Saint Joseph (patron of families, workers & more)
Saint Joseph
(patron of families, fathers, workers, and more)
You can read about St. Joseph and find a quote about him from the Patris Corde Apostolic Letter.
BIO OF SAINT JOSEPH
There are 2 Feast Days of Saint Joseph
FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH, THE HUSBAND OF MARY: MARCH 19TH
FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH, THE WORKER: MAY 1ST
St. Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, and more. What we know about him comes from scripture. He was of the royal family of King David. Yet, he worked as a carpenter. He was a virtuous man. Above all, he was obedient and faithful to God.
VISIONS OF ANGELS
When Joseph learned Mary was expecting a child, he no longer wanted to marry her. An angel appeared to him and told him not to fear. His doubts vanished. When King Herod heard of a newborn king, he ordered soldiers to kill all of the infants. An angel warned Joseph in a dream and they quickly fled to Egypt. In another vision, Joseph learned of the death of King Herod. He packed up the family, and they travelled to Judea. Once they arrived, they discovered that Archelaus, Herod’s son, had taken over. An angel appeared to him one last time. They returned to Nazareth, their hometown.
THE LOSS OF THE CHILD JESUS
St. Joseph observed Mosaic law. They returned to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the festival of the Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old, they went as usual. After the ceremonies, they began the journey back to Galilee with their relatives and friends. It wasn’t until a day later that they discovered that Jesus was not with them. They searched for him for three days in Jerusalem until they found him in the Temple. There, he was discussing matters of faith with the teachers. They were amazed at his understanding. His mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” (Luke 2:49). Jesus returned with them to Nazareth. There, Joseph taught Him the carpentry trade.
THE DEATH OF ST. JOSEPH
Sometime before Jesus’ ministry, around the year 18 A.D., we know that St. Joseph died. There is no doubt that Mary and Jesus were at his side. So he is particularly invoked for the grace of a happy death.
SAINTHOOD
Although his sainthood was pre-Congregation*, he has had many official honours. On December 8, 1870, Pope Pius IX declared him the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. His March 19th feast day is also a solemnity.
*To declare a saint, proofs of holiness are investigated. In pre-Congregation years (before 1588), it was the role of the local bishop. By the late 11th Century, councils looked after it. In 1634, Pope Urban VIII made it the role of the Apostolic See. Pope Sixtus V established the Congregation of Rites in 1588. Pope Paul VI (1969) and Pope John Paul II (1983) reorganized it. It is now the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
God always finds a way to save us, provided we show the same creative courage as the carpenter of Nazareth, who was able to turn a problem into a possibility by trusting always in divine providence.
Patris corde, December 18, 2020
Some Thoughts
St. Joseph was a carpenter. He would look at a piece of raw wood as something with possibilities. From it, he could make items that would solve problems. Farm equipment could help a farmer feed his family. With furniture, they could share a meal.
St. Joseph lived his life the same way. He worked with what God gave him. Life is full of possibilities. All we need to do is trust in God, discern His will, and then move forward.
Our Lady of Grace Rosaries (March 19, 2021)
4 Different St. Joseph Chaplets
Z097
Z098
Z099
Z100
ST. JOSEPH ITEMS
NOVENA
NOVENA WITH REFLECTIONS
Chaplet List
About Our Handmade Chaplets
Packaging
Each chaplet comes with a sturdy prayer card. It explains which prayers to say on which beads.
Suggestion
It is a good idea to store your chaplets and prayer cards together. Since chaplets have unique bead groupings and prayers, the prayer card and chaplet need to stay together so that you can continue to use them.
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Pixabay shared the divider image for free. We added the theme colour to it.
Carlo Esteban Murillo painted St. Joseph and the Child Jesus circa 1670 to 1675.
On December 8, 2020, Pope Francis wrote the Apostolic letter Patris corde.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet sources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
St. Joseph was of the royal family of King David. He was a virtuous man who worked as a carpenter. He married Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Saint Joseph taught Jesus the carpentry trade. Sometime before Jesus’ ministry, around the year 18 A.D., we know that St. Joseph died. There is no doubt that Mary and Jesus were at his side. So he is particularly invoked for the grace of a happy death.
His sainthood was pre-Congregation. In other words, a local bishop investigated the proofs of holiness. On December 8, 1870, Pope Pius IX declared him the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. His March 19th feast day is also a solemnity.
St. Joseph has two feast days. The first, March 19th, is also considered a solemnity. The feast of St. Joseph the Worker is on May 1st.