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The story of the selection of Joseph as a husband is also
featured in the apocryphal texts, and it is a rather complicated business.
It was decided by drawing lots that Mary's husband should come from the
tribe of Judah. Therefore the unmarried men of that tribe brought along
their rods to the Temple to be placed in the Holy of Holies. It had been announced that
when the rods
were given back, a dove would fly from the one belonging to the future
husband of Mary. (Or burst into flower, according to St. Jerome.) The rods were duly handed out, and, disappointingly,
nothing happened. The priests were about to give it up as a bad job
when an angel appeared and pointed out that they had missed one of the
rods - it was much shorter than the others so they had overlooked it. This
was Joseph's, of course, but, realising his age was against him, he had
not bothered to point out that he hadn't got his rod back.
The inevitable happened. The dove flew from Joseph's rod, and
he was named as husband-elect of Mary.
At this point the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew quotes
Joseph thus:
I
indeed do not despise the will of God; but I shall be her guardian until I
can ascertain concerning the will of God, as to which of my sons can have
her as his wife. Let some virgins of her companions, with whom she may
meanwhile spend her time, be given for a consolation to her.
(Ch
8)
Joseph's sons are mentioned in other texts. The apocryphal History
of Joseph the Carpenter says he was a widower, and had four sons and
two daughters by a previous marriage. The companion virgins do appear in paintings of the marriage and
the visitation.
The next day, Gabriel
appeared to Mary; the Annunciation.
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Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
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The marriage of the Virgin
The time-scale is confusing. If Joseph returns nine months after the
Annunciation, it doesn't allow much time for the marriage and the
journey to Bethlehem. The marriage itself is not mentioned in the texts,
though it is often celebrated in art. In fact, the ceremony we are
familiar with today was almost certainly unknown at the time, and little distinction is made
between the choosing of Joseph as husband and the marriage. The well-known
painting by Raphael is known as the Engagement of the Virgin. This fits the
story, as a failed suitor is seen breaking his rod in the foreground, and the five virgins look on. The
version by Giotto from the Scrovegni chapel is known as the Marriage of
the Virgin, but we see the dove appearing from Joseph's rod which
supposedly took place at the engagement. |
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Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
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The
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