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The Life and Glories of St. Joseph - 1980 publication.
"Husband of Mary, foster-Father of Jesus and Patron of the universal Church". "Grounded on the Dissertations of Canon Antonio Vitali, Father Jose Moreno, and Other Writers." "Reprint of book originally published in 1888 by Burns & Oates, Limited, London and M.H. Gill & Sons. Dublin."
488 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1891
88 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Edward Healy Thompson
35 books6 followersEdward Healy Thompson (1813, Oakham, Rutland - 21 May 1891, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) was an English Roman Catholic writer.
He was educated at Oakham School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Having taken Anglican orders, he obtained a curacy at Calne, Wiltshire.
After some years of the Anglican ministry at Marylebone, Ramsgate, and elsewhere, he became a Catholic in 1846. The rest of his life, the latter years of which were spent at Cheltenham, he devoted to religious literature.
He was educated at Oakham School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Having taken Anglican orders, he obtained a curacy at Calne, Wiltshire.
After some years of the Anglican ministry at Marylebone, Ramsgate, and elsewhere, he became a Catholic in 1846. The rest of his life, the latter years of which were spent at Cheltenham, he devoted to religious literature.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 21, 2015
Among the classics of Catholic literature, The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph is a book to be consumed, savored and meditated on. Do not attempt large bites rather enjoy each morsel one paragraph, even one sentence at a time.
This book, written in 1888 by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A., is based on the earlier work of theologian Canon Antonio Vitali, Father Jose Moreno and others. They in turn cite the works and opinions of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Augustine, Saint Bernadine, Saint Bridget, Ven. Maria d'Agreda and others.
I purchased the book over twenty years ago and for over a decade it languished on my bookshelf. Time and again I would begin to read it only to be rebuffed by its language and depth. It is a heavy read. Approximately ten years ago I had the opportunity to participate in a weekly holy hour. The silence was wonderful however my senses needed something to help me direct my mind towards God and not my pressing To Do list at home. I began to bring books with me to read and meditate on. The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph became my regular companion.
As a husband and father, I have been drawn to Saint Joseph believing he would be the best model I could choose for my life. I have other books on Saint Joseph, but many are full of prayers to him rather than providing insight into the man he was. Growing up without a good male role model I deeply wanted someone to copy so I could be the husband and father I hoped to become. In the silence of the holy hour, one paragraph at a time, through the teaching of the Church Fathers, Saint Joseph materialized before my eyes.
As the book explicitly states, to dwell on Saint Joseph one must out of necessity also meditate on Jesus and Mary. They are (and these are my words) a package deal. Jesus, of course, can stand alone (except there is that matter of the Trinity). Jesus embodies the Divine and Human Nature in Himself and Mary and Joseph are forever part of this Union.
Joseph, and the man he had to be to carry out the mission the Father gave him, is the main subject of the book, but to study Joseph is to be immersed in Jesus and Mary. The ancient Fathers deduced much as they meditated on the events of the Nativity of Jesus. The conclusions they arrived at they shared in homilies with their flocks. These conclusions are discovered by the reader of this marvelous book.
Nothing in the Bible is changed, but the events are fleshed out to give a fuller picture of God's work in our salvation. The reader is first privy to details of Joseph and Mary as youngsters. They are then provided with insights into their lives together including the visit to Elizabeth's house (yes the Church Fathers agreed Joseph accompanied Mary), their flight to Egypt and their time spent there. Other familiar moments are studied such that the reader feels he is with them at the Presentation or on their search for the lost child. What I found most beneficial was the illumination of Joseph's role as the husband of Mary and father of Jesus. He is made real and tangible.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Embrace the man who first taught Jesus the Torah, the man that Jesus called Daddy.
This book, written in 1888 by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A., is based on the earlier work of theologian Canon Antonio Vitali, Father Jose Moreno and others. They in turn cite the works and opinions of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Augustine, Saint Bernadine, Saint Bridget, Ven. Maria d'Agreda and others.
I purchased the book over twenty years ago and for over a decade it languished on my bookshelf. Time and again I would begin to read it only to be rebuffed by its language and depth. It is a heavy read. Approximately ten years ago I had the opportunity to participate in a weekly holy hour. The silence was wonderful however my senses needed something to help me direct my mind towards God and not my pressing To Do list at home. I began to bring books with me to read and meditate on. The Life and Glories of Saint Joseph became my regular companion.
