« All Events
St. Joseph the Worker
May 1, 2020
To foster deep devotion to Saint Joseph among Catholics, and in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955. This feast extends the long relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers in both Catholic faith and devotion. Beginning in the Book of Genesis, the dignity of human work has long been celebrated as a participation in the creative work of God. By work, humankind both fulfills the command found in Genesis to care for the earth (Gn 2:15) and to be productive in their labors. Saint Joseph, the carpenter and foster father of Jesus, is but one example of the holiness of human labor.
Jesus, too, was a carpenter. He learned the trade from Saint Joseph and spent his early adult years working side-by-side in Joseph’s carpentry shop before leaving to pursue his ministry as preacher and healer. In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”
Saint Joseph is held up as a model of such work. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Savior of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.”
Reflection
To capture the devotion to Saint Joseph within the Catholic liturgy, in 1870, Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph the patron of the universal Church. In 1955, Pope Pius XII added the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. This silent saint, who was given the noble task of caring and watching over the Virgin Mary and Jesus, now cares for and watches over the Church and models for all the dignity of human work.
Feast Day: May 1
Died: 1st century
Patron of: against doubt, against hesitation, Americas, bursars, cabinetmakers, Canada, carpenters, Catholic Church , confectioners, craftsmen, Croatian people , dying people, emigrants, engineers, expectant mothers, families, fathers, holy death, house hunters, immigrants, interior souls, laborers, married people, Oblates of Saint Joseph, people in doubt, people who fight Communism, pioneers, protection of the Church, social justice, travellers, unborn children, Universal Church , Vatican II, wheelwrights, workers, many more…
St. Joseph the Worker
Feast Day: May 01
St. Joseph is a very important saint. He is the husband of the Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. This is the second feast of St. Joseph the Church celebrates, the first falling on March 19.
The bible says very little about St. Joseph and does not contain even one word spoken by this carpenter of Nazareth. But even without words, he shows how deep his faith was, in this we see his greatness. > Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but because he listens, in silence, to the words of the Living God.
Today we celebrate his witness of hard work. He was a carpenter who worked many hours a day and the little boy Jesus would help his dad in the small shop. St. Joseph teaches us that any work we do is important. Through it we do our part to serve our family and society.
But even more than that, as Christians we understand that our work is like a mirror of ourselves. It shows what kind of people we are, that is why we want our work to be done with care.
Many countries have one day every year to show their respect for workers. This helps people to see how good it is to work to make this world a better place. In 1955, the Church has given us a wonderful model of work, St. Joseph the worker.
Tuesday, May 1
Liturgical Color: White
On this day in 418 A.D., the Council
of Carthage declared Pelagianism as
heretical. This heresy denied the
existence of original sin and
Christian grace, contrary to the
teachings of the Church.

