The Year of St. Joseph ­– proclaimed last Dec. 8 by Pope Francis and continuing until Dec. 8 of this year – is an opportunity for the Catholic faithful to model their lives on the holy example of the foster father of Jesus, according to the pastor of a parish named in the saint’s honor.

“St. Joseph did everything by faith, doing what he could to take care of his wife and son, just as any father should do for his family,” said Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., who serves as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Largo, Maryland. “He did what he needed to do quietly and humbly. We should hope to live like that.”

The bishop also noted that St. Joseph is not just a good role model for husbands and fathers, but for all people.

“The reward of his faith is that he believed in his God. Joseph never questioned. The angel appeared to Mary in bodily form, but only spoke to Joseph in a dream. That was enough for him,” Bishop Campbell said. “Imagine how strong his faith was to recognize the Word of God no matter how it came to him. He (St. Joseph) reminds us that God speaks to us how He chooses. It is up to us to listen, no matter how He chooses.”

This statue of St. Joseph and a young Jesus is located near the entrance to St. Joseph Church in Largo, Maryland. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Bishop Campbell is the pastor of one of five parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington named in honor of St. Joseph. The others are on Capitol Hill in the District of Columbia, and in Beltsville, Morganza and Pomfret, all in Maryland. A regional Catholic elementary school in Beltsville is dedicated to St. Joseph. The Society of St. Joseph (Josephite) priests and brothers serve in this archdiocese and operate their St. Joseph Seminary in Northeast Washington. Several religious orders of women named in honor of St. Joseph also minister here.

The Year of St. Joseph was proclaimed last December when Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter, Patris corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), marking the 150th anniversary of Pope (now Blessed) Pius IX’s 1870 declaration of St. Joseph as “Patron of the Universal Church.” That same pope also dedicated the month of March to St. Joseph, much in the same way May is dedicated to Mary and June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Francis, in his letter, explained that St. Joseph ­is an appropriate role model, because “our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines, or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history.”

“Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble,” the pope wrote. “Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all.”

When Pope Francis issued his apostolic letter, the Apostolic Penitentiary decreed “a special Year of Saint Joseph will be celebrated, in which all faithful, after his example, may daily reinforce their own life of faith in complete fulfilment of God’s will.”

“All the faithful will thus have the opportunity to commit themselves, with prayer and good works, to obtain, with the help of St Joseph, head of the heavenly family of Nazareth, comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations that besiege the contemporary world today,” the decree said.

A series of stained glass windows at St. Joseph Church in Pomfret, Maryland, depicts events in the life of St. Joseph including above, his betrothal to the Blessed Virgin Mary,  and in the image below, the birth of Jesus. (CS photos/Andrew Biraj)

Father Rob Maro, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Beltsville, pointed out that recourse to St. Joseph is particularly relevant at this time, as the world battles to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and as society deals with those “tribulations that besiege the contemporary world.”

“We need the protection of St. Joseph to help us through this pandemic. We need his fatherly example and intercession to help marriages and families. We need his love for Jesus and Mary to help us combat the deceptions of the evil one,” Father Maro said. “We have a wonderful spiritual father and faithful friend in St. Joseph. We have everything to gain spiritually by renewing our devotion to him and consecrating our families and parishes to his fatherly protection and intercession.”

Little is known of the historical Joseph. The only mention of him in the Gospels are in Matthew – the first and second chapters and 13:55 – and in Luke – again, the first and second chapters, and in 4:22. He is mentioned once in passing in John (1:44), and not at all in Mark. It is known that Joseph was born into the House of David, that he was a carpenter, and that he was betrothed to Mary at the time of Jesus’s birth.

