Never before has all this wealth of intensely interesting and little-known facts about St. Joseph been compiled into a single book. This can truly be called a “little Summa” of St. Joseph, as the only source existing in any language of the complete life, theology and devotional history of St. Joseph. Four previous books of Father Filas are the basis of the present Joseph: The Man Closest to Jesus. Complete revision, expansion of all material that needed updating, and the re-issuance of earlier sections of permanent value make it possible to offer this full thesaurus of facts (sometimes published here for the first time in English) about St. Joseph.

The present book which is a reprint of the 1962 edition is composed of six units. The first analyzes the source material for our knowledge of St. Joseph; the second develops what we can know about St. Joseph’s ancestry, his relationships to other biblical figures, his trade, and his age when he married Our Lady. The third unit is completely devoted to questions concerning his marriage, such as the question of its genuinity, and St. Joseph’s doubt over Mary. In the fourth unit, we are presented with Father Filas’ comprehensive survey of Joseph’s fatherly relationship to Jesus. The fifth section takes up topics of Joseph’s dignity, holiness, supernatural privileges, patronage, and possible advancement in the liturgy. The concluding section surveys the complete history of the devotion to St. Joseph, from the earliest years of the Church to 1962, and quotes (with accompanying commentary) all modern papal pronouncements concerning St. Joseph.

An appendix offers a new translation of all indulgenced and other new prayers honoring St. Joseph. Fully indexed for handy reference.