Obraz świętego Józefa w kolędach polskich XVII i XVIII wieku (na materiale tzw. Kantyczek karmelitańskich)
The picture of St. Joseph in Polish Christmas carols of the 17th and 18th century (based on the material of Carmelite Canticles)

Summary/Abstract: The author of the article reconstructs the picture of St. Joseph documented in the manuscriptal collection of 357 Christmas Carols texts which come from the 17th and 18th century. The manuscript was drawn up to be used in Carmelite Monastery in Cracow. It was issued in 1980 by Barbara Krzyżaniak. The figure of St. Joseph appears in much about one quarter of the collection analyzed (precisely in 87 songs). In the carols of solemn and sacred character, St. Joseph is presented in a static way, as one of figures worshiping the Holy Infant together with his Mother, shepherds and the Wise Men from the East. It is the approach based on the evangelic text. We find a wider, more interesting and detailed picture of St. Joseph in the carols with an elaborated shepherd plot which uses apocryphal clues, Christmas plays and native folklore (folk way of imaging). In this case, St. Joseph appears as a grey-haired, bearded old man, a carpenter by profession, a careful protector of Marie and little Jesus who participates in nursing the Infant and playing with the shepherds by the crib. The picture is probably very close to the authentic image of an old, poor Polish peasant, respected by people but also treated a little more familiarly than other members of the Holy Family.

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