Visitation

After the Archangel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to have baby Jesus, she went to go visit her cousin Elizabeth, who she loved so much and who was also having a baby.  As soon as Mary arrived and called out to her cousin Elizabeth, the baby inside Elizabeth’s womb, St. John the Baptist, jumped for joy because he knew that Mary was carrying Jesus!  When Elizabeth asked Mary why she had the honour to have the Mother of Jesus come and visit her, Mary humbly said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.  For He has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid and holy is his name.”  Mary knew that everything that was happening was from God and all she had to do was say YES.  Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months helping her get ready for the birth of St. John the Baptist.

St Maximinius

Maximinius studied for many years to become a priest and later he even became a Bishop of Trier.  When St. Athanasius of Alexandria was sent into exile (kicked out of his own country and not allowed to come back) in Trier, Maximinius did everything he could to make him comfortable and lessen his sorrow of being far away from his people.  Bishop St. Paul of Constantinople was also protected by Maximinius from the anger of Emperor Constantius.  St. Athanasius wrote that Maximinius was brave, holy and well known by his people as being a miracle worker.  He defended the Church against many people that attacked it.

Blessed Margaret Pole

Margaret was the niece of 2 English Kings, King Edward IV and Richard III.  King Henry VII found someone for her to marry, Reginald Pole a brave solder and a friend of the royal family.  Together they had 5 children; Margaret also helped raise the King’s son Henry VIII.  Henry VIII became King and he said that Margaret was the holiest woman in England, he was so amazed by her that he made her a countess (an important person in the King’s Court) of Salisbury.  Henry trusted her so much that he put her in charge of his daughter Princess Mary.  Unfortunately, King Henry VIII made a lot of bad decisions and Margaret was not afraid to tell him that what he was doing was wrong and sinful.  This made the King very angry and he made her leave the King’s Court.  He got even madder when one of Margaret’s sons, Cardinal Reginald Pole, wrote an article saying that King Henry was wrong to think that he was in charge of the Church in England.   King Henry turned his back on God and sinned more and more.  He ended up putting Margaret in prison, even though nobody could say that she did anything wrong, and he had her killed.  She died a martyr because she stood up for the law of God.

St Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine was a monk and became the Abbot (leader) of St. Andrew’s monastery in Rome.  Pope Gregory the Great chose him and 40 other monks to go on a mission to England to bring the people living there the Gospel.  They were warned by the people of France not to go there, because the Celts in England were very mean.  So all the monks asked Abbot Augustine to talk to the Pope and change his mind, so that they would not have to go because they were scared.   The Pope did not change his mind because he knew the people in England wanted to know Jesus.  They were welcomed in England and even King Ethelbert listened to their message and was baptized into the family of God.  Abbot Augustine became a Bishop during their first year of mission. Bishop Augustine was able to perform miracles and through him many people came to know God.  In the city of Canterbury, England, Bishop Augustine built a church and a monastery, which became very important in England.

St Philip Neri

because he was always happy and friendly to everyone – everybody loved Phillip.  When he got older he went to study in Rome with the Dominican priests.  He was a good student and a very good Christian.  He did everything he could to bring people closer to Jesus.  When he turned 36 years old he felt like God was calling him to become a priest.  As a priest Fr. Phillip really helped everyone around him.  He would listen to confessions for hours a day and no matter how many people lined up to come and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he was always patient, kind and gentle with everyone.  At one point he thought maybe he should go to a far off land to be a missionary; but a wise monk told him that Rome was his mission field and he really did so much to bring the people of Rome closer to God.  A few years before he died he started working with young people, finding them safe places to play and becoming their friend, so that he could lead them to God.  

Pope St Gregory VII

Gregory was named Hildebrand when he was born, but chose the name Gregory when he became Pope.  Hildebrand did not want to become Pope, but all of the Cardinals knew that God was calling him to be Pope, so they chose him.  He knew that being Pope was a very difficult job and during that time the Church was going through a very difficult time because Kings and Emperors were trying to control the Church.  The first thing Pope Gregory did when he became Pope was to pray very hard for God to tell him what he needed to do.  He made all the bad and dishonest leaders in the Church leave and he did everything he could to stop the Kings and Emperors from getting involved in making decisions in the Church.  These things made the Emperors and Kings mad, so they tried to capture Pope Gregory, but the people of Rome loved their Pope and they protected him.  Then King Henry chose his own Pope and tried to convince the people that he was the true Pope.  The Emperor then sent his army to try and capture Pope Gregory again and so he had to leave Rome and go into hiding.  He died in a place called Salerno where he was hiding from the Emperors and Kings.  His last words were “I have loved justice and hated evil.  That is why I am dying in exile”.

