Saint Joseph's dreams

Saint Joseph's dreams are four dreams described in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament in which Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is visited by an angel of the Lord and receives specific instructions and warnings of impending danger. All four dreams come from the period around the Nativity of Jesus and his early life, between the onset of Mary's pregnancy and the family's return from the Flight to Egypt. They are often distinguished by numbers as "Joseph's first dream" and so on. Especially in art history, the first may be referred to as the Annunciation to Joseph. Biblical accounts The four dreams are as follows: First dream: In , Joseph is told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because she has conceived by the Holy Spirit. (See also the Annunciation in , when an angel visits Mary and she agrees to conceive "through the power of the Most High".) Second dream: In , Joseph is warned to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt. Third dream: In , while in Egypt, Joseph is told that it is safe to go back to Israel. Fourth dream: In , because he had been warned in a dream, Joseph awakens to depart for the region of Galilee instead of going to Judea. Commentary Roger Baxter, in his Meditations reflects on the second dream, writing: "Ponder the particulars of this command. 1. The angel commands in the name of God, who is the supreme Lord. 2. He delivers the command not to Mary, though she was the more worthy; but to Joseph, because he was the head of the family, and its ordinary superior. 3. He appeared to him in sleep, by which we learn, that even while we sleep the care of God is exerted over us, and He is continually watching for our good. 4. He tells him to take the Child and His mother, without mentioning anything else. Oh that Jesus and Mary were your only care! 5. He assigns them the place of their banishment. Learn, hence, not to choose for yourself, but receive everything in the ordinary way of God's providence, and as coming from His hands, in regard to place, employment, prosperity, and adversity."