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Joseph of Arimathea (August 1st) stands out both in the Church’s memory and in popular culture as well. All that we know for certain about him comes from the scriptural accounts of Jesus’ burial. In all four Gospels, it is Joseph who asks Pilate for Jesus’ body, which he then wrapped in linen and placed in the tomb he had prepared for himself. Although Jewish law required that proper burial rites be carried out even for those who were executed, it took considerable courage for Joseph to come forward. He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin (the ruling Jewish Council) and he had a leading reputation for righteousness.
Nonetheless, he had taken much interest in Jesus’ ministry, two of the Gospels going so far as to say that he was secretly a disciple. We honor Joseph for being the one to care for Jesus at the time when the Lord’s disciples were hiding in fear. Clearly, his actions had quite an impact on the very first years of the Church’s formation. Ancient traditions speak of his witness and leadership in the early Christian community, but we do not have any attesting historical information.
It is said that the risen Lord appeared to him and that he cared for the Virgin Mary in her last years. That Joseph’s stature and memory was commanding is shown in the many legends that were produced about him. The best known is the story that he established the ancient church at Glastonbury, England, bringing with him the Holy Grail (the cup used at the Last Supper). As Glastonbury was indeed the first center of Christian worship in Britain (it possibly dates from the first century), Joseph is the legendary founder of the English Church.
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