In the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in Đakovačka Breznica I was leading a novena to St Joseph, where I saw this image of St Joseph with Jesus sleeping on his chest. I had never before seen a depiction that radiates so much love and tenderness between Jesus and Joseph. I was so moved by this image that I went looking for it on the internet, and found that the original icon is kept in the chapel of a religious community in Spain. Anyone who wants more information can visit the website: https://www.hogardelamadre.org/es/.

When we contemplate a sacred image, dwell on its content and enter into the scenes it depicts, we are in fact meditating, and meditation is prayer. We shall meditate on the life of St Joseph, whose life is inseparable from the life of the Most Holy Trinity itself, and from the life of Jesus and Mary. That means we shall be with God and with the Holy Family.

May this piece be of spiritual benefit to us all. But above all, may the life of St Joseph, which we shall follow through this icon, be an encouragement to us for a self-effacing, ordinary, everyday life. Knowing how to be silent, being brave and enduring in life's various struggles, remaining just whatever the cost, loving one's family, caring for it, working honestly and earning one's bread, not fearing poverty if one has God at one's side - these are just a few of the encouragements for our lives that come from the life of St Joseph.

The inscription at the top of the icon means: ²Defence of the honour of Our Mother, especially the privileges of her virginity². At the corners of the icon are, on the left, St Bridget of Sweden, and on the right, St Teresa of Ávila, saints who in their own time honoured St Joseph and encouraged others to devotion towards him.

In the apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos of 1989, St John Paul II wrote that Joseph is the one to whom God "entrusted the safekeeping of his most precious treasures". That is why, at the centre of the icon, St Joseph is shown with the Child Jesus in his lap and the Virgin Mary at his feet. Since he was the great defender and guardian of Mary's privilege of virginity - at her conception, during childbirth and after childbirth - St Joseph bears the three stars of Mary's virginity as jewels in his halo. That is his glory. Joseph's hands are "occupied" with Jesus and Mary; they are his sole concern.

His bare feet recall the commandment Moses heard on Horeb, before the bush that burned but was not consumed: "Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." (Ex 3:5). And the burning bush was regarded as a sign of Mary's perpetual virginity.

On Joseph's halo one can read "Father" and "Spouse", two terms that define his role: he is a virginal spouse and a virginal father. Never was a marriage so wonderfully fruitful as this virginal marriage. The Holy Spirit worked the miracle whereby Mary's virginity, protected by Joseph's own virginity, brought the Son of God into the world. Just as to Mary, so to Joseph the Lord gave a heart capable of loving God as a son.

Mary's gaze, her eyes, are turned towards St Joseph. Her eyes shed a virginal dew that purified the hearts on which her gaze rested. From Mary, Joseph learns to love and care for Jesus. Mary is beside Joseph, at his feet, in an attitude of reverence and service. Her gaze says that she trusts her spouse completely. On the other hand, in his hands we see the tenderness of his holy love.

Beside St Joseph, a cherub points to the icon of God the Father. The word "icon" denotes an image and a presence. St Joseph is called an "icon" of the Father because he was the image and reflection of the heavenly Father for the Child Jesus. Joseph shares in a unique way in the fatherhood of the Eternal Father in relation to Jesus.

Jesus, sleeping blissfully on Joseph's chest, is the centre of this icon. Every sacramental marriage must be consummated, that is, there must be a bodily union of husband and wife. Such a union did not take place between Mary and Joseph. Pope Leo XIII says: ²Their marriage was fulfilled in Jesus. Mary and Joseph were united in Jesus; Mary and Joseph thought only of Jesus. There was no deeper love, nor will there ever be one on this earth. St Joseph renounced fatherhood of the flesh, but found it in the spirit, for he was Jesus's foster-father. The Virgin renounced motherhood and found it in her own virginity.²

Let us look at how peacefully Jesus rests upon Joseph's heart! After the Mother of God's, the heart of St Joseph was the one that was closest to the Heart of the Redeemer. St Joseph loved Christ with a true fatherly love. His heart was united with that of Jesus in such a way that, long before St John leaned upon the Lord's breast, St Joseph already knew intimately the beating of Christ's heart - and even more, Christ knew perfectly the beating of the heart of his virginal father, since as a child he had lain upon the chest of his father Joseph. That is why it can truly be said of Jesus that he was "Joseph's son". Jesus's bare little foot shows a child's need for someone to care for him. This St Joseph does. Jesus sleeps without a care in his father's arms because he knows he is safe there. Oh, what a humble God we have, who entrusted himself entirely into human hands!

We now turn to the smaller details depicted in the image. As for what they depict, they are arranged chronologically, starting from the Father's hand at the top of the icon and moving counter-clockwise. First we look at the Father's hand.