The series of stained glass windows at St. Joseph Church in Pomfret on the life of St. Joseph also depict the Flight into Egypt, (above), and his death (below). The windows were designed by Beyer Studio, Inc. in Philadelphia, and were donated by friends and parishioners of St. Joseph Church. (CS photos/Andrew Biraj)

Scholars generally suggest that Joseph was unknown by anyone except those Galileans with whom he lived and worked. They have theorized that to most of the Apostles, Joseph must have been personally unknown, and that could explain why they refer to him only in passing, or in vague remarks such as “Joseph was a just man.” It is believed that Joseph died several years before Jesus began His public ministry.

“I appreciate the silence of St. Joseph and his dependability without drawing attention to himself,” said Father Drew Royals, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Morganza. “He did a great job without saying a lot. I admire him in getting the job done and being entirely consumed with his responsibilities without drawing attention to himself.”

While there was some devotion to St. Joseph in the early Church, there was basically little widespread devotion to St. Joseph before the 13th century. Some scholars have speculated that little attention was placed on Joseph in order to emphasize the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Most theologians say Mary dearly loved her husband, and they shared a holy and chaste marriage. Joseph was present at the Nativity, at the Epiphany and at the Presentation in the Temple. It was he who spirited the Holy Family to safety during their flight into Egypt. He also shared Mary’s worry when Jesus, at the age of 12, was lost for three days in the Temple and was later found talking with the learned rabbis there.

“He was chosen by God (to look after the Holy Family). He merited that choice for his goodness, and he did it marvelously,” Father Royals said. “He was entrusted with the highest of responsibilities.”

A large dramatic painting above the altar at St. Joseph Church in Morganza, Maryland, depicts St. Joseph holding the baby Jesus as two angels pay homage to the newborn Savior. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Devotion to St. Joseph really began to grow in the 13th century, with such noted devotees as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, St. Bernardine of Siena and St. Isidore. Later, St. Ignatius and St. Teresa of Avila also spread devotion to St. Joseph.

St. Teresa of Avila, the 16th century mystic and Doctor of the Church, is famously quoted as saying, “I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to [St. Joseph] and honored him by particular services who did not advance greatly in virtue: for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him.” 

Father Maro said that many of his parishioners will consecrate themselves to St. Joseph following the prayers and formula outlined in the book, “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.”

Father Maro was referring to Marian Father Donald Calloway’s book published last year by Marian Press. In it, Father Calloway wrote that consecration to St. Joseph means “that you acknowledge that he is your spiritual father, and you want to be like him. To show it, you entrust yourself entirely to his paternal care so that he can lovingly help you acquire his virtues and become holy.”

The book outlines a 33-day preparation for consecration to St. Joseph. The parishioners at the Beltsville parish began their preparations on Feb. 15, and will culminate with a special Mass and a parish and school-wide consecration to St. Joseph on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Friday, March 19.

From left, Dason Njikem, Leah Yemoh, Makenna Scott, and Katherin Romero Quispe – all second-grade students at St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville, Maryland – gather around a statue of the patron saint. The school has planned a yearlong series of activities to celebrate their patron, including weekly prayer, making St. Joseph tables and creating artwork depicting the saint. (CS photo by Andrew Biraj)

While that solemnity is celebrated March 19, the saint is honored two other times in the Church’s liturgical calendar: May 1 is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, and on the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, he is celebrated as the foster father of Jesus and protector of the Holy Family.

Other parishes dedicated to St. Joseph are also following the consecration outlined in Father Calloway’s book. Bishop Campbell said that some of his parishioners are following the consecration “individually, because we cannot get together.”

This painting of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary en route to Bethlehem and the statue of St. Joseph holding the child Jesus are in a side altar dedicated to the saint at St. Joseph Church on Capitol Hill. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Father William Gurnee, pastor of St. Joseph on Capitol Hill Parish in Washington, also noted that some groups are forming in his parish to do the same consecration to St. Joseph.

In addition, Father Gurnee said, “We have printed up holy cards with a beautiful image found in our church of St. Joseph. The prayer on the back of the card is from Pope Francis’s apostolic letter, Patris corde. The prayer is said before every Mass during the year.”

