The Holy Family

No fixed feast day in the calendar

The Holy Family: the back of the card, with its short story, lesson and a QR code that opens it in the Catholic Information app. The full text is below.

Flip the card and scan the QR code on the back to open it in the app

The Holy Family of Nazareth: Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph, a model for every family.

Who is the Holy Family?

The Holy Family is the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph, Jesus’ foster father. The Son of God did not come into the world in a palace; he was born in Bethlehem and grew up in an ordinary family in the village of Nazareth. Saint Joseph was a craftsman, so people called Jesus “the carpenter’s son” (Mt 13:55). Mary and Saint Joseph took care of Jesus together.

The Holy Family’s story

This family also faced many trials. Not long after Jesus was born, King Herod wanted to kill the Child. An angel warned Saint Joseph in a dream, and that very night he took the Child and his Mother and fled to Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-15). When the king died, the family came back to live in Nazareth. There, “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him” (Lk 2:40).

When Jesus was twelve, the family went up to the Temple in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. On the way home, his parents discovered that the boy was not with the group. Worried, they went back to Jerusalem; after three days, they found him sitting among the teachers in the Temple. His mother said: “Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” Jesus answered that he had to be in “my Father’s house” (cf. Lk 2:41-50).

Then he “went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Lk 2:51). And Mary kept all these things in her heart.

Why is the Holy Family our model?

The Holy Family is a model for every Christian family. In Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph loved one another, prayed together, worked together and faced hard times together. Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he was always obedient to his parents.

A lesson for you

Obey your parents and help with the housework, like Jesus in Nazareth.
When you do something wrong, learn to say sorry; when someone in your family makes you sad, practice forgiving.
Every evening, invite your whole family to pray together, and ask the Holy Family to watch over your family.

Identifying marks

Three people holding hands: Mary, Saint Joseph and the boy Jesus at about twelve years old, as when the whole family went up to the Temple in Jerusalem (cf. Lk 2:41-42).
A halo with a cross around Jesus’ head: a special sign kept for Jesus, to set him apart from the saints.
A white lily in Saint Joseph’s hand: a sign of purity, often seen in pictures and statues of Saint Joseph.
Mary’s blue mantle and white veil: the colors Mary usually wears in Catholic pictures and statues.
The carpenter’s workshop in Nazareth: where Saint Joseph worked to support the family and Jesus grew up obedient (cf. Lk 2:51).

The text on this page is the card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.