Saint Joseph

St. Joseph is the just man to whom the Gospel entrusts history's greatest mystery: the care of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. A descendant of David's house, he worked as a carpenter or craftsman in Nazareth of Galilee.

When he learned Mary was with child, his heart was tested; but the Lord's angel appeared in a dream and revealed that the conception was the work of the Holy Spirit. Joseph obeyed without reserve and welcomed Mary into his home.

He fled to Egypt to protect the Child from Herod's threats and, years later, settled in Nazareth, where Jesus 'grew in wisdom, stature, and grace.' The Gospel records no words of his — only his faithfulness.

Tradition presents him as a model of the worker who sustains his family honestly, the father who teaches his trade to the Son, and the spouse who silently guards God's designs.

The Church venerates him as patron of the universal Church since the nineteenth century, and Pius XII declared him patron of workers in 1955. St. Joseph the Worker is celebrated on May 1; his principal feast is March 19.

In times of family uncertainty, unemployment, or difficult decisions, millions of faithful turn to his intercession, trusting in the strength of one who protected the Holy Family with calloused hands and an obedient heart.