¹ Cfr. MARCELLO GHIRLANDO OFM, Guzeppi, ir-Ragel Gust ta' Nazaret, and JOHN ABELA OFM, Is-Santwarju ta' San Guzepp jew tas-Sagra Familja, in Nazaret. Suppliment Rivista Biblika "L-Art Imqaddsa", Edizzjoni TAU, Franciscan Friars, Malta, November-December 1996, 20-24. PAUL SCIBERRAS, Guzeppi: ir-ragel gust, in L-Art Imqaddsa 67 (Jan-Feb 1992), 17-20.

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² Cfr. PIA COMPAGNONI, San Guzepp fil-pagni ta' l-Evangelju u fl-Apokrifi, (Translation in Maltese by Noel Muscat OFM), in L-Art Imqaddsa 56 (March-April 1990), 183-187.

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³ S. BONAVENTURA, Commentarius in Evangelium S. Lucae (Comm.Lc.) c.1, n.44 (Opera Omnia VII, Collegii S. Bonaventurae Ad Claras Aquas, Florence 1945, 21b): Desponsatam viro, cui nomen erat Ioseph, ut scilicet Ioseph, vir iustus, secundum quod dicitur Matthaei primo, esset testis castitatis ipsius.

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⁴ Comm.Lc. c. 1, n. 59 (VII,85b-86a).

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⁵ Comm.Lc. c. 1, n. 58 (VII, 85b): Deinde describit modum possessionis, cum dicit: Ut putabatur filius Ioseph; in quo ostendit, quod secundum generationem temporalem non habebat patrem verum, sed putativum, quia de Virgine natus. Ioseph namque putabant homines eius patrem, secundum quod dicitur infra quarto: Nonne hic est filius Ioseph?...deinde et Ioseph et Mariam ex eadem tribu dicit esse generatos, unde ex Lege tenebatur eam accipere ut propinquus. Cuius etiam signum est, quod simul in Bethlehem censentur.

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⁶ Comm.Lc. c. 2, n. 105 (VII,68a): Dixit Mater eius ad illum: Fili, quid fecisti nobis sic?...Pater tuus, scilicet putativus vel adoptivus vel educativus. Comm. Lc. c. 2, n. 76 (VII, 61a): Et benedixit illis Simeon: id est, benedictos praedicavit Mariam, quia concepit, et Ioseph, quia educavit.

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⁷ Sermo XI Vig. Nativ. Dmni, (S. Bonaventurae Opera Omnia, IX, 98b): Ioseph, sponsus Mariae, erat de genere regum.

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⁸ Sermo I de S. Marco Ev. (IX,522b): Deus voluit, ut Maria desponsata esset Ioseph, ut ipsa melius servaret obedientiam.

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⁹ Sermo XXIII in Nativ. Domini (IX,123a): In nativitate Christi, consideranda sunt eius reverentia, iustitia, obsequium, caritas.

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¹⁰ Sermo III Vig. Nativ. Domini (IX,93b): Ioseph habuit devotam pietatem. Bonaventure describes piety as one of the most important virtues in the light of the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, and it is in this light that we should consider Joseph's piety and devotion to the mystery of which he became the faithful custodian. A good explanation of pietas is found in the Collationes de Donis Spiritus Sancti, 3,12 (S. Bonaventurae Opera Omnia V,471): Secunda influentia originalis ipsius pietatis est a Sapientia incarnata...Mysterium redemptionis humanae factum per Verbum incarnatum et crucifixum est magnum pietatis sacramentum. Dicit (Apostolus), quod manifestatum est in carne, per incarnationem; iustificatum est in spiritu, in crucis patibulo (1 Tim 3,16)...Dico, quod Filius Dei incarnatus assumsit inopiam nostram. Quid fecit hoc? Certe pietas.

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¹¹ Sermo XI Vig. Nativ. Domini (IX,88b): Vixit de labore manuum suarum. Licet esset de genere regum, tamen vixit de labore manuum suarum; erat enim faber. Sermo IIIde Epiphania Domini (IX,159a): Si enim sibi retinuisset, nec acu et filo cibum quaesivisset, nec Ioseph maritum suum sustinuisset tota die laborare; erat faber lignarius.

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¹² Sermo III Vig. Epiph. Dmni (IX,144b): Maria veneranda et imitanda est exemplo beati Ioseph: tanquam exemplar totius humilitatis evangelicae.

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¹³ Sermo III Vig. Epiph. Dmni (IX,144b): Est autem Christus puer natus transumendus ab omnibus per devotionem et accipiendus a singulis ad venerationem exemplo beati Ioseph, qui ipsum taliter transumebat et accipiebat.

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¹⁴ S. BERNARDINI SENENSIS, Sermo II. In Vigilia Nativitatis Domini. De Sancto Ioseph sponso beatae Virginis, in S. Bernardini Senensis, Ordinis Fratrum Minorum, Opera Omnia, Tomus VII, Collegii S. Bonaventurae, Ad Claras Aquas, Florence 1959, 16-30.

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¹⁵ S. BERNARDINI SENENSIS, De Sancto Joseph, 29: Pie quidem credendum est, non temere asserendum, quod piisimus Filius Dei Iesus pari privilegio decoraverit suum putativum patrem, sicut suam sanctissimam matrem; ut, sicut illam assumpsit in caelum in corpore et anima gloriosam, sic etiam in die resurrectionis suae sanctissimum Ioseph in gloria resuscitavit secum; ut, sicut illa sancta familia, scilicet Christus, Virgo et Ioseph, in laboriosa vita et amorosa gratia simul vixerunt in terris, sic in amorosa gloria nunc, et corpore et anima, regnent in caelis.

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¹⁶ The most recent among the Church documents relating to Saint Joseph is the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos of Pope John Paul II (15th August 1989), original text in Acta Apostolicae Sedis , LXXXII,1 (January 1990), 5-34. The document is a good synthesis of analysis of the evangelical texts regarding the infancy of Jesus and the role of Joseph in the Gospel, as a model of inner life, as the patron saint of workers and as the celestial patron of the Church. Surprisingly the document makes no reference to Franciscan theologians, and limits itself to more recent saints, such as Theresa of Avila, who have continued to spread devotion to Saint Joseph during these last centuries.

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¹⁷ GEORGE AQUILINA OFM - STANLEY FIORINI, The Origin of Franciscanism in Late Medieval Malta, TAU Publications, Franciscan Friars, 1995, 25-26: Devotion to the saint (Joseph) was only introduced in Rome by Pope Sixtus IV in 1479, before which date the cult had been very localized, no well thought-out theology on the saint had appeared before 1522, and his feast-day was only entered in the calendar of the universal Church in 1621. This dovetails perfectly with the fact that only in June 1508 did the Cathedral Chapter and Municipal Council decree that the feast of St Joseph should be solemnly celebrated, and it may not be entirely coincidental that the earliest secure documentary evidence that we have for the Confraternity of St Joseph and St Paul dates only to November of that same year. What is even more convincing that the 1508 date points towards the inception of the confraternity is the fact that it follows very closely the foundation of the Observants' friary, under whose aegis it has since developed. It is a well-known fact that the Observants at the time were a main driving force in Italy behind the diffusion of devotion towards St Joseph.

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