Feast Of The Blessed Virgin’s Espousal To Saint Joseph - 23 January

Quoted from The Brighton Oratory [1]:

January 23rd is the traditional day of the feast called “The Espousal of the Virgin Mary with St Joseph.” Although never on the general Calendar, it was kept by many religious orders, especially those with a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, and on many local calendars.

We don’t often think of the marriage of Mary and Joseph, or the events that transpired prior to the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel. What we do know is that Mary was presented at the temple at a young age, at which time she likely took a vow of perpetual virginity. What, then, was her reaction to the Lord calling her to marriage? As before when she entered the temple, and later, when she accepted the message of Gabriel, Our Lady demonstrates perfect fidelity to the Lord—the quality which sets her apart from all others, and the reason for her chosen status as the Mother of God.

But consider Saint Joseph, her spouse. He, too, entered into a marriage with a vow of chastity, resigning himself to the will of God, and to the protection of the Lord’s sacred vessel of the Incarnation. Even following the Annunciation, Joseph placed his trust in God, choosing not to quietly divorce his wife (as we read in the Gospel he considered), but rather entrusting himself and his family to the Lord’s wisdom and plan.

On the feast of the Espousal, we are called to our own leap of faith—our own abandonment of our personal desires for those of the Lord. We look to emulate Mary and Joseph, who in their infinite trust, placed themselves in the hands of God, faithfully, continently, and chastely living as husband and wife, raising the Son of Man.

Quoted from anastpaul.com [2]:

Feast in honour of the Blessed Virgin’s Espousal to Saint Joseph. It is certain that a real Matrimony was contracted by Joseph and Mary. Still Mary is called “espoused” to Joseph (“his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph”, Matthew 1:18) because the matrimony was never consummated. The term, ‘spouse’ is applied to married people until their marriage is consummated.

The first definite knowledge of a Feast in honour or the Espousals of Mary dates from 29 August1517, when it was granted by Pope Leo X to the Nuns of the Annunciation. It was celebrated on 22 October. It appears in the Missal of the Franciscans, to whom it was granted on 21 August 1537, for 7 March, while the Servites obtained the Feast for 8 March. Although the Feast of the Espousal has never been extended to the Universal Church ,it is observed in nearly the entire Latin Church on 23 January and in the Spanish-speaking countries on 26 November.

[1] https://brightonoratory.org/2019/01/23/carissimi-todays-mass-the-espousal-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-with-st-joseph-2/#:~:text=January%2023rd%20is%20the%20traditional%20day%20of%20the,the%20Virgin%20Mary%2C%20and%20on%20many%20local%20calendars

[2] https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/23/feast-of-the-espousal-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-and-memorials-of-the-saints/