St King David I

David was the youngest son of King Malcom and Queen Margaret of Scotland.  His mother was such a good woman and Queen that she also became a Saint.  David was made King when he was about 40 years old.  He didn’t want to be the King because he knew how much responsibility that meant, but he was a very good King.  King David was always willing to meet with anyone in his kingdom, even the poor.  He was a good example to everyone of how to be a good Christian, and because of his leadership, the people of Scotland grew closer to God.  He helped the Church a lot during his 20 years as King; creating new diocese, building monasteries, giving money to the Church and the poor.  King David prayed until the very moment that he died, because he knew that he wanted to meet Jesus in Heaven and that praying would prepare him for that journey.  “Let me think about the things of God instead, so that my soul may be strengthened on its trip from exile to home”.  He died on this day in the year 1153.v

St John Baptist Rossi

John was born to a Catholic family who had 4 children.  A rich couple that visited the family thought that John was very smart and offered to pay for him to be able to go to school.  While he was studying he met some Capuchin friars and he started to study to become a priest.  John was sick a lot and after he became a priest he spent a lot of time with the sick people, because he knew exactly how they felt.  He also worked a lot with the poor, especially those that didn’t have anyone else to teach them about God.  Fr. John had such a big heart that he also started caring for women and young girls that didn’t have a home and lived on the street.  The Pope gave him money so that he could open up a home to care for them.  He loved to bring people closer to God through the sacrament of reconciliation, because he knew that this sacrament helped people find forgiveness and peace.  The Pope also gave him a job to teach prison and government workers about God and he brought a lot of people closer to God.  He was a wonderful priest who loved God very much and served his people even when he was suffering.

St Rita

Rita’s mom and dad wanted a baby so much that they begged God to give them a child; God sent them Rita.  They loved Rita so much and wanted the best for her, so when Rita asked them if she could join the convent when she was 15 years old, they said that they wanted her to marry a man called Paolo.  Unfortunately, Paolo was very mean to Rita and treated her very badly.  Rita patiently stayed with her husband and prayed that he would stop sinning and start living the way God wanted.  After 18 years, God answered her prayer and her husband realized that God was real.  He also realized how mean he had been to his wife and asked her to forgive him.  Rita was so happy that Paolo had come to know God.  Shortly after Paolo came to know God, he was killed and went to heaven.  Rita forgave the people that killed him, but her twin sons were so angry they could not forgive them.   They wanted to kill the people that killed their dad, but Rita knew that was very wrong.  So she prayed that God would take them up to heaven to be with their dad instead of committing such a big sin.  So God answered Rita’s prayers and took her sons to heaven too.  Since Rita was now alone she decided to join the convent, just as she had wanted to do so many years ago.  She spent all her time praying and growing closer to Jesus, even bearing the mark of one of Jesus’ thorns, from the crown of thorns, on her forehead.

St Eugene de Mazenod

Fr. Eugene de Mazenod was a priest in France and he was always taking care of the needs of the poor around him and sharing God’s love with them.   He was always looking for new ways to tell young people about how much God loves them.  He worked in new parishes in France to tell people about God and help them to believe.  Fr. Eugene started a new religious order of priests and brothers; they are called the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMIs).  They worked hard to make sure that people who had never heard about Jesus, learned about His love for them.  Lots of Bishops started to ask the Priests and Brothers of the OMIs to come and share about God and Fr. Eugene sent many of his Brothers and Priests to go out and share the Good News.  After 10 years, the OMIs had reached all of Canada and were starting to go into the USA to share the Good News too.  Fr. Eugene later became Bishop of Marseilles, France.  The OMIs have people working all over the world even today, spreading the Good News of the Gospel.

