How Did Saint Joseph Die?

The life of Saint Joseph was a life entirely of love, lived in union with the Virgin Mary. After Mary’s love, no human love has ever reached such a level of perfection. Saint Joseph’s love surpassed that of the angels and saints, and it comes closest to the love the Virgin has for her children.

Saint Bernard says that Joseph’s love was like Mary’s, and so his soul was like hers. We can say that his whole life was pure and exemplary, and so there is no doubt that he died a holy death.
We do not know when or how Saint Joseph died. The Gospel does not give us these details, just as it does not mention the death of the Virgin Mary.

It is said that he died before Jesus began his public life, though the exact date is unknown. The fact that Jesus entrusted his mother to Saint John shows that her husband Joseph had died before Jesus’ death.
We know neither the date nor the details of Joseph’s death, but what is clear is that Saint Joseph died in the fragrance of the love he had lived all his life.

Saint John of the Cross wrote about souls who have reached spiritual union on the path of holiness:
“It should be known that the natural death of souls who reach this high state, though similar in kind to that of others, differs in its cause and manner… Their death is gentle and sweet; they die in the odour of sanctity, like the swan, whose song grows sweeter as it dies.”

Saint Joseph died armed with love, with his beloved Son and his dear wife beside him. He was more than ready to meet death.
Who can imagine the bitter parting, the farewell to son and wife, and the sweet consolation that followed, in a family where mutual love reigned? They loved one another with an intimate, tender and pure love.
In paintings of the death of Saint Joseph we often see Jesus and Mary keeping watch beside him, giving him the best of themselves.

It is said that Saint Joseph died in the arms of his Son. Jesus took Joseph in his arms and laid his head on his chest. What a sweet death, what priceless joy and what burning love!
The arms of Jesus embracing his father in the last moments of his life were the greatest treasure and the greatest grace. As a child, Jesus had taken refuge again and again in his father’s arms; now he returned the gesture with complete love and self-giving.
He closed his eyes with his own hands, and with Mary his mother, both with tears in their eyes, he buried him in the tomb of his ancestors.

Saint Teresa of Avila says that Saint Joseph died loving God with a pure love. Saint Francis de Sales affirms that Saint Joseph was a righteous man who loved much in his life, so he could only die in the fragrance of love: he loved his Son Jesus with all his heart and soul, and he fulfilled the mission the heavenly Father had entrusted to him.
All who love and follow Saint Joseph affirm this, and that is why Saint Joseph is considered the patron of a happy death.

He is the patron of the universal Church, and all its members turn to him before they go to meet the Father. He helps them, protects them, supports them and comforts them in those difficult moments.
He is the powerful refuge in whom we find an advocate at the hour when we depart to meet the Father.