Luke 23:50-56



Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.



On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.





His memorial in the Roman calendar is on 17 March and is overshadowed by that for St. Patrick. But the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Calendars observe the memorial of St. Joseph of Arimathea today.



Legend says that it was Joseph of Arimathea who carried the Gospel to Britain, bringing the Holy Grail with him. William Blake wrote on another of the legends that surrounds him. The hymn whose music by Charles H. H. Parry is called "Jerusalem" is set to Blake's words and "the lyr­ics may refer to folk­lore that says Je­sus vis­it­ed Bri­tain as a teen­ag­er with Jo­seph of Ar­i­ma­thea, who was said to be a dis­tant rel­a­tive and had a stake in Cor­nish tin mines."



Here is the hymn: And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time