Saint Joseph can be celebrated three times in a year: March 19, as husband of the Virgin Mary and patron of the Universal Church, May 1 as patron of workers and at the end of December as “head” of the Holy Family.
If the Virgin Mary is celebrated around ten times in the liturgical calendar, Saint Joseph benefits from two days of liturgical prayer – March 19 and May 1 – to which we can add the feast of the Holy Family.
MARCH 19 SPOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND PATRON OF THE CHURCH
© Dagli Orti Collection/Aurimages
The most important feast dedicated to Saint Joseph is March 19. It is a Solemnity, the highest degree in the celebration of the holidays, before the feast and the memory. A date set by Blessed Pope Pius IX who proclaimed Saint Joseph patron of the universal Church on December 8, 1870, by the decree Quemadmodum Deus : “Just as God establishes the Patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, governor of all Egypt , to assure the people of the wheat necessary for life, thus, when the times were fulfilled when the Lord was going to send his only Son to the earth, to redeem the world, he chose another Joseph of whom the first was the figure; he established him lord and prince of his house and his goods; he committed his richest treasures to its keeping.” Saint Joseph’s mission was to watch over Mary and Jesus . And in the same way that he watched over them, he continues to watch over the universal Church of which he is the patron.
MAY 1 JOSEPH CRAFTSMAN
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In 1955, 85 years after the proclamation of Joseph as patron of the Universal Church, Pope Pius XII established the feast of Saint Joseph the artisan, or “worker”, on May 1. An optional memorial that celebrates Joseph’s work as a carpenter. Through his profession, he indeed provided for the needs of his family. And by transmitting his know-how to his son Jesus, he awakened him to the life of men. He is the patron saint of workers, particularly carpenters and joiners. “The relationship with work is an aspect which characterizes Saint Joseph and which has been highlighted since the first social Encyclical, Rerum Novarum , by Leo XIII”, underlines Pope Francis in Patris Corde . “Saint Joseph was a carpenter who worked honestly to provide for his family. Jesus learned from him the value, dignity and joy of what it means to eat bread, the fruit of his labor.”
END DECEMBER HEAD OF THE HOLY FAMILY
© Dagli Orti Collection/Aurimages
Although it is not a feast specifically dedicated to Saint Joseph, the feast of the Holy Family nevertheless allows us to celebrate a third time in the year the husband of Mary and the adoptive father of Jesus. The Sunday after Christmas , or December 30 if Christmas falls on a Sunday, the Church celebrates the Holy Family, a liturgical feast established in 1893 and extended to the universal Church in 1921. It was not until 1969, after the Council Vatican II, that it is linked to the celebration of Christmas. A devotion which first developed in Canada in the 17th century, thanks to Saint François de Laval, first bishop of Quebec, following the miracles of Cotignac.
Traditionally, Joseph is depicted as the head and protector of the Holy Family. His mission consisted of guiding and protecting the two greatest “treasures” of the Church, in the words of Bossuet : Mary and Jesus. Pope Francis designates it as “the true “miracle” by which God saves the Child and his mother” ( Patris Corde ). “Heaven intervenes by trusting in the creative courage of this man who, arriving in Bethlehem and not finding accommodation where Mary can give birth, sets up a stable and arranges it so that it becomes, as much as possible, a welcoming place for the Son of God who comes into the world (cf. Lk 2:6-7 ). Faced with the imminent danger of Herod who wants to kill the Child, Joseph is alerted, once again in a dream, to defend him, and he organizes the flight to Egypt in the dead of night (cf. Mt 2, 13-14 ) .” Let us also honor Saint Joseph for his strength and courage as head of the family.