St Bernadine of Siena

Growing up, Bernardine was loved by all his friends because he was always so much fun to be around.  Even though he knew how to have fun, his friends also knew that they better behave when he was around because he did not put up with anyone that tried to lead him into sin.  He really loved our Mother Mary too and he would talk to her and ask for her prayers all the time.  He had a really kind heart and was always thinking of others first.  He would give his own food away to someone who had nothing to eat.  He served the sick and dying in his town when there was a plague and lots of people were sick.  He joined the Franciscan order when he was 22 years old and he became a priest.    He wanted to help young and old people believe in God and do what was right, because so many people during that time where not living the way God wanted them to.  He asked God what he should do for these people and God told him that all he needed to do was share the “Holy Name of God” with them and that would be enough.  So Fr. Bernardine spent his days sharing the Holy Name of God with everyone around him and through this sharing, thousands of people in Italy began to believe in God again. 

St Celestine V

He was born into a very large family; he had 11 brothers and sisters!  The family was poor, but they were rich in love.  Even though his family did not have a lot of money, Peter was sent to school because he really wanted to learn.  He also really wanted to be a Saint, so when he turned 20 years old he became a hermit (someone who lives alone with God).  He later started a new order of monks and when he was 84 years old he was made Pope!  The Cardinals were having a very difficult time deciding who should be the next Pope, so Peter decided to send them a message to hurry up and pick someone, because the Church needed a Pope.  When they read his letter they decided then and there that he would be the best Pope.  When Peter became Pope he picked Celestine as his new name.  He was only Pope for 5 months before he decided that someone else needed to do the job, because he was too humble and simple to say no to anyone and this was causing a lot of confusion in the Church.  Pope Celestine felt so bad for what he had done to the Church and asked for everyone’s forgiveness.  He lived the rest of his 10 months of life in a very small room praying and being with God, which is all he ever wanted to do.

Pope St John I

John the First was the 53rd Pope of the Catholic Church.  He was Pope during the Reign of Emperor Theodoric.  Theodoric was an Arian, and Arians did not believe in God.  When Theodoric first became Emperor he let the Catholics who believed in God live in peace; but this peace did not last long.  The Emperor started to think that everyone wanted to be an Emperor and he started not to trust people and to treat them badly.  This continued for many years until the Emperor involved Pope John I in his problems.  The Emperor was upset with the Emperor of a place called Constantinople, because he was treating the Arians in the east badly.  He sent Pope John I to go and talk to the Emperor of Constantinople to convince him to start being nicer to the Arian people.  Well, it worked and the Emperor of Constantinople decided to change how he was treating the Arian people.  Instead of being happy, Emperor Theodoric thought that Pope John I and the Emperor of Constantinople were planning to do something bad to him.  So the Emperor had Pope John I captured and thrown in jail while he was on his way back home to Rome.  The Pope died in this jail because they did not give him food or water.

St Paschal

Paschal grew up in a peasant family and he was a shepherd from the time he was 7 years old.  His parents couldn’t afford to send him to school, but Paschal taught himself to read and write.  He loved to read holy books about God and pray and he loved to whisper his prayers to God as he took care of his sheep.  When he turned 24 years old he became a Franciscan brother.   He was loved by all the other brothers in the monastery because he was so kind and generous.  Everyone noticed that he always did the hardest jobs and always did penance for his sins (did hard things to make up for the sins he committed and for the sins of others) and yet he was a very happy person.  Paschal’s two greatest loves were Jesus in the Eucharist and Mary our Mother.  He prayed the rosary every day and wrote beautiful prayers to her and he loved to serve at Mass.  With some scraps of paper Brother Paschal made a notebook that he used to write down thoughts about God and prayers that he had made up.  After he died, a very smart Archbishop was given the notebook to read and he believed right away that Paschal was in heaven with God.v

St Ubald

Ubald grew up with his Uncle who was a Bishop.  He received a good education and after finishing school became a priest.   Many years later he was made a Bishop of the town that he grew up in, Gubbio in Italy.  Bishop Ubald was known as a peacemaker.  In many ways he helped his people to live in peace with one another and he was not afraid to do what he needed to do to help people live peacefully.  He stopped fights in the street, he forgave those who treated him badly, he even stopped an Emperor from attacking his town just by meeting with him and talking to him.  As he got old, Bishop Ubald got very sick.  Even though he felt a lot of pain, he still did all he could for his people and he never complained.  When he died on this day in the year 1160, all the people cried because they loved him so much.  