Seven seraphim with flames express the fullness of the gifts with which the Lord enriched Joseph's soul so that he could carry out the mission entrusted to him. At the base of the palm we read ²Ite ad Joseph² - ²Go to Joseph² which recalls Joseph of Egypt, who by God's providence was a good steward of Egypt's goods during the famine, just as St Joseph is a good steward, guardian and keeper of the most precious treasures entrusted to him by God. So let us go to Joseph, asking him to obtain for us too the gift of good stewardship of our families, communities and material goods!

After the Heavenly Father endowed Joseph's soul with everything he needed to carry out the mission entrusted to him alongside Mary, we see a depiction of their betrothal. We can observe that the gaze of Mary and Joseph is directed towards the Father's hand, which means that in everything they seek the will of God. The Father's hand blesses the marriage of Mary and Joseph. The presence of the Holy Spirit in their joined hands (the dove above their hands) is a sign of the divine Love that surrounds them. Again we see the three stars, a sign of Mary's virginity, for by the Father's design this marriage will be a virginal one. St Augustine said: ²Mary belongs to Joseph, and Joseph to Mary, so that their marriage was a true marriage, for they gave themselves to one another. But in what sense did they give themselves? They gave each other their innocence and the right to guard it for one another. Mary had the right to guard Joseph's virginity, and Joseph had the right to guard Mary's virginity. The entire fidelity of this marriage consists in the preservation of virginity.²

²In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.² (Lk 1:26-27). So, after the betrothal came the annunciation. Mary, like Joseph, is likewise immersed in the flames of the Holy Spirit's love. These flames are seven, for Mary is full of grace (cf. Lk 1:28). The Virgin's hands show complete openness to God - her "amen". Her Son also opens his hands in accepting the Father's will, taking the position of the crucifixion. It is a little harder to notice that her Son Jesus, depicted at her breast, is kneeling. Kneeling, he expresses: ²Here I am, Father, I have come to do your will.² Complete surrender, which will eventually lead this child to crucifixion on the cross. This is the FIAT of Jesus and Mary.

What follows is perhaps the most dramatic part of Joseph's life. There follows his struggle and inner suffering, for ²Mary, betrothed to Joseph, before they came together was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.² Joseph is shown kneeling in terrible pain. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest sufferings he had to bear. Two rings on his chest are a sign of his betrothal love. Who can imagine the inner struggle Joseph experienced when he thought he had to separate from Mary? And how Mary would have suffered had she seen this tearing of her betrothed's heart! In the background we see the pregnant Mary at work, for when she learned of Elizabeth's pregnancy, she hurried to serve her.

But the Lord did not allow his chosen one to remain in suffering and doubt. The Heavenly Father cares for his chosen ones. So he sends Joseph a message in a dream through an angel: "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Mt 1:20-21).

And we see what follows the struggle. ²When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife.² (Mt 1:24).

Joseph believed what is humanly unimaginable: the motherhood of a virgin, the incarnation of the Son of God. Abraham believed that his barren wife would bear him a son; Joseph believed that his virgin would be a mother.

²In the words of the 'annunciation', that night Joseph hears not only God's truth about the ineffable calling of his betrothed, but in them he hears again also the truth about his own calling. This 'just' man, who in the spirit of the noblest traditions of the chosen people loved the Virgin Mary and was bound to her by spousal love, is called anew by God to that same love.² (Redemptoris custos 19.) ²Through his complete sacrifice of himself, Joseph expresses his generous love for the Mother of God, and gives her 'the gift of himself'. Although he decided to withdraw so as not to stand in the way of the divine plan being fulfilled in her, he nevertheless, at the angel's explicit command, takes Mary to himself and respects her exclusive belonging to God.² (Redemptoris custos 20.)

In the lower part of the icon, the events that followed are depicted in order.

First is the scene of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem. Then the newborn Jesus in Joseph's arms represents the father's first religious duty, namely circumcision on the eighth day after birth, and the giving of the child's name: ²And she (Mary) bore a son ... and he called his name Jesus.² (Mt 1:25) Then comes the presentation in the Temple with the blessing and prophecy of the old man Simeon: And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord - as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord! - and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. (Lk 2:22-24) There follows the flight and life in Egypt, and after the return to Nazareth Jesus certainly received his human and religious upbringing through his foster-father Joseph, symbolised by the last small image in the bottom row, where Joseph and Jesus sit together. ²And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.² (Lk 2:40)

And we come to the last few scenes from Jesus's hidden life. The first scene is the father's blessing upon the son. The Bible particularly emphasises the blessings that a father (patriarch) gives to his sons or descendants. Receiving such a blessing was especially prized, and its absence was regarded as a curse. Jesus lived within the tradition of his people and probably received such a blessing from Joseph. The only event revealed to us in Scripture is the second scene from the bottom, which shows the anxious parents searching for the twelve-year-old Jesus, who had stayed behind in the Temple during the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Then we see Joseph the carpenter, who worked diligently for Jesus and Mary, with Jesus helping him in his work. And at the end of his life, Joseph dies in the arms of the Son entrusted to him by God, in the arms of the Child who once rested so blissfully and peacefully upon his chest.