Holy Family facts for kids
The Holy Family is made up of the Child Jesus, his mother, the Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph. This idea became popular in art around the 1490s. However, people officially started honoring the Holy Family in the 1600s. This was thanks to Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of New France, who started a special group for it.
The Gospels, which are books in the Bible, don't say much about the Holy Family's life before Jesus began his public work. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us about some events from this time. These include Jesus's presentation at the Temple, their flight to Egypt, their return to Nazareth, and when Jesus was found in the Temple. Joseph and Mary were very religious Jews. Luke tells us they took Jesus with them on their yearly trip to Jerusalem with other Jewish families.
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Honoring the Holy Family
The Feast of the Holy Family is a special day in the Catholic Church. Many Lutheran and Anglican churches also celebrate it. It honors Jesus, his mother Mary, and his foster father Joseph as a family. The main reason for this celebration is to show the Holy Family as a good example for all Christian families.
Since the 1600s, this feast has been celebrated in different places. Pope Leo XIII helped make it more widely known. In 1921, Pope Benedict XV added it to the official General Roman Calendar. He set it on the Sunday within the week after Epiphany. This means it falls on a Sunday between January 7th and January 13th.
Today, in the Roman Catholic Church, the Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated on the Sunday between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. If both Christmas Day and Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God are Sundays, it is celebrated on December 30th.
The Holy Family in Art
The Holy Family became a popular subject in art in the early 1500s. This was true for both Italian Renaissance painting and Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting. People became more interested in and devoted to Saint Joseph. Before this, in the Middle Ages, Joseph was sometimes shown as an older, sleeping figure in Nativity scenes. But in the 1400s, special groups honoring Joseph started. Artists then began to show him awake and actively involved in raising Jesus.
Many early paintings of the Holy Family were either Nativity scenes or the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Artists would remove other details, like the ox and donkey, to focus only on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. These paintings were often made for wealthy homes. Other times, artists would start with a painting of the Madonna and Child (Mary and Jesus) and then add Saint Joseph. Often, the figures were shown close-up, filling most of the painting.
Sometimes, artists would add Jesus's slightly older cousin, Saint John the Baptist, and his mother, Saint Elizabeth. However, Joseph is often not in these pictures. It was believed that the Holy Family stayed with Elizabeth after returning from Egypt. These paintings usually show the children as toddlers, not newborns. The larger family of Jesus, which could include up to twenty people, is called the Holy Kinship.
Italian Art
The Parte Guelfa Holy Family by Luca Signorelli was painted around 1490. Mantegna seemed to create the idea of a very close-up group in the late 1490s. He painted several versions that included John the Baptist and his mother. Some of these show the children standing or walking, like toddlers.
By the time of the High Renaissance, many Italian paintings were wider than they were tall. The subject was popular with Antonio da Correggio. Examples of his work are in Pavia, Orléans, the Royal Collection, Los Angeles, and Mantua. Domenico Beccafumi also painted the Holy Family. His works can be seen in Munich and Florence. Michelangelo's painting (around 1506) is in the Uffizi in Florence, Italy. A Holy Family by Giulio Romano is in the Prado museum. Another is at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.
Lorenzo Lotto also painted the Holy Family many times. He often added angels and saints from later times. Examples include Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Holy Family with St Jerome and St Anne. There is also one in the Louvre that shows the families of both Jesus and John the Baptist.
Northern European Art
North of the Alps, Albrecht Dürer made prints of the Holy Family in the 1490s, likely before any paintings. An early painting from the north is by the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece around 1500. This painting shows a fresh and new way of looking at the Holy Family. In contrast, the Holy Family by the Dutch artist Joos van Cleve (around 1512) in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is a close-up version of Jan van Eyck's Lucca Madonna. It adds Saint Joseph over Mary's shoulder.
Patronages and Customs
The members of the Holy Family are the special protectors of the Congregation of Holy Cross. The Holy Cross Sisters are dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Holy Cross Brothers are dedicated to Saint Joseph. The Priests of Holy Cross are dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The Sons of the Holy Family is another religious group devoted to the Holy Family.
The Cathedral of the Holy Family of Nazareth is the main church of the Diocese of Tulsa in Oklahoma.
A common practice among Christians, especially Catholics, is to write "✝ J.M.J. ✝" at the top of letters, cards, and notes. The "J.M.J." stands for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family. Writing this is a way to ask for the Holy Family's blessing.
Images for kids
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The Holy Family with the Dragonfly, by Albrecht Dürer, 1495. Here, Joseph is asleep.
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The Holy Family of Francis I, by Raphael (and helpers), 1518.
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Holy Family with the Family of St John the Baptist, around 1536, by Lorenzo Lotto, in the Louvre.
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Holy Family by El Greco, 1595. He painted several versions of this scene.
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A French holy card from 1890.
See also
In Spanish: Sagrada Familia para niños
- Category:Paintings of the Holy Family
- Brothers of Jesus
- Chronological list of saints in the 1st century
- Chronology of Jesus
- Finding in the Temple
- Flight into Egypt
- Holy Kinship
- Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth
