Skip to main content

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Feast Day March 19th

(This is the statue of Saint Joseph my family has in our home on our fireplace mantle)

Today, we celebrate Saint Joseph. Most of my life, I honestly didn't think too much about Saint Joseph aside from him being the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the earthly father to whom God entrusted the care of His only Begotten Son. Saint Joseph never says a word in the Bible, but I've since learned that what he says through his actions—allowing God to speak to him and trusting and following God's plans without hesitation— speak volumes of him as a person and his character, and allow us a glimpse into the virtues of the most holy Saint to ever live (The Blessed Virgin Mary is in a category all her own above the Saints!).   

My personal devotion to Saint Joseph, and realization of his awesomeness, began in the fall of 2019. My husband and I were in the process of listing our home on the market and looking for a house that would accommodate our growing family. As a child, I remember my parents buying a Saint Joseph statue and praying for his intercession to help them find the right home to move their family to. So, I bought a Saint Joseph statue and my husband and I then prayed, asking for Saint Joseph's intercession, to help us find our new family home and the right school to send our children to, and then we waited and trusted.  

Fast forward to January 2020, my family had successfully moved to our new home, and I learned that Father Donald Calloway had just released the book, Consecration to Saint Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, and a world-wide consecration to Saint Joseph was about to begin. My husband and I participated, and completed, our consecration to Jesus through Saint Joseph's spiritual paternal care on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph that year. Talk about an amazing book! If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so—you will learn so much about Saint Joseph and grow in your faith journey. The new insights I learned about Saint Joseph, from Father Calloway, not only inspired me to look at the father of the Holy Family in a new way, but learning of how many saints have known about the amazing gift of Saint Joseph as an intercessor and spiritual father was enlightening! And then to add the frosting to the cake, Father Calloway discussed how the Catholic Church needs Saint Joseph now more than ever; and then on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 2020, Pope Francis declared "The Year of Saint Joseph!" Needless to say, I’m renewing my consecration to Jesus through Saint Joseph this year. I hope you and your family grow in your love and devotion of Saint Joseph, and come to see how powerful of an intercessor he is for us in Heaven. Saint Joseph, Protector of the Holy Church, Pillar of Families, and Terror of Demons, pray for us! 

Celebrating with Food:

Since Saint Joseph, humble spouse, father, and worker,  lived with the Holy Family in Nazareth, try making a traditional Nazarene meal. The website,"Nazareth Village," has descriptions of what a typical biblical Nazarene meal would have looked like. My family makes hummus using this easy and delicious recipe from Rachael Ray. We then serve it with warm naan bread, bought at Kroger, sliced cheese, and vegetables for dipping. This year, I am going to attempt to make Labneh—a yogurt dip similar in consistency to American cream cheese— for the first time. It is going to be an adventure! I will be straining plain whole-milk yogurt mixed with salt through a cheese cloth—wish me luck! I will be using this recipe from the website, “Feasting at Home.” 




(Saint Joseph doll from “Be a Heart” checking out the Lebneh making)

For something sweet, you can also make “Jewish Hamantaschen Cookies.” The website, “The Spruce Eats,” has a wonderful recipe. These cookies are traditionally made to remember the story of Esther. My family decided to make them to honor Saint Joseph and the Holy Family’s heritage and modified the three-point hat design to represent each member of the Holy Family. They are delicious! The only changes I made to the recipe were cutting it in half, using 10 tablespoons of butter instead of margarine, and using apricot and raspberry preserves.  Making a meal from a different culture is a wonderful way to help your children connect and relate to various people and places.  


Below is our “Saint Joseph’s Table” completed feast! I loved beginning this table setting tradition this year. 




Celebrating with a Craft:

Today, make wooden birdhouses. Saint Joseph was a carpenter and provided a home for the Holy Family. You and your family, can engage in a bit of carpentry and build a home for birds who will be nesting this spring. Since I have toddlers, we will be making "Melissa and Doug birdhouses." They are simple and relatively in expensive–$10.99 on Amazon. Each year, you and your family can do a different wood working project together based on your children's ages and abilities. If wood working is not your thing, you can make paper lilies representing purity, since Saint Joseph, the most chaste spouse, is traditionally depicted holding them. The website, "The Spruce Crafts," has a tutorial for how to fold a paper lily.   




Celebrate with Prayer: 

Together as a family, say the following prayers: "The Memorare to St. Joseph," a prayer asking for Saint Joseph's intercession, and Pope Francis's prayer that he wrote and has encouraged the faithful to say for the "Year of Saint Joseph."

Memorare to Saint Joseph

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession were left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power I fly unto you and beg your protection. Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen. 

Prayer of Saint Joseph by Pope Francis

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.

(A drawing I made of Saint Joseph)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make a Rosary Garden—Planting Flowers and the Seeds of Prayer

Make a Rosary Garden—Planting Flowers and the Seeds of Prayer:  On the lawn outside of my family's parish, there is a stepping-stone Marian-Rosary garden. Often, after attending daily Mass, on warm or non rainy days, my children love to run around the rosary stones, encircling the statue of Mary, and sit upon the garden's benches. The days when they would run around, only able to exclaim the words, "Hail, Mary! Hail, Mary! Hail Mary!" for each stone, are precious treasured memories I hold within my heart. When we entered the pandemic shutdown, in the spring of 2020, I didn't realize just how much I missed the rosary garden tradition my children and I had after Mass. When my husband and I scheduled confession with our pastor, twelve days into the shutdown, we took turns waiting with our children and letting them play and pray in the rosary garden, while we participated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I'd always desired to make a Mary/Rosary garden in our ba...
Post a Comment
Read more

Invite Your Parish Priest Over for Dinner:

Invite Your Parish Priest Over for Dinner: Four months after moving into our new house, my husband and I decided to invite our parish priest over for dinner and to bless our new home. We still had piles of unpacked boxes, our toddlers were bouncing off the walls with excitement, and my husband and I were a little nervous. Was our home clean enough? Would we be able to engage in good conversations with our guest? When the doorbell rang, our children raced to the door, and began bouncing around, welcoming Father inside. During dinner, we found that the conversations flowed easily. We shared stories about where we grew up, our families, and various other details as we got to know one another outside of church. We laughed as our daughter spilled the beans that my husband and I were expecting our third child, and when we shared our due date, our priest began enthusiastically sharing all sorts of common, as well as some crazy sounding, saint names for days on and near our due date.  Afte...
1 comment
Read more

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feast Day: Nov. 17th  Saint Elizabeth of Hungary has always held a special place in my heart since she is my confirmation saint. If I'm being honest, when I was reading about saints back in the eighth grade, trying to choose which saint I wanted to take as my patron, my requirements were as follows: (1) She couldn't die a horrible death, (2) She was married with kids, (3) and her life was pretty good allowing her to serve God and others through the blessings she'd been given. In hindsight, my list of "requirements" was probably a little superficial, but now as an adult I focus more on the virtues and saintly qualities of Saint Elizabeth, and find inspiration in how she lived. She was humble, a kind and loving wife and mother, and very generous to the poor. She also made plenty of time to pray and grow in her relationship with the Lord. On her wedding day, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a princess, did not wear a crown. Instead she s...
Post a Comment
Read more