There is also an old story that claims to reveal the origin of the sacred cloak as a relic. According to the tale, St. Joseph went to Mount Hebron, where he intended to buy lumber for his carpentry work, but he only had about half of the money he needed.
His wife, the Virgin Mary, had suggested that Joseph give the mantle she had gifted him on their wedding day to the lumber seller as a pledge to pay the rest of the money he owed.
The seller, named Ishmael, was a stingy fellow, and he protested at first, but eventually decided to accept the cloak.
It turned out that Ishmael had been suffering for some time from ulcers in his eyes, and had not been able to find a cure. But the day after St. Joseph gave him the mantle, he woke up healed. Ishmael’s wife, who was a hard woman with a difficult temperament, also woke that morning transformed into a mild person.
The lumber seller’s best cow was also cured of illness when the cloak was held over him, and after receiving these gifts, Ishmael refused to part with it. He forgave the debt and provided Joseph and Mary with all the free wood they needed from that point onward.
According to the story, Ishmael and his wife also visited the Holy Family in Nazareth, bringing them gifts, at which time, the Virgin Mary told them that God would bless anyone who placed themselves under the mantle of her husband, St. Joseph.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
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