Angelus News | May 7, 2021 | Vol. 6 No. 9

LETTER AND SPIRIT
SCOTT HAHN
Scott Hahn is founder of the
St. Paul Center for Biblical
Theology; stpaulcenter.com.
The month of Mary in the year of Joseph
On May 1, 2013, Pope Francis made a beautiful
declaration of devotion. He decreed that the name
of St. Joseph should be inserted into Eucharistic
Prayers II, III, and IV.
Since Pope Francis promulgated the decree just a few
weeks into his papacy, it’s likely that the development had
been “in the works” for years. Indeed, this simple action
had a long history. St. Pope John XXIII had added the holy
patriarch to the First Eucharistic Prayer in 1962.
The formula the Holy Father provided is simple, beautiful
— and striking, for those who are paying attention.
“Have mercy on us all, we pray, that with the Blessed Virgin
Mary, Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, her Spouse
... we may merit to be coheirs to eternal life. …”
Note that Joseph is recognized
specifically as the spouse of Mary.
The prayer does not speak of him
as her former spouse, or earthly
spouse, or with any other qualifications.
He is simply “her spouse.”
With the voice of the Church
those prayers are spoken — and
“The Holy Family,”
anonymous, 1520,
Netherlandish.
| WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
they’re true, even though we know also the words of Jesus:
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew
22:30).
Somehow, this couple — of all the couples in history —
remain spouses in heaven. They remain a family, not only
in the historical record, but in present fact.
This seems to confirm the claims of visionaries — like
the shepherd children of Fátima — who have reported
apparitions of the Holy Family. This marriage, for providential
purposes, is forever. The household of Nazareth is
a fully functional family. They are our family.
This is especially striking because, in the early Church,
some Christians rejected the very idea that Mary and
Joseph could be truly married. You’ll see this in legendary
and apocryphal texts. They’re so anxious to emphasize the
bodily celibacy of Mary and Joseph that they avoid spousal
language altogether.
The great St. Augustine put an end to such quibbling
over titles. Joseph, he said, was not less of a husband and
father because of his chastity and continence. He was
more. St. Augustine drew upon St. Paul’s counsels for
couples who practice abstinence: they do not cease to be
spouses when they abstain. Nor, he noted, do fornicators
become spouses just because of their physical activity.
Mary and Joseph consented to a spousal “union of
hearts,” and in our Eucharistic Prayers we acknowledge
that their union is forever. So is their family relation to Jesus.
There is nothing second-rate or second-class about the
bonds of the Holy Family. And we are privileged to share
in their family life, because in baptism we are brothers and
sisters of Jesus.
The month of May is traditionally dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, but it begins with the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Thus, they are united even on the calendar.
The month of May is especially blessed this year because
the Holy Father has declared 2021 to be the Year of St.
Joseph.
The message of this month, this year, is that we are
members of the Holy Family — a family founded on the
permanent “union of hearts” in Mary and Joseph.
32 • ANGELUS • May 7, 2021