In a post on X, Francis recalls one of his favorite saints. At the general audience he invites us to look at the Holy Family of Nazareth, a model of domestic community
Benedetta Capelli – Vatican City
“Today we remember SanGiuseppeWorkatore . We ask the Lord to renew and increase our faith, so that all our work has its beginning and its completion in Him.” It is the post that appeared on The liturgical feast of Saint Joseph the craftsman was established by Pius XII on May 1, 1955.
Life, work, love
Also at the general audience, the Pope remembered Saint Joseph. “To each of you – he stated – I would like to propose the Holy Family of Nazareth as a model of domestic community: community of life, work and love”. Francis’ devotion to the foster father of Jesus is well known, an emblem of trust in God, a man who in silence cultivated his yes to the Lord. With the apostolic letter “Patris Corde”, the Pope proclaimed a special Year of Saint Joseph from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. In the text, also the result of the pandemic which has generated job losses in many sectors, Francis invites us to look at the saint from whom “Jesus learned the value, dignity and joy of what it means to eat the bread that is the fruit of one’s own labour” . “We implore Saint Joseph the worker – we read again in the Patris Corde – so that we can find ways that commit us to saying: no young person, no person, no family without work”.
“Protect workers”
On 12 January 2022, in the catechesis of the general audience dedicated to the figure of Saint Joseph the carpenter, the Pope recalled a prayer raised by Saint Paul VI to Saint Joseph on 1 May 1969.
“O Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of the Church, you who, alongside the incarnate Word, worked every day to earn your bread, drawing from Him the strength to live and toil; you who have felt the anxiety of tomorrow, the bitterness of poverty, the precariousness of work: you who radiate today, the example of your figure, humble before men but great before God, protect workers in their harsh existence daily, defending them from discouragement, from negative revolt, as well as from the temptations of hedonism; and safeguard peace in the world, that peace which alone can guarantee the development of peoples. Amen”.
