The Divine Paraclete’s Representative on Earth.
Theological reflection on Saint Joseph as the earthly representative of the Holy Spirit arises from contemplating the Holy Family of Nazareth as an icon of the heavenly Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Joseph is the Spouse of Mary; yet Mary’s first and infinitely more exalted Spouse is the Holy Spirit. Eminent authors[1] have pointed out sublime parallels between the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Triune God, attributing particular properties to Mary and Joseph in relation to Jesus that mirror those within the Triune God. From this derives St Joseph’s “affinity” with the divine Paraclete.
The Holy Family of Nazareth: an “Earthly Triad”
The first author to use the expression “earthly triad” in reference to the Holy Family was the Augustinian hermit Felice Tancredi of Massa Marittima (1335–1386). However, the best-known proponent of this idea was Jean Gerson (1363–1429), Canon of Notre Dame and Chancellor of the University of Paris. Although leaning toward the theory of “conciliarism” in his famous discourse at the Council of Constance, in 1416 Gerson concluded a letter to his friend Dominique Petit with this formula: “Through the intercession of the most venerable and most divine Trinity—Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.” In his discourse on the Gospel passage concerning the Matthean genealogy, Jacob autem genuit Joseph, the same year, he expressed his desire “to delve more deeply into a mystery so profound and long hidden throughout the centuries, this Trinity so worthy of admiration and veneration: Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.”
The Jesuit Pedro de Morales, in his commentary on the first chapter of Matthew written in 1614, develops the theme “de coelesti et terrestri Trinitate” (“on the heavenly and the earthly Trinity”). In it, he identifies an analogy between the three persons of the Holy Family and the three divine Persons. He writes:
“For just as in the heavenly Trinity there are three distinct persons and one single essence, so also in this admirable earthly Trinity there are three persons who, through an incomparable love, possess but one heart and one soul. In them the prayer of the Lord himself has been perfectly fulfilled… Jesus, Mary, and Joseph formed the earthly Trinity in likeness to the heavenly one… In this earthly Trinity the Deipara (Mother of God) corresponds to the Eternal Father; Christ himself is the second person and the Son, though in a different way, of both; Joseph, in turn, corresponds to the Holy Spirit… And since the heavenly and eternal Trinity is ineffable, surpassing our intellect, so in its own manner our Trinity—Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—also surpasses all our understanding and knowledge.”
With particular regard to holy Joseph, Pedro de Morales extends the comparison further. By highlighting his unique status in relation to the Holy Trinity, he begins to draw out the similarity between holy Joseph and the Holy Spirit. He affirms that the holy Carpenter “is similar to the three divine persons of the heavenly Trinity. Indeed, he shares with the eternal Father the name, the role, and the place; with the Divine Word he is a true father in every respect except natural generation, a true provider and guardian; he is similar to the Holy Spirit in being the true spouse of Mary, his spouse, and her most faithful protector.”
Another important author is Francis Bourgoing (1585–1662) of the French Congregation of the Oratory, founder of the Association to the Family of Jesus and Mary under the protection of Saint Joseph (1625), which “binds its members to a very particular union of devotion to the humanity of Jesus and to his thirty-three years of life on earth.” In the holy and sacred terrestrial Triad — Jesus, Mary, and Joseph — Bourgoing sees “a living image of the incomprehensible Trinity,” which he describes as follows:
“The poor and humble stable of Bethlehem, as well as the infancy of Jesus, is a clear and limpid mirror which, set before the empyrean Heaven where the Sun of the Most Holy Trinity shines, allows the other Trinity — Jesus, Mary, and Joseph — to appear as in a brilliant mirror, the Triad of the earthly household, which contemplates, adores, and imitates the Trinity of heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The former is uncreated; the latter is created and at the same time uncreated in the person of Jesus. The one is divine and eternal; the other deified and temporal. One is adorable; the other worthy of honour. One is admirable in its greatness; the other lovable in its sweetness. In the first there is unity of essence in the Trinity of persons; in the other, a union of love, grace, and spirit in a trinity of essence and persons. In the divine Trinity, which is God, the Father generates the Son in eternity; in the other the order appears almost reversed, since the Son has given being to the Father and the Mother — that is, Jesus to his putative father Joseph and to his most holy Mother. In the first, the Father and the Son, and the Father through the Son, produce the Holy Spirit in unity of principle; in the second, Mary and Joseph, and Jesus through Mary, give life and grace to Joseph in unity of spirit.”
Here a great theological analogy is outlined: Jesus through Mary generates by grace holy Joseph who is the fruit of their love, as the Holy Spirit is the fruit of love of the Father and the Son. Moreover, as Fr Tarcisio Stramare points out, Francis Bourgoing anticipates the theme of “representation” by moving from the more general concept of “icon” to a more theological notion of “re-presentation,” in the sense of “making present,” and writes that “Mary has an admirable relationship with the Eternal Father, the Son of Mary is united with Himself as the Son of God, and Joseph represents the Holy Spirit.”
