Saint Joseph

Also known as

• Joseph of Nazareth
• Joseph the Artisan
• Joseph the Betrothed
• Joseph the Worker

Memorial

• 19 March
• 1 May (Joseph the Worker)

Profile

Descendant of the house of David. Layman. Builder by trade; traditionally a carpenter, but may have been a stone worker. Earthly spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Foster and adoptive father of Jesus Christ. Visionary who was visited by angels. Noted for his willingness to immediately get up and do what God told him to do.

Died

• 1st century, prior to the Passion, of natural causes

Name Meaning

• whom the Lord adds (Joseph)

Patronage

• against doubt
• against hesitation
• accountants
• attornies
• barristers
• bursars
• cabinetmakers
• carpenters
• cemetery workers
• children
• civil engineers
• confectioners
• craftsmen
• dying people
• educators
• emigrants
• exiles
• expectant mothers
• families
• fathers
• furniture makers
• grave diggers
• happy death
• holy death
• house hunters
• immigrants
• interior souls
• joiners
• laborers
• lawyers
• married people
• orphans
• people in doubt
• people who fight Communism
• pioneers
• pregnant women
• social justice
• solicitors
• teachers
• travellers
• unborn children
• wheelwrights
• workers
• working people
• —
• Catholic Church (1847 by Blessed Pope Pius IX)
• Oblates of Saint Joseph
• protection of the Church
• Universal Church (given in 1847 by Blessed Pope Pius IX)
• Vatican II
•  
• Americas
• Austria (given in 1675)
• Belgium
• Bohemia (given in 1654)
• Canada (given in 1624)
• China
• Croatian people (in 1687 by decree of the Croatian parliment)
• Korea
• Mexico (given in 1555)
• New France
• New World
• Peru (given in 1828)
• Philippines (given in 1565)
• Viet Nam
•  
• Anchorage, Alaska, archdiocese of
• Balanga, Philippines, diocese of
• Bangued, Philippines, diocese of
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana, diocese of
• Biloxi, Mississippi, diocese of
• Buffalo, New York, diocese of
• Butuan, Philippines, diocese of
• Cheyenne, Wyoming, diocese of
• Cologne, Germany, archdiocese of
• Daet, Philippines, diocese of
• Edmonton, Alberta, diocese of
• Gatineau, Québec, archdiocese of
• Hartford, Connecticut, archdiocese of
• Houma-Theibodaux, Louisiana, diocese of
• Itanagar, India, diocese of
• La Crosse, Wisconsin, diocese of
• Libmanan, Philippines, diocese of
• Louisville, Kentucky, archdiocese of
• Lubango, Angola, archdiocese of
• MacKenzie – Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, diocese of
• Manchester, New Hampshire, diocese of
• Mangalore, India, diocese of
• Menevia, Wales, diocese of
• Nashville, Tennessee, diocese of
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, archdiocese of
• Osnabrück, Germany, diocese of
• Ottawa, Ontario, archdiocese of
• Rarotonga, Cook Islands, diocese of
• Romblon, Philippines, diocese of
• Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, diocese of
• San Jose, California, diocese of
• San Jose, Mindoro, Philippines, apostolic vicariate of
• San Jose, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, diocese of
• Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, diocese of
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota, diocese of
• Tagbilaran, Philippines, diocese of
• Virac, Philippines, diocese of
• Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, diocese of
• Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, diocese of
• Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, archdiocese of
• Wloclawek, Poland, diocese of
•  
• Carinthia, Austria
• Styria, Austria
• Turin, Italy
• Tyrol, Austria
•  
• Canadian Armed Forces (in 1941)
• Deschambault, Quebec, Canada
•  
• Bavaria, Germany (given in 1663)
• Cologne, Germany
• Westphalia, Germany
•  
• Castelplanio, Ancona, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Fonte Nuova, Italy
• La Spezia, Italy
• Ladispoli, Italy
• Orvieto, Italy
• Querceta, Italy
• Radazzo, Sicily, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Santa Marinella, Italy
• Sicily, Italy
• Spadafora, Sicily, Italy
• Papal States
•  
• Birkirkara, Malta
• Kalkara, Malta
• Msida, Malta
• Qala, Gozo, Malta
•  
• Laguna Indian Pueblo

Representation

• bible
• branch
• carpenter‘s square
• carpenter‘s tools
• chalice
• cross
• hand tools
• infant Jesus
• ladder
• lamb
• lily
• monstrance
• old man holding a lily and a carpenter‘s tool such as a square
• old man holding the infant Jesus
• plane
• rod

Images

Gallery #1 –	10 holy cards –	220 kb
Gallery #2 –	10 holy cards –	149 kb
Gallery #3 –	10 holy cards –	187 kb
Gallery #4 –	10 holy cards –	128 kb
Gallery #5 –	10 holy cards –	134 kb
Gallery #6 –	10 holy cards –	165 kb
Gallery #7 –	19 statues –	210 kb
Gallery #8 –	5 other –	87 kb
Gallery #9 –	11 holy cards –	194 kb
Gallery #10 –	36 Holy Family –	584 kb

Storefront

• Statues to sell a house
• Medals and Pendants

Prayers

• Harry Holbrook‘s collection
• Litany to Saint Joseph
• Novena to Saint Joseph I
• Novena to Saint Joseph II
• Prayer for Fathers, by Pope John XXIII
• Prayer to… I – 2 versions
• Prayer to… V
• Prayer to… II
• Prayer to… III
• Prayer Before Mass
• Prayer to… …for the Whole Church
• Prayer to… …for the Spirit of Work
• Prayer to… …to Know One’s Vocation
• Prayer for a Happy Death
• Prayer to… …patron of Carpenters
• Prayer to… …the Workman
• Prayer to… IV
• Prayer to… …for Protection
• Prayer to… …patron of Workers
• Prayer to… VI
• Prayer to… VII, The Josephites
• Prayer to… VIII, Pope Saint Pius X
• Prayer to… IX, the Pallottines

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Burying Saint Joseph to Sell Your Home
• Catholic News Agency
• Dominican Adaptations from the Catalogus Hagiographicus OP
• Eglise Catholique in France
• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Goffine’s Devout Instructions
• Heiligen 3s
• Heiligen Lexikon
• Katherine Rabenstein
• Kirken i Norge
• Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Quamquam Pluries: On Devotion to Saint Joseph, by Pope Leo XIII
• Redemptoris Custos: Guardian of the Redeemer by Pope John Paul II
• Santi e Beati
• Svetniki
• uCatholic
• Vultus Christi
• Vultus Christi
• Wikipedia: Saint Joseph the Betrothed
• Wikipedia: Saint Joseph
• Wikipedia: Saint Joseph’s Day

Readings

He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’ from a sermon by Saint Bernardine of Siena

There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand. This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord, and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally. Amen. - from a sermon by Saint Bernardine of Siena

What emanates from the figure of Saint Joseph is faith. Joseph of Nazareth is a “just man” because he totally “lives by faith.” He is holy because his faith is truly heroic. Sacred Scripture says little of him. It does not record even one word spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. And yet, even without words, he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness. Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the words of the Living God. He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God. We see how the word of the Living God penetrates deeply into the soul of that man, that just man. And we, do we know how to listen to the word of God? Do we know how to absorb it into the depths of our human personalities? Do we open our conscience in the presence of this word? Pope John Paul II from Daily Meditations

MLA Citation

• “Saint Joseph“. Saints.SQPN.com. 4 May 2013. Web. 21 May 2013. <>