The prayer, composed by Pope Francis is: “Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man. Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.”

Father Royals said that in addition to preparing for the March 19 feast day with a novena that includes adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, his parishioners in Morganza pray the Litany of St. Joseph at the end of daily Mass. “They (parishioners) can learn to go to our patron saint with that novena, which enlightens us in so many different ways to how St. Joseph takes care of us,” he said.

Along with being patron of the Universal Church, St. Joseph is also invoked as the patron of a happy death, and of fathers, bursars, procurators, manual laborers, carpenters, married couples, exiles, the afflicted, those suffering illness, travelers and virgins.

Parishioners at St. Joseph in Pomfret will begin the 33-day series of prayers on March 29, in preparation for a parish-wide consecration on May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.

That is just one of the many events planned at the parish for this year.

“We have planned a full year of events, a mixture of standing and ongoing devotions with some one-off activities,” said Ali Rak, director of religious education and youth ministry at the Pomfret parish.

She said the parish has planned a nine-month First Wednesday novena to St. Joseph. There is a little-known tradition of honoring St. Joseph on the first Wednesday of every month, similar to First Friday devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and First Saturday devotions to Our Lady of Fatima.

The Pomfret parish is also planning adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament on the 19th of each month; opportunities for almsgiving; an all-day adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Mass on the March 19 Solemnity of St. Joseph; a retreat with Mass, Confessions and Adoration on May 1; and a closing Mass on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“All events are determined to honor our patron as well as give abundant opportunities for the faithful to gain the plenary indulgences offered by the Holy Father,” Rak said.

During this Year of St. Joseph, a plenary indulgence has been granted to the faithful who make a sacramental Confession, receive Holy Communion, pray for the pope’s intentions and who:

• Meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Lord’s Prayer, or take part in a Spiritual Retreat of at least one day that includes a meditation on St. Joseph; or

• Perform a spiritual or corporal work of mercy; or

• Pray the rosary as a family; or

• Entrust their daily activity to the protection of St. Joseph or invoke the intercession of St. Joseph for those seeking work; or

• Recite the Litany to St. Joseph or any other prayers to St. Joseph for the persecuted Church and for the relief of all Christians suffering all forms of persecution.

In addition to Masses and consecrations, parishes are honoring St. Joseph in other ways.

Father Gurnee said that at his Capitol Hill parish, “we will have a pasta-making class on Zoom to make the traditional Italian meal; and we will also have solemn vespers in the Church.”

Celebrating St. Joseph with food is a popular custom – especially in Mediterranean European countries ­­– along with creating home altars or tables decorated with a statue of the saint and laden with flowers and foods such as cakes, breads and pasta. The use of flour represents sawdust since St. Joseph was a carpenter. Another traditional food to place on the table is fava beans, a staple of Sicilian agriculture where the practice is believed to have begun.

St. Joseph’s Day is also celebrated as Father’s Day in predominantly Catholic countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Malta.

In this photo from last summer taken at St. Joseph Church in Largo, Maryland, Father Robert Boxie III (at right) and Patricia Baker-Simon collect food for the parish’s food pantry run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., pastor of the parish, said his parishioners have been encouraged to collect food for those in need to honor the parish's patron saint. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Bishop Campbell said his parishioners have been invited to create a St. Joseph table in their homes and to share pictures that will be posted on the parish website. He said parishioners have also been encouraged to collect food for the parish’s food pantry run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

“We are making a commitment to not just have food to celebrate among ourselves, but to gather food to provide for those in need,” Bishop Campbell said. “St. Joseph provided for Our Lord and His mother, so we want to do this in the spirit of St. Joseph.”

Erin Meunier, the vice principal of St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville, said her school is also celebrating their patron by encouraging each class to make their own St. Joseph table.

“The students will place statues, lilies, fava beans and other foods that are customary,” she said. “They will also place their petitions and prayers there.”