St Isidore the farmer

Isidore’s parents loved God very much and they shared this gift of faith with their son.  They were poor farmers and even though they wanted to give Isidore a good education, they could not afford to, so Isidore grew up to be a farmer just like his parents.  He married a good woman named Mary de la Cabeza and together they lived a good holy life of prayer and work.  Isidore went to Mass every morning before going to work and he worked hard every day for his boss.  He prayed all day, even while he worked.  When he had a day off, he would spend the time in prayer or he and his wife Mary would go on a pilgrimage (a trip to a holy place) to visit a Church is a town nearby.  Stories of miracles happening started to spread after Isidore died.  They say that one day Isidore was attending a parish picnic, but decided to stop at the Church and pray first.  When he finally arrived at the picnic he brought with him a large group of beggars.  This made the people angry, because they didn’t think there would be enough food, but the more they ate the more food there was.   One day his boss was looking for Isidore in the fields, but he couldn’t find him, instead he found angels plowing the field for Isidore.  

St Matthias

Matthias was a follower of Jesus when he was alive.  After Jesus ascended into heaven his disciples wanted to choose an Apostle to replace Judas; so they gathered to pray and ask God who they should choose.  Matthias was chosen, you can read about it in the Bible - Acts 1:23-26.  He spread the Good News about Jesus being Risen from the dead in Judea and Cappadocia (now Turkey), Egypt and Ethiopia.  Many people came to believe in Jesus because of Matthias’ words.  The more people that became Christian because of Matthias sharing the gospel, the more the enemies of Jesus became angry.  They decided that they needed to stop Matthias from spreading the Good News and they stoned him to death.  Matthias died a martyr because he refused to be silent and continued to spread the gospel until he died.  

St Andrew Fournet

Andrew grew up in a very Catholic family, his mother really wanted Andrew to become and priest and encouraged him to do so from a very young age.  Andrew didn’t want to be a priest and he got tired of being told that he should.  When he left home to study, he met some friends who liked to party and get into trouble; Andrew started to do the same.  In order to help him get back on the right road, his mother asked Andrew to go and live with his Uncle for a little while; his Uncle was a priest.  Andrew did as his mother asked and he helped his Uncle in the small Church where he was a Priest.  His Uncle helped Andrew to grow closer to God and get back to his studies.  Andrew then became a priest!  During a time called the French Revolution, there was lots of change happening in France and there were lots of people that wanted to change the Church.  Fr. Andrew refused to follow any changes that were not part of God’s teachings and because of this, many people wanted to kill him.  He was forced to go into hiding for a while, but after 5 years he came back to help his people, even though it was still dangerous.  Fr. Andrew protected his people and made sure that they received all they needed from the Church.  He continued to serve his people even after the revolution, living until he was 82 years old.

Sts Nereus, Achilles, Pancras

Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers under the rule of Emperor Trajan, during a time when Christians were hated in Rome.  They became Christian and left the Roman Army forever, this made the Emperor very angry.  They were sent away from Rome to the island of Terracina where they were killed because of their faith in Jesus.  They were martyrs because they gave up their life for their belief in God.  Pancras came to live in Rome with his Uncle after both his parents died, leaving him orphaned.  His Uncle told him about God and he came to believe in Jesus and was baptized.  Even though Pancras was just a boy, he was also arrested because of his faith in Jesus and he also died a martyr’s death.  He faced his death so bravely that many people came to believe in God because of him.  A church in England, built by St. Augustine, was named after St. Pancras to honour this brave young martyr.

St Ignatius of Laconi

Ignatius was one of 7 children born to a poor farmer in Italy. He grew up working in the fields with his family. There were two times in his life that showed Ignatius that God wanted him to join the Franciscan community. When Ignatius was 17 years old he became very sick; he promised God that if he got better he would become a Franciscan friar. He got better right away, but his dad convinced him that he should wait. Two years after that, he was riding a horse, when he suddenly lost control and was almost killed; then for no reason the horse stopped and calmly trotted on his way. This convinced Ignatius that he needed to join the Franciscan's right away. As a Franciscan brother his job was to go house-to-house asking for donations for the community to survive. Even though the people were giving donations to Brother Ignatius, they were the ones that felt like they were receiving something more from him. He was loved by everyone in the village; because he was a peacemaker, he cared for the sick and lonely, he made children happy and helped those who had sinned find peace with God.

