St Joseph Altar in the Vatican - Bl. John XXIII

. Blessed Pope John XXIII, The "Pope of St Joseph" :  We need a heavenly protector on high during this period … who can call from heaven divine power … This could not be entrusted to a better heavenly protector than Saint Joseph, distinguished head of the Holy Family of Nazareth and protector of the holy Church. … We want the celebration of the feast of St. Joseph, the Patron of the Universal Church, to bring your souls the inspiration for an extraordinary renewal of fervor, that will come from a more lively, more ardent, and more constant prayerful participation in the cares of the Holy Church, your teacher and mother, your instructor and guide.  

The altar of Saint Joseph Venerable brethren and beloved children! That brilliant thought of Pope Pius XI on March 19, 1928 is still pursuing us. Here in Rome, the sacrosanct Basilica of the Lateran always reflects the glory of the Baptist. But the massive temple of St. Peter, where relics and reminders that are precious to all Christendom are venerated, also has an altar to St. Joseph; and today, March 19, 1961, We wish to express Our intention of seeing that altar of St. Joseph take on a new and fuller and more solemn splendor, and of having it become a point of attraction and of religious devotion for individual souls and for countless crowds. For beneath these heavenly vaults of the Vatican temple, the ranks of those who make up the Apostolic College, drawn from every corner of the globe — even the most distant ones — will assemble around the Head of the Church for the Ecumenical Council. 

March 19, 1963: Upon entering the basilica today We dedicated the new image of St. Joseph over the Saint’s altar. We were urged to perform this ceremony Ourself as an act of piety towards the most chaste Spouse of Mary and the Guardian of Jesus, in order to fulfill Our most earnest wish to promote within this great temple of Christendom devotion to St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Church.  

Invocation to Saint Joseph O St. Joseph! Always be our protector. May thy inner spirit of peace, of silence, of good work, and of prayer for the cause of Holy Church always be an inspiration to us and bring us joy in union with thy blessed spouse, our most sweet and gentle and Immaculate Mother, and in the strong yet tender love of Jesus, the glorious and immortal King of all ages and peoples. Amen. 

Glorious Saint Joseph, who disguised the incomparable and sovereign dignity of guardian of Jesus and Mary under the humble appearance of an artisan and with your work provided for their daily sustenance, give your protection to those who are especially entrusted to your care. You know their sufferings and their anxieties, because you shared them yourself by the side of Jesus and his Mother. Do not allow them, under the burden of so many worries, to forget the end for which God created them; do not allow the poison of mistrust to conquer their immortal souls. Remind all workers that in the fields, in the factories, in the mines and in the laboratories of science, they are never alone in their joys and in their sorrow, but that Jesus is always with them, to wipe the perspiration from their brow, and to ennoble their toil. Teach them to transform their labor, as you did, into an exalted instrument of sanctification. Amen.

 

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