As a husband and father, I have been drawn to Saint Joseph believing he would be the best model I could choose for my life. I have other books on Saint Joseph, but many are full of prayers to him rather than providing insight into the man he was. Growing up without a good male role model I deeply wanted someone to copy so I could be the husband and father I hoped to become. In the silence of the holy hour, one paragraph at a time, through the teaching of the Church Fathers, Saint Joseph materialized before my eyes.
As the book explicitly states, to dwell on Saint Joseph one must out of necessity also meditate on Jesus and Mary. They are (and these are my words) a package deal. Jesus, of course, can stand alone (except there is that matter of the Trinity). Jesus embodies the Divine and Human Nature in Himself and Mary and Joseph are forever part of this Union.
Joseph, and the man he had to be to carry out the mission the Father gave him, is the main subject of the book, but to study Joseph is to be immersed in Jesus and Mary. The ancient Fathers deduced much as they meditated on the events of the Nativity of Jesus. The conclusions they arrived at they shared in homilies with their flocks. These conclusions are discovered by the reader of this marvelous book.
Nothing in the Bible is changed, but the events are fleshed out to give a fuller picture of God's work in our salvation. The reader is first privy to details of Joseph and Mary as youngsters. They are then provided with insights into their lives together including the visit to Elizabeth's house (yes the Church Fathers agreed Joseph accompanied Mary), their flight to Egypt and their time spent there. Other familiar moments are studied such that the reader feels he is with them at the Presentation or on their search for the lost child. What I found most beneficial was the illumination of Joseph's role as the husband of Mary and father of Jesus. He is made real and tangible.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Embrace the man who first taught Jesus the Torah, the man that Jesus called Daddy.
May 20, 2021
I had a very difficult time deciding on a rating for this book.
On one hand, it gave me a new perspective on St. Joseph, on his role as an example of leadership, humility, and really all virtues. His strength in silence is especially applicable to our time, when the picture of success is so often seen as busy and loud. I appreciated the wide variety of writings referenced here: scripture, saints, popes and academics.
However, the style of the book was more like a textbook than a readable narrative. The author also often used 5 words, when 2 would have done the job just as well. (But that’s pretty much 19th century writing in general, right?)
Overall, I am glad that I read it, but will likely look for something else to revisit as I aim to learn more about and grow closer to Our Lord’s foster father in this, his year, and years to come.
On one hand, it gave me a new perspective on St. Joseph, on his role as an example of leadership, humility, and really all virtues. His strength in silence is especially applicable to our time, when the picture of success is so often seen as busy and loud. I appreciated the wide variety of writings referenced here: scripture, saints, popes and academics.
However, the style of the book was more like a textbook than a readable narrative. The author also often used 5 words, when 2 would have done the job just as well. (But that’s pretty much 19th century writing in general, right?)
Overall, I am glad that I read it, but will likely look for something else to revisit as I aim to learn more about and grow closer to Our Lord’s foster father in this, his year, and years to come.
June 6, 2021
A lot of good information. A lot of speculation that I think might push the limits of Church teaching. The biggest flaw with this book is its readability: The author never used 10 words to say what he could say in 50, and makes sure to throw in as many flowery and over the top adjectives as possible. just as much information could just as easily have been provided in a book a third to half the length and been easier to read,
June 2, 2015
This was a wonderful book, I learned SO much of St. Joseph, his life and death, his heart, his piety and humility, his devotion to Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, his holiness, his work, his ministry while on earth and in Heaven, his place in my life, etc.
August 10, 2025
Life and Glories of St Joseph is a 19th-century English Catholic book which is an enlightening and spiritually-edifying meditation on the life of St Joseph and his reception in the devotion of the Church universal. Though often overlooked, St Joseph is arguably the most relatable saint to laypeople, one who shared our weaknesses, lived and worked in humble silence, yet was intimately close to Jesus Christ.
This book covers virtually all of the theology and tradition concerning Joseph, including the surprisingly large consensus of theologians on Joseph’s spiritual purification at birth (along with Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and Mary) as well as his bodily assumption into heaven, as Mary and Joseph are some of the only saints from whom the Church has no bodily relics.