St Antoninus

Antoninus wanted to become a priest even as a young boy. When he was 15 years old he asked his parish priest if he could join the Dominican Order. Since he was so young and not very healthy, the priest told him that he had to learn the Canon law of the Church first. The Canon law of the Church is very complicated and hundreds of pages long, but Antoninus was determined to become a priest. One year later Antoninus returned to his parish priest with the Canon Law memorized. Amazed by Antoninus’ desire to be a priest, he allowed him to join at 16 years old. Fr. Antoninus was such a good priest and he was given many important jobs to do: he became Bishop of the Dominicans, he had the gift of healing people, he was a teacher of the faith and was also made the Archbishop of Florence, Italy. He was also called “The father of the Poor” because he always helped those in need. He would give whatever he had, even his clothes, shoes, furniture and his only mule. He gave his mule away many times to poor people and rich people kept buying it back for him, so he would keep giving it away to whoever needed it.

Bl Nicolas Albergati

Nicholas almost became a lawyer, but God had other plans. After studying law for a few years, Nicholas decided to join an order of priests called the Carthusians. When he was only 35 years old, he was made Bishop of his Diocese, even though he didn’t feel like he could do a good job. He was a very good Bishop and loved by all the people in his Diocese. He spent time with the people, even those that were poor. He lived a simple life and would care for those that needed help. He became a Cardinal in 1426 because he was a very wise man and a peacemaker. Pope Martin V and the Emperor of Rome and Pope Eugene IV and the French King always turned to Bishop Nicholas for help in keeping peace between the rulers. Blessed Nicholas is the patron of learning because he wrote lots of books and always helped people to learn more about God and their faith.

St Catherine of St Augustine

Catherine grew up in France, watching her grandparents care for the poor and sick in their home. She knew when she was very young that she too wanted to help the sick and poor. She entered the convent before she was even 16 years old; following her older sister who became a nun the day Catherine entered the convent. Her sister was sent to Canada first and Catherine begged the convent to send her too. They finally decided she could go, and Catherine made the long journey to Quebec, Canada to serve the poor and sick. Life was very hard and there was lots of danger for those serving the Lord in the new country of Canada. Lots of nuns got tired of the hard life and went back to France, but Catherine had promised to stay in Canada no matter what and to take care of the people there and she did. As the Church in Canada grew, more missionaries came to Canada. Sr. Catherine was in charge of all the new girls joining the convent and she also continued to work hard in the hospital. She died when she was only 36 years old.

Bl Rose Veneri

Rose thought she knew what God wanted her to do with her life when she was very young, but God showed her that He had other great plans for her. When she was young, Rose was engaged to be married, but the young man died before they were able to be married. Rose then decided that because she loved God so much she should become a nun and she joined a convent. Shortly after, her father died and Rose left the convent to take care of her mother. It was during this time that Rose began to realize that God was calling her to be a leader and a teacher. She began to meet with other young woman in the community she lived in and she began to realize that they knew very little about their faith. She began to teach them and many people began to realize what a wonderful teacher she was. She was encouraged to keep teaching and was asked to organize the schools and train the teachers in one of the Bishop’s Diocese. It was during this time that she became friends with Lucy Filippini who later started a religious community of sisters and became a saint. During her life Rose organized 40 schools all over Italy, including in Rome. After she died, her teachers decided to become nuns and formed the Order of the Venerini Sisters. They continued teaching, just as Rose has shown them, all over the world.

St Francois de Montmorency Laval

Francois grew up in a good Catholic family and he studied with priests as he grew up. So it wasn’t surprising that Francois felt called by God to become a priest too, even when he was very young. Francois became a priest and then a Bishop who travelled all the way to New France (which is now the province of Quebec in Canada) to lead the Church in the new country. Bishop Laval was a great missionary, he helped build the Church in the new country; he built a seminary to train more priests; he started Catholic schools; and he also built the beautiful Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. When he finally retired, he lived as a hermit (alone with God) in Quebec; he spent his time helping the poor and encouraging people to become more like God. After he died, many miracles happened for people who asked for his prayers.

