This day, January 23rd, is the wedding anniversary of the Holy Family, the traditional feast of the espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Yes, you read that right – espousals in the plural, both to the same good man, Saint Joseph. It the Jewish tradition, a bride was betrothed twice – first, in a formal ceremony that ratified the contractual agreement. Then, in a more splendorous way – think the Wedding Feast of Cana with a hundred gallons of the finest wine – about a year afterwards, there was a second espousal, the marriage proper, after which the couple would live together in what one hopes would be a lifetime of blissful domesticity, seeing their children’s children in a happy Jerusalem.
Of course, Joseph respected, preserved and protected Mary’s perpetual virginity. He was a guardian, and foster father of her divine Son, until his own natural death, likely before that Son began his public ministry.
This feast is a later one, as liturgical celebrations go. First proposed by Jean Gerson, chancellor of the University of Paris, at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). He wrote the Office, but the first public celebration was a hundred years later, on August 29th, 1517. Suppressed in the revisions of 1969, it is still celebrated in the usus antiquior, by certain religious orders.
So happy anniversary to Our Lady and Saint Joseph, even if their earthly marriage ceased with the end of their earthly lives, we can presume that the bond forged here on earth in some way echoes through eternity.