Dear Padre Artical - 14th June 2009

Dear Ted,

The Church teaches that Mary did die, after which she was “assumed” into heaven, meaning she was taken up not by her own power, but by the power of God. Assumption is not to be confused with Jesus’ ascension into heaven, in which he was taken up by his own power.

We don’t know how Joseph died, but we believe he died in the regular fashion and was not assumed into heaven. Tradition teaches that when Joseph died, both Mary and Jesus were at his bedside. For this reason, Joseph is called the patron of a happy death. The customs of the day dictated that, as Joseph’s only child. Jesus would have made the arrangements for his father’s funeral, possibly preparing the body for burial and washing, anointing, and wrapping Joseph’s body, as others would later do for Jesus. We cannot know for sure what Joseph death and burial were like, but we can be assured that Jesus cared for his foster father with the utmost love.

Each of us can only hope that, as he was with Joseph, Jesus will be at our side when we breathe our last.