This is the story of how Joseph, the Just and the Righteous, become the spouse of the Blessed Virgin.
At the age of three years, Mary, daughter of Joachim, and daughter of Anne, was consecrated as a virgin and given to the temple in service to the Lord. This was a common custom of the day and Mary shared this service with other maidens who lived within the temple.
There came a time when the temple virgins reached the age of womanhood and the high priest sent them to their homes and families, that suitable marriages could be arranged for them. But Mary, the Grace-filled, daughter of Joachim, and daughter of Anne, said to the high priest that she could not return home. Her parents had dedicated her to serve the Lord, and she herself was vowed to perpetual virginity to God in observance of this service. And so it fell to the high priest to find for her a suitable husband.
The high priest consulted with the priests of the temple, and the levite ministers. They had come to understand that Mary, the Grace-filled, was beloved by God. And so it was decided that God should choose for her a husband.
The high priest prayed to the Lord for guidance and the Lord instructed the high priest to gather all men, unmarried and widowed, to the temple, each with his staff in his hand. The staff of each man was collected and placed within the temple. The doors to the temple were closed and sealed and the high priest, the priests of the temple, and the levite ministers spent the night in prayer. They prayed that the Lord would send a sign in token of a suitable husband for the maiden.
In the morning the doors to the temple were unsealed and each man took up his own staff. But all were amazed to find that during the night the staff of Joseph, son of Jacob, of the house and line of David, had come to life and bloomed forth with Lilies of the Field. As they emerged from the temple a dove flew down from Heaven and alighted upon the staff of Joseph.
And so it was that from that day forward, Joseph, the Just and the Righteous, son of Jacob, of the house and line of David, was betrothed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Grace-filled, daughter of Joachim, and daughter of Anne.
And from that day to this, whenever artists and craftsmen have cause to render an image of Joseph, the holy spouse of the Virgin Mary, they include his staff, alive with the lilies of the field.