Saint Joseph the Worker.

Saint Joseph
Guardian of the Lord;
Spouse of the Mother of God
Patron of the Universal Church of God
Pray for us.

Though the principal feast (solemnity) of Saint Joseph is celebrated on March 19, a second feast of a lower rank is celebrated today May 1. Until 1956 the first day in May was kept by the Roman Rite as the feast of the Apostles Saints Philip and James. This is now celebrated in the calendar observed by Traditionalist Latin Rite Catholics on the 11^th of May, and by Councilists on the 3^rd of May.

The feast of St. Joseph the Worker was instituted by Pope Pius XII to over shadow the communistic May 1^st celebrations and public demonstrations of Europe’s Socialists and Communists. Through the celebration of this feast it was hoped that the social teaching of the Church would come to the fore of the cultural and social-political discussions current in many parts of the world at the time, and thus make a salutary impact on the lives of men and women throughout the world.

Despite the fact that the Soviet Union is now a thing of the past, and the Marxist governments of Eastern Europe have fallen, Communism today still enslaves over one billion persons in China, and millions of others in South-Eastern Asia, as well as Latin America. Socialism with its distinctive totalitarian methodology is on the rise in many places in the West, most notably among the nations of the European Union; but also here in the United States were a noticeable push for power by far leftist organization and highly influential persons imbued with the spirit of Marxism (Socialism) endanger the civil liberties of all citizens, and nullify the rights of God in our society, and in our republic. The one constant antidote to this social, cultural, and political poison remains the social doctrine of the Church, and the grace of God working in the hearts of men. Through the constant intercession of Saint Joseph may the Church of God be safe from every danger, and may the scourge of Communism and Socialism remain far form our land.