Joseph

Saint Joseph the Confessor, called the Count, lived in Palestine in the fourth century. A Jew of Tiberias, he came to faith in Christ, received from the emperor Constantine the Great the rank of count and built churches in Galilee. In old age he lived at Scythopolis, the city known today as Beit She'an, where Saint Epiphanius of Salamis came to know him. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 22 July.

Almost everything known about him comes from the Panarion, the work against heresies written by Saint Epiphanius between 374 and 377. In its thirtieth chapter Epiphanius retells what Joseph himself told him when they met at Scythopolis around the year 355.

According to this account, Joseph was a scholar of the Law and a leading member of the Sanhedrin, in the circle of the Jewish patriarch at Tiberias. He was present when the patriarch secretly received baptism on his deathbed, and later, reading writings of the Gospel, he became convinced that Jesus is the Christ. After passing through a grave illness and long delaying his decision, he received holy Baptism.

The emperor Constantine made him a count, set him to oversee the churches of Palestine and gave him leave to build churches in the Jewish towns of Galilee, where there was as yet no Christian community. Epiphanius says that he met much opposition, especially at Tiberias. Among other works, the first church of the Multiplication of the Loaves at Tabgha (Heptapegon), raised around 350, is attributed to him.

Joseph remained steadfast in the faith of the Council of Nicaea. When Constantine's successors supported Arianism, he opposed it. Epiphanius relates that after the death of his first wife he married again precisely to escape the pressure of the Arians, who wanted to make him one of their bishops. At Scythopolis he gave hospitality to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, exiled there for defending the true faith. From this comes his veneration as a confessor.

Modern scholars question some details of Epiphanius's account, such as the names of the Jewish patriarchs or Joseph's part in the custody of Eusebius, who regarded himself rather as a prisoner at Scythopolis. The overall witness, however, remains that of a disciple of Christ from the people of Israel who served the Church by building holy places.

He passed to the Lord around the year 356. He is honoured as a saint of the undivided Church, known also as Saint Joseph of Palestine, and the Roman Martyrology commemorates him at Scythopolis on 22 July.