St. Joseph Takes Center Stage

St. Joseph played the greatest supporting role in history without having a single line! How did he do it? And why did God choose this simple carpenter from Nazareth in the first place?

In this special video for the feast of St. Joseph, Matthew Kelly discusses what made him the perfect man for the job!

A common Catholic tradition for St. Joseph Feast day, which is on March 19th, is to create an altar in his honor. These altars can be as big or as small or as elaborate or as simple as one would like!More details on creating this altar and bread and tuna cake recipes can be found here.

If you're not quite ready to make an elaborate altar like the one pictured above, try making the virtual altar pictured here. All you essentially need is a few small boxes, some thick paper, and some coloring supplies.

On the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation of St. Joseph as "Patron of the Universal Church," Pope Francis has proclaimed a "Year of St. Joseph," with his apostolic letter Patris Corde ("With a Father's Heart"). During this year, the pope invites us to:

          * increase our love for St. Joseph.
          * implore his intercession.
          * imitate his virtues and zeal.

Begin your Year of St. Joseph by reading Patris Corde and messages from Archbishop Jackels on January 5 which highlights key points of the Pope's letter, and February 2, which introduces a "Novena of 19s" through November 2021. 
 

A few years ago while visiting the Philippines, Pope Francis wove his love for St. Joseph into an address on prayer and family. Specifically, he spoke about a statue he has on his desk of the Sleeping Joseph. From the Gospels, we know that St. Joseph listened to God in his dreams and then rose to act on God’s will. Pope Francis shared with his audience that he asks St. Joseph to pray for his intentions by writing them down and slipping the paper under the statue of St. Joseph.

Two activities are available for you to do: a St. Joseph Prayer Pillow for the younger kids and a booklet for the older kids.

Here are four coloring pages to choose from:

Joseph holding Jesus and a lily

The Holy Family at work

Joseph and Jesus in the workshop

Joseph and Jesus against leafy background

Coloring pages from virtualstjosephaltar.com/color/