Sunday, March 19, 2017

Feast Day of Saint Joseph



  1. It has the rank of a solemnity in the Roman Catholic Church; Catholics who follow the Missal of 1962 celebrate it as a first class feast which was previously celebrated as a feast of the rank of double of the first class prior to 1962. 
  2. It is a feast or commemoration in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. 
  3. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland as well as for Canada, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious institutes, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. 
    Source: comshalom
  4. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
  5. March 19 was dedicated to Saint Joseph in several Western calendars by the 10th century, and this custom was established in Rome by 1479. 
  6. Pope St. Pius V extended its use to the entire Roman Rite by his Apostolic Constitution Quo primum (July 14, 1570) and since 1969, Episcopal Conferences may, if they wish, transfer it to a date outside Lent.
  7. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Joseph on the Sunday after Christmas.
  8. In Spain, the day is a version of Father's Day. In some parts of Spain it is celebrated as Falles.
  9. This is one of the public holidays in Malta, known as Jum San Ġużepp.
  10. St. Joseph's Day is also the day when the swallows are traditionally believed to return to Mission San Juan Capistrano after having flown south for the winter.
  11. In Italy March 19 is also Father's Day. 
  12. In Sicily, where St. Joseph is regarded by many as their Patron saint, and in many Italian-American communities, thanks are given to St. Joseph ("San Giuseppe" in Italian) for preventing a famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages.
Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Joseph%27s_Day
http://www.comshalom.org/en/novena-to-saint-joseph/

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