Another Sorrow of Mary: The Death of Joseph

One of my daily prayer devotions is reciting The Seven Sorrows of Mary As Given to St. Bridget.

The seven sorrows, according to the version I pray, are:

Simeon's prophecy that a sword will pierce Mary's soul

The Flight into Egypt

The loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem

The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross

Mary witnesses the Crucifixion and the death of Jesus on the Cross

The dead Body of Jesus is taken down and laid in the arms of His Holy Mother

The Burial of Jesus, with Mary's tears and loneliness

As I was meditating on these sorrows the other morning, I began thinking about other sorrows that Mary might have experience. Then it hit me: What about when Joseph died?

Surely that was a sorrow? 

Yet it is not included.

Now it could be that Joseph suffered and his death was a release. Or maybe Mary really was celebrating his entrance into eternal life?

But it also struck me that it was just another example of Joseph, that holy carpenter, being in the background. He played  prominent roles in the birth of Jesus - the Flight into Egypt - the search for Jesus in the Temple. He is spoken of in the Gospels as a good man, and a carpenter, but that's about it. His death is not recorded in the Gospels. According to various legends he married Mary later in life - some of the stories suggest he was in his early 90's -  and so most painting depict him as an old man. According to the apocryphal "Story of Joseph the Carpenter," he dies at the age of 111!

Getting back to the sorrows of Mary - should this not be one of the counted sorrows? They had lived together chastely for a number of years, and he certainly protected her. She must have grieved his loss as a companion, as a bread winner, and as a father-figure for Jesus.

Pax et bonum