By Courtney Mares
Rome Newsroom, Mar 19, 2025 / 04:00 am
The Year of St. Joseph proclaimed by Pope Francis in December 2020 coincided with the 150th anniversary of St. Joseph’s proclamation as patron of the universal Church by Blessed Pius IX on Dec. 8, 1870.
“Jesus Christ Our Lord … whom countless kings and prophets had desired to see, Joseph not only saw but conversed with, and embraced in paternal affection, and kissed. He most diligently reared him whom the faithful were to receive as the bread that came down from heaven whereby they might obtain eternal life,” the 1870 proclamation Quemadmodum Deus stated.
Blessed Pius IX’s successor, Pope Leo XIII, went on to dedicate an encyclical letter to devotion to St. Joseph — Quamquam Pluries.
“Joseph became the guardian, the administrator, and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was,” Leo XIII wrote in the encyclical published in 1889.
“Now the divine house which Joseph ruled with the authority of a father contained within its limits the scarce-born Church,” he added.
Leo XIII presented St. Joseph as a model at a time when the world and the Church were wrestling with the challenges posed by modernity. A few years later, the pope went on to publish Rerum Novarum, an encyclical on capital and labor that outlined principles to ensure the dignity of laborers.
In the past 150 years, nearly every pope has taken steps to further devotion to St. Joseph in the Church and to use the humble father and carpenter as a witness for the modern world.
“If you want to be close to Christ, I repeat to you ‘Ite ad Ioseph’: Go to Joseph!” said Venerable Pius XII in 1955 as he instituted the feast of St. Joseph.
Joseph as a role model for workers and a protector against socialist ideologies, the celebration of Joseph the Worker on May 1 has a rich history that dates back even further. This feast day was strategically placed on the calendar to offer an alternative to the communist May Day rallies that commemorated the Haymarket affair in Chicago in 1886.
The Church has long presented St. Joseph as an example of dignity and virtue for laborers. In 1889, Pope Leo XIII cautioned the poor against following the false promises of seditious men, urging them instead to look to St. Joseph as a source of inspiration. The pontiff emphasized that the labor of the lowly is not dishonorable but can be ennobled through virtue, echoing the sentiments of his predecessor.
In the early 20th century, both Benedict XV and Pius XI continued to elevate St. Joseph as a heavenly patron of laborers, recognizing his role as a protector against the spread of socialism and communism. Benedict XV prayed for St. Joseph to guide laborers and keep them steadfast in their faith, while Pius XI declared St. Joseph as the standard bearer in the Church’s campaign against world communism.
St. Joseph, known as “The Just,” exemplifies Christian justice in social life through his humble work and dedication to his family. His feast day on May 1 serves as a reminder to workers of their special right to dignity and respect in their labor. As we celebrate Joseph the Worker, let us look to St. Joseph as a model of virtue and perseverance in the face of adversity, following in his footsteps as we navigate the challenges of the modern world.
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