Josephology

[4] The earliest record of a formal devotional following for Joseph in the Western Church is in the abridged Martyrology of Rheinau in Northern France, which dates to the year 800.

[6][7] In the 13th century, the Dominican Doctor of the Church Thomas Aquinas discussed the necessity of the presence of Joseph in the plan of the Incarnation for if Mary had not been married, her fellow Jews would have stoned her to death and that a young Jesus needed the care and protection of a human father.

[9] In the 15th century, major steps were taken by Bernardine of Siena, Pierre d'Ailly, and Jean Gerson, the chancellor of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris.

In Introduction to the Devout Life Francis de Sales included Joseph along with the Virgin Mary as saints to be invoked during prayers following an examination of conscience.

[14] In her biography The Story of a Soul, Thérèse of Lisieux stated that for a period of time, she prayed every day to "Saint Joseph, Father and Protector of Virgins..." and felt safe from danger as a result.

[18] John Paul II positions Saint Joseph as breaking the old vice of paternal familial domination, and suggests him as the model of a loving father.