By Sister Timothy Marie, O.C.D.
It was Lent. I don’t remember what year exactly. Well, maybe it was during the Covid pandemic. As Carmelite Sisters, we pray the Rosary every day, and like other Catholics throughout the world, because it was Monday, I knew it as the day for the “Joyful Mysteries” of the Rosary. I’m still not sure how it turned out this way, but somehow or other I got the idea of “Praying the Rosary with St. Joseph” or described in another way – “Praying the Rosary through the Eyes of St. Joseph.” And because here it is Lent again and almost always St. Joseph’s feast day rolls around each year during the Lenten season, I decided to share what happened when I “prayed the Rosary with him—through his eyes.
The First Joyful Mystery is the Anunciation. In this Mystery, we recall the moment the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the town of Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph. And for the first time in my life, the thought occurred to me that it wasn’t such a Joyful Mystery for Joseph, was it? His future wife, Mary, was changed forever. Their union as man and wife was redefined. His role took on an eternal dimension, too huge to even begin to understand. In this sense, I think that the hypothesis that this first mystery for Joseph, at least in the beginning, was not 100% a reason for him to leap for joy.
The second Joyful Mystery is the Visitation of Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth. Mary was away from her hometown of Nazareth for several months and when she returned she was obviously pregnant. Don’t you think tongues wagged and fingers pointed and Joseph was confused and perplexed. Perhaps even angry? A righteous man, a just man, a compassionate man. In this predicament, Joseph too received a visit from the Angel who reassured him that what was going on in his life was totally “of God” and not to fear. At the same time though, I put forth the hypothesis that amid all this drama, joy was not his predominant feeling. What do you think?
The third Joyful Mystery is the Nativity of Our Lord. Here, I just continue to suggest that joy was not Joseph’s predominant emotion. He was a father, albeit a foster father, and he felt the huge responsibility of being the man of the house and providing for Mary, his wife, and the new Baby, Jesus. And we all certainly remember that he had to flee into a town unknown to them in a country foreign to them—Egypt. Murders of innocent children in Bethlehem were committed because right from the get-go the precious Child was the object of hatred on a huge scale and I put forth this hatred continues even today. This was a mystery to Joseph, I’m sure, and I admit it continues to be a mystery to me. And I, too, ask myself “Why?”
The fourth and fifth Joyful Mysteries can also be understood in this same light, i.e. through the eyes of St. Joseph. In these Mysteries, He witnessed strange and new prophecies when Jesus was presented in the temple. He heard that his wife would have her heart pierced with a sword. And the mysterious utterance of Simeon we know as the Benedictus, the Canticle of Simeon. The fifth and final Joyful Mystery must have been heart-wrenching for Joseph as well. After searching for Jesus for three days, they finally found Him in the temple. There, Joseph heard Jesus say, “Why were you searching for Me? Didn’t you know that I was about my Father’s business?’ Strange words to Joseph’s ears, to say the least.
Yes, it was an eye-opening experience for me to have prayed the Joyful Mysteries in this way. I suppose it’s easy to forget that Mary and Joseph were both people of great faith and trust. Together with love, they traveled the road of life. They needed to grow in their understanding of their unique relationship with one another, with Jesus, and with the countless souls who ask their intercession time and time again.
I invite you to pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary with Saint Joseph this Lent.
