THE LIFE AND GLORIES OF ST. JOSEPH
be no doubt. We cannot conceive them leaving the Divine Child behind at Nazareth, or even willingly separating themselves from His company. If the Evangelist makes no mention of any festival save that of the Pasch,488 nor of the presence of Jesus at the Paschal solemnity until His twelfth year, it is on account of the incident which then took place, and which he relates. The Evangelists do not travel beyond their immediate scope and object;489 we have frequent examples of this reticence on their part, of which heretics and unbelievers have not been slow to take advantage. St. Luke's expressions cannot be understood to imply that Jesus went up for the first time to Jerusalem when He was twelve years old, but only that on that occasion He remained behind. These are his words: "And His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the solemn day of the Pasch. And when He was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and His parents knew it not."490 The meaning is obvious. It was sufficient, in order to the fulfilment of the precept, to be present one day only in the Temple, but the Holy Family, mirror of all religious perfection, remained the whole week of the Azymes, or Unleavened Bread, in Jerusalem, as is implied in the phrase, "having fulfilled the days". After finishing their thanksgiving, Mary and Joseph prepared to return to Nazareth, in company, no doubt, for a portion of the way, until their respective roads would diverge, with not a few of their holy relatives. Various suggestions have been made as to how it was that Jesus remained in Jerusalem without the knowledge of His parents. That by His divine power He could conceal Himself from them, and pass away unobserved, we can readily understand: herein does not lie the difficulty; but how was it that, careful as they were of Him, a whole day should elapse without their noticing His absence? The solution adopted by Canon Vitali, and the most usual, seems to be also the most satisfactory. It is as follows. In order to avoid all confusion and disorder in that great mixture of persons of all classes gathered from every part of Palestine for the Paschal solemnity, and now returning to their homes, it had been arranged that, on leaving the Holy City, the men should assemble by themselves in bands, and 488
Joseph would be under the obligation of attending all the three great feasts. Maria d'Agreda thinks that he attended two of them alone, but that at the Pasch Mary and Jesus always accompanied him. 489
On this subject and on the distinguishing characteristics of the four Gospels see F. Coleridge's Introduction to The Life of our Life, 2 vols. 490
Chap. ii. 41-43. 255