Pope Pius IX declared him to be both the patron and the protector of the Catholic Church, in addition to his patronages of the sick and of a holy death, due to the belief that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mary.

[citation needed] Several venerated images of Saint Joseph have been granted a decree of canonical coronation by a pontiff.

The last time Joseph appears in person in any of the canonical Gospels is in the narrative of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old, which is found only in Luke.

If he had been present at the Crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by Joseph of Arimathea.

[18] This incident does not appear in John, but in a parallel story, the disbelieving neighbors refer to "Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know".

[45]Joseph's description as a "tekton" (τέκτων) has been traditionally translated into English as "carpenter", but is a rather general word (from the same root that gives us "technical", "technology")[46] that could cover makers of objects in various materials.

[51] At the time of Joseph, Nazareth was an obscure village in Galilee, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) from the Holy City of Jerusalem, and is barely mentioned in surviving non-Christian texts and documents.

[59] Other scholars see Joseph and Jesus as the general village craftsmen, working in wood, stone, and metal on a wide variety of jobs.

A popular position held by many Catholics, derived from the writings of Jerome, is that Joseph was the husband of Mary, but that references to Jesus' "brothers" should be understood to mean cousins.

Mauro Gagliardi presents a hypothesis that Joseph was assumed into Heaven with body and soul because he belongs to the few saints who left no bodily relics.

Joseph's death aged 111, attended by angels and asserting the perpetual virginity of Mary, takes up approximately half the story.

"[78] Origen quotes the Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity Celsus (from his work On the True Doctrine, c. 178 AD) as controversially asserting that Joseph left Mary upon learning of her pregnancy: "...when she was pregnant she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Pantera.

[81][82][83] Thomas Aquinas discussed the necessity of the presence of Saint Joseph in the plan of the Incarnation for if Mary had not been married, the Jews would have stoned her and that in his youth Jesus needed the care and protection of a human father.

[88] In 1989, on the occasion of the centenary of Quamquam pluries Pope John Paul II issued Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer), which presented Saint Joseph's role in the plan of redemption, as part of the "redemption documents" issued by John Paul II such as Redemptoris Mater to which it refers.

In 1962, Pope John XXIII inserted the name of Joseph in the Canon of the Mass, immediately after that of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In some communities it is traditional to wear red clothing and eat a Neapolitan pastry known as a zeppola (created in 1840 by Don Pasquale Pinatauro in Naples) on Saint Joseph's Day.

[104] Upon a typical Saint Joseph's Day altar, people place flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, cookies, other meatless dishes, and zeppole.

[105] In 1870, Pope Pius IX declared Joseph patron of the Universal Church and instituted another feast, a solemnity to be held on the third Sunday of Eastertide.

Pope Pius X, in order to restore the celebration of Sundays, moved this feast to the Wednesday in the second week after Easter, and gave it an octave.

Pius XII established the feast both to honor Saint Joseph, and to make people aware of the dignity of human work.

[123] Therese of Lisieux stated that she prayed daily to "Saint Joseph, Father and Protector of Virgins" and felt protected from danger as a result.

[129] In mosaics in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (432-40) Joseph is portrayed young, bearded and dressed as a Roman of status.

[130] Joseph is shown mostly with a beard, not only in keeping with Jewish custom, but also because – although the Gospel accounts do not give his age – later legends tend to present him as an old man at the time of his wedding to Mary.

[132] In recent centuries – in step with a growing interest in Joseph's role in Gospel exegesis – he himself has become a focal figure in representations of the Holy Family.

He is now often portrayed as a younger or even youthful man (perhaps especially in Protestant depictions), whether going about his work as a carpenter, or participating actively in the daily life of Mary and Jesus as an equal and openly affectionate member.

[133] Art critic and self proclaimed atheist Waldemar Januszczak however emphasises the preponderance of Joseph's representation as an old man, and sees this as the need.

[135] According to Charlene Villaseñor Black, "Seventeenth-century Spanish and Mexican artists reconceptualized Joseph as an important figure, ... representing him as the youthful, physically robust, diligent head of the Holy Family.

The Mérode Altarpiece of about 1425, where he has a panel to himself, working as a carpenter who fashions mousetraps – a rare depiction of Saint Joseph being present in the context of the Annunciation.

[139] The Golden Legend, which derives its account from the much older Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, tells a similar story, although it notes that all marriageable men of the Davidic line and not only widowers were ordered by the High Priest to present their rods at the Temple.

Several Eastern Orthodox Nativity icons show Joseph tempted by the Devil (depicted as an old man with furled wings) to break off his betrothal, and how he resists that temptation.