on the physical demands his mission would have inevitably placed on him, why it makes more sense that St. Joseph was young rather than old when he married Our Lady? Regardless of which depiction of St. Joseph you prefer, know that St. Joseph is your loving, strong, and fearless spiritual father. Thank him for all that he did out of selfless love for Jesus and your spiritual mother, Mary. Thank him for all
that he does for love of you.
