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Show Joseph Proved His Love For Mary, Mother Of Jesus Joseph, the bible relates, had to prove his faith in and love for Mary before they were married. It is one of the great love stories of all time. When Joseph thought of Mary, he forgot the difference in their ages; she was the girl he had waited for, his beloved. They were espoused or, as we would say, engaged which was almost as of- ficial as being married. His heart soared on wings of the approaching approach-ing wedding day, and then. . . What Mary insisted had to come to pass, simply could not be! Joseph wanted desperately to believe be-lieve Mary, but such things just didn't happen, and if they did, I they happened to somebody else. Much as he loved Mary, Joseph was a righteous and God-fearing man and while he couldn't even think of making her a public example, ex-ample, he had just about made up his mind to put her away privily. That is, he thought he had made up his mind. In his heart, he knew he couldn't; what would become of her ... of her child . . . Then one night, after he had exhausted ex-hausted himself with tortured thinking, he fell asleep and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not. . . And when Joseph awoke, he did as the angel had bidden him, and took Mary as his lawful and cherished wife. "Fear not," the angel spoke unto un-to Joseph.. "Fear not," the angel had declared de-clared unto Mary. "Fear not," the angel spoke unto un-to the shepherds of Bethlehem. |