St Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Jesus Christ. He is the patron of work and workers.
Read the full St Joseph the Worker novena on the novena page. You can also learn more about novenas here.
Who Was St Joseph the Worker?
In 1955, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St Joseph the Worker.
He chose May 1st as the feastday to directly combat the Marxist “International Workers’ Day” that the Soviet Union and other Communist countries celebrated on that same day.
St Joseph represents the true model of work for Catholics and all people, since he had the supreme honor of working with Jesus Christ in the carpenter shop at Nazareth.
Jesus learned the carpenter trade from Saint Joseph and spent his early adult years working side-by-side in Joseph’s carpentry shop before leaving to pursue his public ministry.
Pius XII 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.”
In your charity, please include the intentions of the priest and the faithful of St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Tyler, Texas, who are raising funds to build a much-needed new, traditional parish in honor of St Joseph the Worker.
Thanks and God bless, Devin Rose