It saddens me to know that many
Canadians have no clue that St Joseph is the Patron Saint of our nation. From
the very beginning, New France (Canada) had placed St Joseph in a position of
honor for the new country. At the time, the feast day of St Joseph, on March
19, had just been made mandatory for the whole Church in 1621 under Pope
Gregory XV. There was a new sense of appreciation and vigor for devotion to St
Joseph, as was made evident by the Canadian missionaries. It was the missionary Joseph Le Caron who chose St Joseph as the Patron
Saint of New France (Canada.) Le Caron wrote of
the Huron Indians and the difficulties of the work of evangelization. He noted on
March 19, 1624: "We held a great feast in honor of St Joseph where all the
inhabitants were included, several wild. This feast was held as a vow we made
to St. Joseph, choosing him as Patron of New France.” 
In 1637, Father Le Jeune wrote that
"the feast of the glorious Patriarch St. Joseph, father, patron and
protector of New France, is one of the great solemnities of the country." It was under his patronage that was accomplished the evangelization of the Indians and Joseph’s name was given
to the majority of new converts. The custom of bestowing the name of Joseph,
either as first or middle name, was quickly established in New France, and
continues to this day among many French-Canadian Roman Catholics. | |||
| The first Church in Canada named for St Joseph |
