St. Jude

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Joseph , Husband of Mary

The feast of St. Joseph on March 19, which appeared in the
year 800 in a French calendar, did not become widespread until the fourteenth century. There was a feast in honor of St. Joseph in the Roman Breviary published in 1482, but the first Mass celebrated in his honor in Rome was in 1505. Certain saints and spiritual writers were especially devoted to the St. Joseph : St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Bridget of Sweden , St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Berdardine of Siena and John Gerson of Paris . Finally, the Carmelite friars recognized his feast and included it in the calendar of their Order in 1498. In the East, however, the feast was celebrated as early as the fifth century according to the Coptic Calendar but on a different date. In 1621 , Pope Gregory XV made the feast of St. Joseph a holy day of obligation, but that is no longer universally observed. Moreover, the feast may be transferred out of Lent if a National Bishop's Conference so desires.

The genealogy of St. Joseph is given in the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. We also know from the gospel that he was a carpenter, and, very likely, Jesus learned that trade from his foster-farther. Joseph and Mary were poor, as is evidenced by the fact that at Mary's purification in the Temple they offered a pair of turtle-doves. The tribute paid to him in Scripture is that he was a just man. On several crucial occasions, such as Mary's pregnancy, the flight into Egypt and the return to Palestine , Joseph was instructed by an angel. Pope Pius IX proclaimed St. Joseph the Parton of the Universal Church .

At St. Joseph , Husband of Mary parish, we have great reverence for St. Joseph , our patron.