To explain the development of devotion to St Joseph, Edward Healy says, “just as dogmatic definitions are the expressions of the Church’s mind, so devotions are the expressions of the Church’s heart; and although the heart is guided and ruled by the mind, yet the mind is ever influenced by the heart…the devotions of one age become the dogmas of another.”
…
“Outside the Church there is no beauty of proportion, no slow and sure growth or development, no variety of devotions springing out of and interlacing one another, yet always exactly corresponding with the wants of every age.” (450)
This book covers virtually all of the theology and tradition concerning Joseph, including the surprisingly large consensus of theologians on Joseph’s spiritual purification at birth (along with Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and Mary) as well as his bodily assumption into heaven, as Mary and Joseph are some of the only saints from whom the Church has no bodily relics.
To explain the development of devotion to St Joseph, Edward Healy says, “just as dogmatic definitions are the expressions of the Church’s mind, so devotions are the expressions of the Church’s heart; and although the heart is guided and ruled by the mind, yet the mind is ever influenced by the heart…the devotions of one age become the dogmas of another.”
…
“Outside the Church there is no beauty of proportion, no slow and sure growth or development, no variety of devotions springing out of and interlacing one another, yet always exactly corresponding with the wants of every age.” (450)
December 11, 2020
This book traces the life of Saint Joseph using the writings of the Church Fathers, saints, and pious legends. Much of what is written is an aid to contemplation, but not something definitively taught by the Catholic Church. Separating what we can most definitely say: Joseph was chaste and a just man, from what we may speculate on (how and when did he die?) is done exceedingly well. As the author states in one of his many footnotes concerning the death of St. Joseph, "It need hardly be said that these traditions have no actual authority, but many, we cannot but think, are founded on fact. It is impossible, indeed, to separate the ore from the dross, but it seems allowable to cull what has probability in its favour, as several doctors and saints have done, to aid our pious meditations." (p. 408)
I found the material fascinating and worthy of reflecting on to increase my own humility in imitation of St. Joseph who spoke so little, but did so much.
I found the material fascinating and worthy of reflecting on to increase my own humility in imitation of St. Joseph who spoke so little, but did so much.
October 13, 2019
This review is not of the long work by this author but of excerpts of it published in the Catholic Collection published by Catholic Way Publishing. The author does through the writing of the early fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas, and many other theologians to show that St. Joseph received greater gifts and graces to be a guardian of BVM and Child Jesus. Since he was so chosen he must have reached greater glory and was elevated above most saints and prophets in Paradise. The author also believes that St. Joseph like Jesus rose from the grave and like BVM his body resurrected to Heaven in body and soul. St. Francis de Sales and many others were convinced of this. The author draws parallel to ancient Joseph who dies in Egypt and asked his brethren to bring him with them to the Promised Land. The author thinks that Jesus “would not leave him in the Egypt of this world.”
February 28, 2024
Because there is little to no information available about Jesus' father, we are left to speculate as to what kind of man he was based on what we know about Jesus and Mary. This book makes a compelling case for every aspect of his being, from St. Joseph's own vow of virginity, to the Nativity and flight to Egypt, and to his own death.
Where this book struggles is in the excess of rhetoric and pretentious (from a modern perspective) use of language. This book can be a slog to get through, not because of the density of information, but because of the writing style, wielded with considerably less skill than the masters of old.
Where this book struggles is in the excess of rhetoric and pretentious (from a modern perspective) use of language. This book can be a slog to get through, not because of the density of information, but because of the writing style, wielded with considerably less skill than the masters of old.
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January 10, 2021The copy I have of The Life and Glories Of Saint Joseph, Edward Healy Thompson, Augustine Publishing Company 1986 ISBN 0851727468,192 PAGES ,softcover, Saint Joseph is on the cover it's a light brown or tan book, no pictures other than that of his statute on the cover and book subtitled from his predestination in eternity up to the Massacre of the Innocents. beautifully written about Saint Joseph that originally came out in 1888 but reissued many times since. I Highly recommend reading my Name sake his Bio and about the Holy Family, Mother Mary and Christ our Lord. Great Catholic book.
September 23, 2023
Pious bullshit. Not only denigrates other saints in order to bolster St Joseph but comes up all sorts of nonsense bordering on actual heresy and blasphemy such as Joseph being part of the Trinity. Reminds me of the kind of insane, overblown treatment St Theresa of Lisieux gets from the disturbed and prideful.
