Can there be a better passage to eternal life than between the arms of Jesus and Mary?
There are no documentary records of the death of St. Joseph, but it is commonly accepted that he died before the beginning of Jesus’ public life.
In the early centuries of the Church, as Isidore of Isolanis narrates, a solemn narration of the death of the adoptive father of the Son of God used to read in the churches of the East every March 19:
“The time has come for St. Joseph to leave this life. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him and announced that it was time to leave the world and go to rest with his parents. Knowing that his last day was near, he wanted to visit the Temple of Jerusalem for the last time, and there he asked the Lord to help him at the last hour.
He returned to Nazareth and, feeling ill, retreated to the bed, and his condition soon worsened. Between Jesus and Mary, who watched him with affection, he exhaled softly, seared with Divine Love.
Oh, blessed death! How could the death of the one who had expired in the arms of God and the Mother of God not be sweet and scorched in the Divine Love?
Jesus and Mary closed the eyes of St. Joseph.
And how could he not weep for the same Jesus who would weep over the grave of Lazarus? ‘See how he loved him!’ Said the Jews. St. Joseph was not only a friend, but a father dear and most holy to Jesus. ”
The Church, which venerates with affection this saint of such great devotion to Christians, recognizes him as the patron of good death.
Can there be, after all, a better passage to eternal life than between the arms of Jesus and Mary?