St. Joseph, the Holy Spirit’s Representative: Spouse, Coadiutor and Finger of God
The way is thus paved for depicting St Joseph as the earthly and perfect reflection of the Holy Spirit. Among the authors who have outlined this affinity by using the category of “representation,” the Franciscan Juan de Cartagena (†1617) stands out; his homilies are reported by the Summa Josephina (edited by José de Calasanz Card. Vives, OFM Cap., Rome, 1907). Outlining the properties of each person of the Holy Family of Nazareth in their reference to Holy Trinity, he writes:
“Mary indeed reflects the Father, since, while remaining a virgin, she conceived and gave birth in time to the same one whom He generated from eternity; Jesus himself is the person of the divine Word; Joseph, however, represents the person of the Holy Spirit, because just as He is the love between the Father and the Son, the Spouse of souls, the Paraclete and consoler, so blessed Joseph loved most ardently the Mother and the Child. He was the spouse of the Virgin Mother of God and the consolation and joy of that entire holy family.”
St Joseph holds the third place in the Holy Family, after Jesus and Mary, as the Holy Spirit holds the third place in God, after the Father and the Son.[2] Juan de Cartagena goes on to write: “Just as the Spirit in that heavenly Trinity is the third person according to origin, so in this earthly Trinity — Jesus, Mary, and Joseph — he himself claims the third place according to the order of dignity.”
He also maintains that “this Trinity of persons accomplished our redemption: Jesus as the author (auctor) of salvation; Mary as mediatrix (mediatrix); Joseph as cooperator (coadiutor).” Finally, he emphasizes the “affinity” of the Holy Spirit with Saint Joseph, who “represents His person” by being a principle of life to Jesus:
“Just as the Holy Spirit, like the heart, is the source of life and of all the vital spirits by which the body is nourished and lives, so Joseph, by nourishing and raising the child Jesus, manifested himself as the principle of his life and of all the vital spirits that were diffused through the various arteries of his body.”
Saint Joseph is therefore akin to the Holy Spirit by virtue of being the spouse of Mary, of having nourished Jesus as his “principle” of life, and of being the gift of love of Jesus and Mary. Let us now attempt to probe more deeply into these elements handed down by the Josephine tradition in comparing the heavenly and the earthly Trinity.
Saint Joseph is the spouse of Mary (cf. Mt 1:16,18), who was overshadowed by the divine Paraclete at the Annunciation (cf. Lk 1:35). As the heavenly Spouse, the Holy Spirit enveloped her with His divine love so that she conceived the Son of God without the cooperation of a man. Joseph, in a similar way, surrounds Mary with the shadow and strength of his love so that the divine Son might be carefully protected while the virginity of his beloved spouse remains intact. The Holy Spirit and St Joseph thus exercise a similar and complementary action with regard to the Incarnation of the Word. Hence, St. Joseph becomes the guardian of Mary’s virginity, in which he himself shares, and through it the guardian of the Redeemer.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit is the power of God, His divine force active in creation and in sanctification. He is the digitus paternae dexterae—the “finger of the Father’s right hand,” as we sing in the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus. By His power He creates and shapes all things while remaining silent and hidden. He acts in silence, transforming chaos into cosmos and the desolate earth into a place inhabited by grace through His Spouse, the Virgin Mary, who renders the earth fruitful and ready to receive the divine Word.
For these reasons, too, St Joseph may rightly be considered an excellent representative of the Holy Spirit. He acts in silence, in a hidden manner, yet with great strength. He takes his Spouse and the Child and flees into Egypt. He protects God’s treasures—Mary his spouse and Jesus his son. With his love he surrounds those who are the immaculate creation of the Father: the Virgin Mary and the Son of God who assumes human nature from his all-pure Mother and without the stain of sin. Joseph is made similar to the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters of creation (cf. Gn. 1:2) bringing about order, light, and life. Mary and Jesus are this order and Joseph the spirit who embraces and protects them.
Why is St Joseph’s silence so eloquent? The Holy Spirit does not speak but acts. Saint Joseph likewise does not speak but acts. In silence he works, fulfils the will of God, and serves as a bulwark of protection. Always cloaked in solemn silence, he reflects the One who is the “finger of God’s right hand,” also because with his fingers—with his hands—he labours and thus provides for the sustenance of the Holy Family.
Ite ad Ioseph—Let us go to St. Joseph in order to know the Holy Spirit, and to be filled with His divine presence. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Joseph grants us the grace to open our hearts to God and to be sanctified. He is the consoler of Christians, just as in the highest sense the Paraclete—the Spirit of God—is the Consoler. Through the humble saint of Nazareth, the silent craftsman of the House of God, we shall rebuild the edifice of our Christian life upon firm foundations, according to God’s will and that our Blessed Mother.
May the Virgin Mary, Bride of the Holy Spirit, help us to know ever more deeply the greatness of Saint Joseph. Amen.
[1] On the analogy between the celestial and terrestrial Trinity, i.e., the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Triune God, with particular reference to St Joseph as the representative of the Holy Spirit, one can see in particular the work of J. M. Blanquet, La Sagrada Familia, Icono de la Trinidad, (Barcelona, 1996), Proceeding from the Conferences on the Holy Family organised by the Hijos de la Sagrada Familia. This insightful analogy has also been studied with great expertise by Fr Tarcisio Stramare. See two of his publications: San Giuseppe. Dignità, privilegi, devozione(Shalom, 2009) 299-305; San Giuseppe. Fatto religioso e teologia (Shalom, 2018) 399-417.
[2] According to the divine Taxis (order), The Father is the beginning without any beginning, who generates the Son. The Father and the Son then breath forth the Holy Spirit, who, for this reason, proceeds form the Father and the Son “after” the generation of the Word. However, the three divine Persons are equal and co-eternal.
Fr. Serafino M. Lanzetta