Holy Family
The Christmas ball represents the Holy Family: Virgin Mary, Child Jesus, and Saint Joseph watching over them. It is a part of a collection of educational bauble figurines called “New Testament”. It is designed to be hung on a Christmas Tree or exposed on a display stand.
Saint Joseph is holding the attributes of a family: a lamp, a water bag, and a flowering staff.
Attributes
A lamp
The lamp symbolises Jesus who came to this world like a light to the dark.
A water bag
The water bag relates to the difficulty of the escape to Egypt and the hardships of being a refugee.
A flowering staff
The flowering staff resembles the circumstances of choosing Joseph as Mary’s future husband.
What do we remember from the history of the Holy Family?:
- Mary was conceived without sin, it means she was not burden with the original sin.
- Mary was still a girl when she was given out to be brought up in a temple,
- When Mary was a teenager, it was decided that she had to be married.
- Mary’s husband was much older than her, it was a carpenter named Joseph, and was pointed out by the
Holy Spirit. - Mary humbly agreed to give birth to the Son of God, and Joseph to be his terrestrial father.
- Jesus was born when the married couple went to Bethlehem for a census.
- According to the tradition, Jesus was presented in a temple.
The Family spent some time on emigration in Egypt, hiding from the Herod’s rage. - During the celebration of Passover, Jesus separated from Mary and Joseph, so he could preach at the
temple for three days. - Joseph died before the period of Jesus’ public ministry; Mary did not get married again.
- The couple lived in chastity.
The beginnings of the history of Holy Family are rather mysterious. We do not know them from the Bible,
but from the apocryphal texts, personal revelations and teachings of the Church.
The Holy Family is a role model for every Christian family.
It consists of Jesus, Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph whom God called to guard the Son and his terrestrial Mother.
The Holy Family is specially honoured on Sunday in the Octave of Christmas by the Catholic Church.
The worship of Holy Family is connected with the worldwide tradition of presenting Nativity scenes and plays.
Perpetual abstinence of Mary and Joseph makes them a perfect model for both marriage and consecrated life.
What does the Bible tell us about the Holy Family:
Joseph was a very good man, because even though he suspected Mary of being unfaithful, he did not want to harm her and what is more, he decided to take care of her and the Son of God: “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was aithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her
quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,’ Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’”. [Matthew, 1,18-21]
And this is how the circumstances of Jesus birth are presented: “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available
for them.” [Luke 2, 4-7]
The Holy Family came through many difficulties: “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. [Matthew 2,13-14].
Despite his divinity, Jesus was an obedient child and he treated Joseph with proper respect. This is what Jesus did after he was found in the temple: “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them” [Luke 2, 51]
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