St Judith of Prussia

Judith came from a rich family and was married when she was very young. Even though she was very rich, she wanted to live like St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a Queen that took care of the poor around her. Judith helped her husband to realize that if they lived more simply they would have more to give to the poor around them and together they were very generous. After her husband died and her children were grown up, Judith sold all that she had and moved to Prussia so that no one would know she was rich and she could live as a hermit (alone with God). She lived in a little hut and took care of travellers that needed a place to stay. She told everyone that she met about Jesus and prayed that they would come to know Jesus too. Judith lived a simple life, even though she was rich, because she believed it would help her get closer to God.

Bl Marie Leonie Paradis

Marie-Leonie Paradis was named Elodie Paradis when she was born. She was born into a poor but very Catholic family. Even though they were poor, her parents sent Elodie to a boarding school when she was 9 years old, because they wanted her to get a good education. The teachers at the school were the Sisters of Notre Dame. In order to make more money, Elodie’s father went to California because he heard that there was Gold there. He came back with no gold and found out that his daughter had joined the convent with the Sisters of Notre Dame. He loved his daughter so much that he didn’t want her to stay in the convent; he wanted her to come home to be with her family. He begged her to leave and go back home to be with him and her mother, but Elodie really loved God and wanted to become a nun. Her father saw how much she loved God and agreed to let her stay; she became a nun in 1857 and chose the name Marie-Leonie. She taught in many schools in many different cities in Quebec until she felt like God was asking her to start her own order of Sisters. She started the Little Sisters of the Holy Family; and their mission is to care for Priests in their homes, so they can concentrate on taking care of the people in their parishes. There are now 67 convents of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in Canada, the USA, Rome and Honduras. Sr. Marie-Leonie served the priests, her sisters and God’s people until she died at 71 years old.

Sts Philip and James

Phillip and James were two of Jesus’ Apostles. Phillip was a follower of John the Baptist, who was telling people to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Jesus. When Jesus told Phillip to “Follow Me”, he was ready to go right away, because he had already prepared his heart for Jesus' coming. He was so happy to be following Jesus that he invited his friend Nathaniel to come and follow him too. After Jesus died and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, Phillip travelled to Greece and Asia Minor to spread the Good News. He died a martyr because of his faith in Jesus; the Emperor of Rome during that time, did not let anybody believe in Jesus. James, was Jesus’ cousin. After Jesus ascended into heaven James was made the Bishop of Jerusalem. St. James forgave the people that hurt him and even when the enemies of Jesus came to crucify him, James prayed that God would forgive them. He was also killed because of his faith in Jesus and died a martyr.

St Athanasius

Athanasius was a good student; he loved to read books about the Catholic faith and about God during University. He became a priest after he finished University and he made sure that the truth about God and Jesus was kept in our Church. The Arian people living in Egypt at the time, did not believe that Jesus was God and they were trying to change this teaching in the Church. Athanasius was at the meeting where the Nicene Creed was written and he made sure that it said that Jesus was God. Athanasius then became the Archbishop of Alexandria in Egypt. He was only 30 years old and he took care of his people for 46 years. There were lots of people that didn’t like the teachings of Archbishop Athanasius, including 4 emperors of Alexandria. They tried to make him stop writing and speaking the Truth about Jesus, but he never stopped. Even when they tried to catch him so that they could kill him, he was never afraid and never stopped spreading the Truth about God and his son Jesus. During the last 7 years of his life, the people he shepherded hid him from those who were trying to kill him, because they loved him so much. During this time he wrote a book called, “The Life of St. Anthony the Hermit”. Athanasius had been friends with St. Anthony when he was very young. He was able to stay away from those that wanted to kill him and he died peacefully in the year 373. He is a Doctor of the Church, for the great teachings that he left us.

St Joseph the Worker

This is the 2nd feast day that we celebrate for St. Joseph; that is because he is such a special man and we can learn a lot from him. Today we celebrate what a hard working husband and father he was. He always took care of Mary and Jesus and because he always prayed and listened closely to God, he protected Mary and Jesus from danger. St. Joseph was a carpenter and he taught Jesus how to be a carpenter too. Through his work he provided everything that his family needed.