Saint Joseph the Workman, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
S. Ioseph Opificis Sponsi B.M.V. Confessoris
On the first of May the Church honours Saint Joseph, the foster-father of Our Lord and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Workman, holding up the carpenter of Nazareth as the model and protector of all who labour with their hands.
The feast of Saint Joseph the Workman sets before the faithful the same Saint Joseph whom the Church venerates as the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the guardian of the Holy Family, now considered under the aspect of his daily toil. The Gospel calls him a carpenter, and tells us that the Lord Jesus Himself was known as the carpenter’s son. In the workshop of Nazareth the Son of God laboured at the side of His foster-father, sanctifying human work and the quiet round of an ordinary life.
The dignity of human labour
This feast was given to the universal Church in the year 1955, to be kept on the first of May, that the faithful might look to Saint Joseph as the heavenly patron of all workers and find in him an example of labour offered to God. The Church thereby teaches that work, far from being a mere burden, is a share in the providence of the Creator and a means of sanctification, when it is joined to prayer and ordered to the love of God and neighbour. In Saint Joseph, who supported the Holy Family by the work of his hands, every labourer beholds the nobility of honest toil.
Model and protector of workers
Saint Joseph laboured in obscurity, asking no reward but the good of those entrusted to him, and offering his work in silence to God. The Church commends to his protection all who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, and bids them sanctify their labour by his example. In keeping this feast in the season of Easter, the faithful are reminded that even the humblest work, united to the Risen Christ, shares in the hope of eternal life, where the labours of the just shall find their everlasting rest.
The Collect
O God, the Creator of all things, who didst lay upon the human race the law of labour: graciously grant; that, by the example and patronage of Saint Joseph, we may accomplish the works which Thou commandest, and attain the rewards which Thou dost promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Rerum cónditor Deus, qui legem labóris humáno géneri statuísti: concéde propítius; ut, sancti Ioseph exémplo et patrocínio, ópera perficiámus quæ prǽcipis, et prǽmia consequámur quæ promíttis. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.
Patronage
Under this title Saint Joseph is venerated as the patron of workers and of all who labour with their hands.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar, Saint Joseph the Worker is kept on the same day, 1 May, as an optional memorial rather than a feast of the first class.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Joseph the Workman?
It is kept on 1 May. In the 1962 Roman Missal it is a feast of the First Class; in the modern calendar Saint Joseph the Worker is kept on the same day as an optional memorial.
Why is Saint Joseph honoured as a workman?
The Gospel tells us that Saint Joseph was a carpenter, and that Our Lord laboured at his side in Nazareth. The Church holds him up as the model and patron of all who work, teaching that honest labour, joined to God, is a means of holiness.
Is this the same Saint Joseph kept on 19 March?
Yes. It is the same Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Our Lord. On 19 March the Church keeps his principal feast; on 1 May she honours him especially as the Workman and patron of labourers.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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