Is there anyone here on CathInfo that is in a Josephite marriage?

If so, did you take solemn vows of perpetual continence? How old were you and your spouse when you took such vows? What were your reasons for making your marriage a Josephite marriage? And why not join a monastery and convent, respectively, thereby dissolving the marriage, as historically occurred?

Why does this keep coming up?

Why are people so drawn to marriage excluding the marital act?? Just looking for a tax write-off??

Honestly, I don't even know that anyone actually considers it.  I think two people in that thread might have offered a 'defense' of it.

It's absurd, really.  At least, it's absurd to begin a Josephite marriage right off the bat.  It makes a little more sense for a very old couple.  

I don't even think a marriage where the two parties are both committing to perpetual celibacy at the time of their vows is even a valid marriage.  

But the oft-touted "Joseph & Mary" marriage had a purpose.

They were tasked with being the mother & foster father of the God-man, while also keeping the glory of perpetual virginity.

Jesus wanted us to have a model family to emulate, with a father & mother. He also values virginity, which is something the sex-crazed modern world can't comprehend. "And the darkness could not comprehend it."

That having been said...

My view, which is quite based in Catholic doctrine, is that Josephite marriages are NOT what the doctor ordered for the modern world today. In fact, they are the exact opposite.

What the world needs today is FECUNDITY and lots of it. They need sacrifice-minded MEN and WOMEN to live their roles as God intended, and make whatever sacrifices are necessary to have as many children as God sends. Through hard work, sacrifice, and much trust in God, it can be done.

The modern world thinks that children are a burden and a punishment. Contraception, fornication, and abortion are rampant. Marriage has become a joke. Children are spoiled; foolish moderns think that each child costs $180,000 to properly raise to adulthood.

What the world needs to see today is the example of countless Catholic families, the husband and wife faithful to God and to each other, loving each other and their children, working hard and trusting in God, raising whatever children God sends. People need these living examples. When people notice a family larger than average (more than 2 children) it gets their attention. It makes them think.

If a couple DID successfully pull off a Josephite marriage today, they would appear to most men to be just another "DINK" (double income no kids) couple -- one that values wealth, pleasure and travel, and doesn't want the burden of even 1 child.

What kind of good example could they give to the modern world? Who would even KNOW that they're both still virgins? I just don't see the benefit.

Yes, God would see their sacrifice -- but even then, they would do better to consecrate their lives in holy Religion, so that their every action (washing the dishes, for example) would be an act of religion. We shouldn't forget the valuable role the Religious play in the economy of salvation.

It's not absurd.

The primary purpose of Marriage is the procreation and education of children.

If two Catholic people who find the physical act to be repugnant decide to marry and keep chaste, while providing each other with a help-mate and social partner- living as it were, as brother and sister, would that be wrong, if they did not have a vocation to join a religious order? I am not sure. Would they be sinning by not attempting to procreate?  :scratchchin:

Father Bolduc (the anniversary of his death is tomorrow) told us a story when my husband and I went in to approach him about marriage. He wanted to make sure we knew how children are conceived, because of one incident when a couple came to him and he didn't mention it, taking for granted that everyone knew.

Well, a couple years after this couple came to him, they asked him for help, because they were ardently praying for children, and hadn't yet conceived. To his surprise, neither of them had any idea how to conceive a child, and when they found out, they were in the state of  :shocked:.

This couple maintains a Josephite marriage, and has adopted several disabled children instead of engaging in marital relations.

This is an unusual case, but it does happen, as I know of one case where it has. By no means is this entirely the norm, but it does happen very rarely.

I don't even think a marriage where the two parties are both committing to perpetual celibacy at the time of their vows is even a valid marriage.  

Think before you post. If this was true then the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph didn't have a valid marriage.