Students at St. Joseph's Regional Catholic School in Beltsville, Maryland created this St. Joseph table, a traditional way to honor St. Joseph. The tables usually include a statue of the saint, symbols of his work as a carpenter, flowers, food, especially baked goods, and fava beans, a major crop of Sicily where the practice is thought to have originated. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

She said that Father Maro, the pastor of the parish in which the regional school is located, visits the school every Wednesday “to offer a different prayer to St. Joseph.” The parish also offers Votive Masses in honor of St. Joseph on Wednesdays throughout this Year of St. Joseph. 

Students at St. Joseph's Regional Catholic School are also creating artwork to honor St. Joseph and learning about his different titles in the Litany of St. Joseph. Meunier said “we will celebrate (St. Joseph) the whole year. We are planning some special things, like having a worker of the month and things like that which allows us to explore Joseph on a little deeper level.”

“It is amazing that God entrusted Joseph to be Jesus’s human father, so we have so much to learn from him. He was there to teach Jesus and help Him become the man he was,” Meunier said. “This is a wonderful time and a neat opportunity. As our patron, we know about him, but now we get to learn about him on a deeper level.”

Kiondre Lewis, Samantha Nuila and Ila Gramiccioni, all fifth grade students at St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville, admire artwork they and their fellow students created to honor St. Joseph, the patron of the school. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

In his Patris corde apostolic letter, Pope Francis wrote that it was his aim “to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal.”

Pope Francis himself has a special personal devotion to the foster father of Jesus. After he was elected pope in 2013, he offered his first Mass as pontiff on March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. Two months later, in May 2013, he decreed that “St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary," be included in Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV of the Mass. Until that point, St. Joseph was only included in Eucharistic Prayer I.

This mosaic of St. Joseph is installed near the entrance to St. Joseph Church in Pomfret, Maryland. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Bishop Campbell said it was his hope – should current pandemic restrictions be eased – to take his parishioners on a sort of pilgrimage to visit the other four archdiocesan parishes named in honor of St. Joseph.

“We could go to each of the other parishes, take pictures and display them like a gallery or slideshow so everyone can see the beauty of the parishes in our archdiocese honoring St. Joseph,” the bishop said.

That is a wish shared by Father Gurnee.

He said that he has spoken with the pastors of the other four archdiocesan parishes named in honor of St. Joseph “about having a day of pilgrimage in the diocese to celebrate the year… the long shot is if we can take a trip up to Montreal to go visit the Oratory.”

St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Canada, was founded in 1904 by St. André Bessette. It is the largest shrine in the world dedicated to St. Joseph and attracts more than 2 million pilgrims each year.

The March 19 Solemnity of St. Joseph, is being celebrated not only by parishes dedicated to the foster father of Jesus. For example, an online Spanish-language men’s retreat – “Siguiendo los pasos de San José” (Following in the Footsteps of St. Joseph) – will be offered that evening.

The Archdiocese of Washington has a page on its website dedicated to Year of St. Joseph events. By clicking on https://adw.org/year-of-saint-joseph/, visitors will find a link to the English translation of Patris corde, the text of the prayer to St. Joseph composed by Pope Francis, English and Spanish-language prayers and readings to do an in-home 33-day consecration to St. Joseph, and a link to Year of St. Joseph events that will be updated as events are planned and added to the calendar.

Jonathan Lewis, the archdiocesan assistant secretary for Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns, noted that “St. Joseph is a role model for how God uses ordinary people to show us His love and how we should share it with others. St. Joseph reminds us of the dignity of work we are called to, and the quiet small acts of love that each of us does in our ordinary lives.”

“We tend to have more role models of priests or bishops or popes who were saints. It is refreshing and relatable to have the model of a married man, even if it was a remarkable marriage,” Lewis said. “St. Joseph lived moments of grace even though they were quiet and seemingly not noteworthy moments. This is a reminder for all of us to find God’s grace in our ordinary lives and in our families and workplaces. Joseph is a great intercessor for that.”