August 3, 2025
Excellent and enlightening glimpse into the life of St. Joseph.
Anyone with a desire to know more about the life of Christ needs to more about the foster father that God the Father selected to protect and raise Jesus. I am so thankful I stumbled upon this book. It has lead to increased meditation and contemplation on our Savior and what St. Joseph meant to Him.
Anyone with a desire to know more about the life of Christ needs to more about the foster father that God the Father selected to protect and raise Jesus. I am so thankful I stumbled upon this book. It has lead to increased meditation and contemplation on our Savior and what St. Joseph meant to Him.
December 12, 2019
Was slowly peddling through this for apparently over a year, but that was all me, not the book. It’s meaty, theologically complex, and beautiful. Really motivated me to spread devotion to Saint Joseph and to meditate more on his life.
July 28, 2022
There were some interesting points, but it was dense and wordy. It took a lot of concentration to follow the logic and the sentence structure, so as a result, it took a long time for me to get through the entire book.
March 8, 2023
So much I didn't know
Read this book and it is like you are reading the Bible again, but in a new way. St Joseph is rarely mentioned in the story of Jesus's childhood, but he was always there. We can learn much from St Joseph!
Read this book and it is like you are reading the Bible again, but in a new way. St Joseph is rarely mentioned in the story of Jesus's childhood, but he was always there. We can learn much from St Joseph!
July 28, 2019
Is one of the best way to grow in faith!
February 22, 2021
There was so much tradition in this book - so many stories and ideas about St. Joseph that I had never heard before. It helped to truly understand him more.
March 12, 2022
Very difficult to read because of ornate and obsolete language. Very well documented and scholarly. I wouldn't recommend for the everyda lay reader like me.
November 9, 2025
St Joseph, the Worker, Terror of Demons, Guardian of the Holy Family, pray for us!
March 20, 2017
Wonderful, thorough account of this most excellent saint, drawing greatly on the Church Fathers but also on some of the great scholastics and humanists. If you want to know Joseph this is the greatest source I've found.
November 28, 2021
As passagens sobre São José, pai adotivo de Jesus, são poucas nos evangelhos, o que pode significar que sua participação tenha sido pequena na história da cristandade. Nada mais distante da verdade, como mostra o livro de Healy Thompson. São José só perde em glórias para Maria, mãe de Jesus. Está acima de todos os demais santos, pois nenhum outro esteve tão próximo de Jesus quanto ele. Ainda mais, Deus confiou a ele a guarda de seus maiores tesouros na terra, Jesus e Maria.
Recorrendo às diversas análises dos evangelhos feitas pelos doutores da Igreja, além de diversas tradições antigas, Thompson ilumina o papel glorioso de São José, mostrando como ele foi um modelo para todos nós.
Recorrendo às diversas análises dos evangelhos feitas pelos doutores da Igreja, além de diversas tradições antigas, Thompson ilumina o papel glorioso de São José, mostrando como ele foi um modelo para todos nós.
July 22, 2011
Very good! A little repetitive but not obnoxiously so. The middle chapters on the life of St. Joseph were by far the most interesting to me... it dragged a little at the beginning and end (more so the end). I learned A LOT in this book- St. Joseph is not spoken enough about!! It's amazing all the things the doctors of the Church have said about him. I definitely have an even greater respect for him after reading this and would recommend it to anyone!
December 5, 2019
91/100 (= 5.4/6) ≈ 5 Stars
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Excellent compilation of his glories in English. Best part was insight into love between Mary and Joseph, as well as the two of the for Our Lord. Also the dignity of St. Joseph being of the hypostatic order. Wonderful.
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Excellent compilation of his glories in English. Best part was insight into love between Mary and Joseph, as well as the two of the for Our Lord. Also the dignity of St. Joseph being of the hypostatic order. Wonderful.
October 18, 2022
Textbook
Learned nothing new, just opinions and quotes from other sources. Might be good for a year's retreat on St Joseph
I gave up in the middle and only read the chapters that might have new information on St Joseph.
Learned nothing new, just opinions and quotes from other sources. Might be good for a year's retreat on St Joseph
I gave up in the middle and only read the chapters that might have new information on St Joseph.
September 9, 2008
A rich volume on a just man.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews