St. Joseph the Betrothed was descended from the house of King David. From his first marriage, he had four sons and two daughters. A widower, he lived a life of strict asceticism.T he high priests chose the 80 year old elder to preserve the virginity of the Most-pure Theotokos, who had vowed not to marry. The Angel announced to him that the Son of God would be incarnate of her. St. Joseph was present when the shepherds, and later the Wise Men, came to worship the New-born Divine Infant. At the direction of the Angel, he fled with the Mother of God and with the Divine Infant Jesus, to Egypt, thereby preserving them from King Herod’s wrath.I n Egypt, he lived with the Virgin Mary and the Divine Infant, supporting them by work as a carpenter. St. Joseph reposed at the age of about 100.