Saint Joseph

Description

Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical Gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after Jesus’ crucifixion. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, and also with the Grail legend.
Joseph of Arimathea is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestant churches. The traditional Roman calendar marked his feast day on March 17, but he is now listed, along with Saint Nicodemus, on August 31 in the Martyrologium Romanum. Eastern Orthodox churches commemorate him on the Third Sunday of Pascha (i.e., the second Sunday after Easter) and on July 31, the date shared by Lutheran churches.[2] Although a series of legends developed during the Middle Ages (perhaps elaborations of early New Testament apocrypha) tied this Joseph to Britain as well as the Holy Grail, he is not currently on the abbreviated liturgical calendar of the Church of England, although this Joseph is on the calendars of some churches of the Anglican communion, such as the Episcopal Church (USA), which commemorates him on August 1.