[Officium]
Die III Infra Octavam S. Joseph

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the Acts of the Apostles
!Acts 25:1-5
1 Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
2 And the chief priests, and principal men of the Jews, went unto him against Paul: and they besought him,
3 Requesting favour against him, that he would command him to be brought to Jerusalem, laying wait to kill him in the way.
4 But Festus answered: That Paul was kept in Caesarea, and that he himself would very shortly depart thither.
5 Let them, therefore, saith he, among you that are able, go down with me, and accuse him, if there be any crime in the man.

[Lectio2]
!Acts 25:6-8
6 And having tarried among them no more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he sat in the judgment seat; and commanded Paul to be brought.
7 Who being brought, the Jews stood about him, who were come down from Jerusalem, objecting many and grievous causes, which they could not prove;
8 Paul making answer for himself: Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I offended in any thing.

[Lectio3]
!Acts 25:9-12
9 But Festus, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, answering Paul, said: Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?
10 Then Paul said: I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no injury, as thou very well knowest.
11 For if I have injured them, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But if there be none of these things whereof they accuse me, no man may deliver me to them: I appeal to Caesar.
12 Then Festus having conferred with the council, answered: Hast thou appealed to Caesar? To Caesar shalt thou go.

[Lectio4]
The Lesson is taken from a Sermon by St. John Chrysostom
Homilia 4 in Matth.
It was the custom in ancient times for betrothed brides to dwell in the houses of their bridegrooms. And it would seem that Mary thus dwelt with her Spouse. And herein we find answer to the question: Why did not the virgin conception take place before Mary was wedded? In order that the mystery might be hid in the meantime, and that the Virgin might escape all danger of evil suspicion. For Joseph had the best right to be moved by jealousy. Yet we see that he not only refrained from sending away his Espoused, or branding her with infamy, but that he received her as his own, and did cherish her after she conceived. And verily, it is evident that he would never have kept her in his house, or ministered to all her needs, if he had not clearly come to know that she had conceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost.

[Lectio5]
Joseph being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. After the Evangelist hath told us that she was with child, of the Holy Ghost, and not of any sexual commerce, Luke bringeth testimony from another source to confirm the statement. For lest anyone should say: And how can this be proved? who saw it? who ever heard of any such thing having happened? and lest you might think that a disciple had invented this tale to please his Master, the Evangelist thus bringeth forward the grief of Joseph, and what he did thereafter, to confirm the story, as if to say: If ye will not believe me, or if ye hold my testimony in suspicion, at least believe the husband.

[Lectio6]
He saith: Joseph her husband, being a just man. To be just, as the word is here used, implieth that full growth of righteousness which cometh from the habitual service of God. Being therefore a just man (that is, a worthy and good man), he was minded to put her away privily. Thus the Evangelist recordeth the grief of this just man before he knew the secret of the virgin conception, lest thou shouldst have doubts concerning what happened after he knew that secret. And certainly if Mary had been such as suspicion would make her out to be, she would have deserved not only to be denounced, but to be punished by the authority of the Law. But Joseph was not only unwilling to condemn her, but even to denounce her. Herein thou dost see an instance of a man full of spiritual understanding, and free from the tyranny of suspicion. But was this a matter of mere suspicion, seeing that the very swelling of her body seemed to prove a fact? Nonetheless, this man was so pure, and free from that kind of jealousy, that he would not cause the Virgin even the slightest grief. And although he lived under the Law, his spiritual understanding was above the Law. For now that the reign of grace was approaching, it was fitting that there should be a shining example of a more sublime spirituality than was common under the Law.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke
!Luke 3:21-23
At that time: When all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened. And so on, and that which followeth.
_
A Homily by St. Augustine the Bishop
!Liber 23 contra Faust. cap. 7-8
The words uttered from heaven over the river Jordan: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: were said also on the Mount of the Transfigurátion. Now these words should not be understood to imply that he was not the Son of God before the voice from heaven was heard. For we know that he who received the form of a servant from the Virgin's womb, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Indeed, the same Apostle Paul clearly declareth elsewhere: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a Woman, made under the Law, that he might redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. He therefore is the Son of God, who is according to his divinity the Lord of David, and at the same time according to the flesh the Son of David, and of the seed of David.

[Lectio8]
Except it were profitable to believe this, the same Apostle would not have exhorted Timothy so earnestly, saying: Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, is risen again from the dead, according to my Gospel. Why then should any follower of the holy Gospel be troubled concerning this; to wit, that Christ, who was born of the Virgin without cohabitation with Joseph, hath his line of descent traced by the Evangelist Matthew through Joseph rather than through Mary; or again, that because of Joseph's descent from David, the Evangelist should call Christ the Son of David? For we know good reasons for this. The first is that the genealogy of her husband would be preferred to hers as a matter of honour to the male sex. For even though he was not joined to her in cohabitation, he was not on that account any the less her husband, since Matthew himself witnesseth that Mary was called the wife of Joseph by the Angel, and yet he also saith that she had conceived by the Holy Ghost.

[Lectio9]
Note that one and the same narrátor both maketh and approveth all these statements: to wit, that Joseph was the husband of Mary; that the Mother of Christ was a Virgin; that Christ was of the seed of David; and that Joseph was in the line of Christ's ancestors from David. From all this we perceive several other reasons for the giving of Joseph's genealogy: to wit, that Mary was not without blood-relationship to David; and that in consideration of their union as souls, according to the due order of sex, she was not falsely given the title of Joseph's wife; and that Joseph, chiefly on account of his dignity as a man, was not to be separated from the line of their common genealogy, lest he should appear as separated from that Woman, to whom the affection of his soul bound him.
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