♔ ST. JOSEPH'S ALTAR AT ST. PETER'S BASILICA ♔

On March 19, 1961, in his apostolic epistle, Le Voci, naming St. Joseph patron of the second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII also called for the St. Joseph altar in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to “take on a new and fuller and more solemn splendor….” On March 19, 1963, the Holy Father blessed the new mosaic. Following the blessing, he commented: “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 and patron of the Second Vatican Council. ”

The mosaic, over nine feet high and made of individual tiles all less then half an inch square, reproduces a painting of the Milanese artist, Achille Funi (born c. 1892). St. Joseph stands on a classical marble pedestal, with Jesus in arm and flowering staff in his left hand. The Child affectionately holds and looks toward his earthly father. At St. Joseph’s feet an angel kneels offering him St. Peter’s boat with supplicant expression. A human person also kneels offering him an olive branch with a plea for true peace. Another angel flies down from heaven with a banner that reads Tu eris super domum meam, “You shall be over my house.” In a word, St. Joseph’s image in the mother church of all Christendom recalls his role as protector of the entire Church. St. Joseph hears the prayers of all who invoke him, whether in the humblest little chapel or the world’s greatest basilica.  

Blessed John XXIII & St Joseph

Blessed Pope John XXIII, Le Voci, 19 March 1961:  As a new spring breaks into view and we stand on the threshold of the Sacred Easter Liturgy, we find ourselves face to face with the kind and gentle St. Joseph, stately spouse of Mary, a figure so dear to the minds and hearts of those who are most responsive to the appeal of Christian asceticism and the forms of religious devotion that are quiet and unobtrusive, but all the sweeter and more pleasing for being so. …For long centuries St Joseph remained in the background that was so typical of him, like a kind of ornamental detail in the overall picture of the Saviour’s life. It took time for devotion to him to go beyond those passing glances and take root in the hearts of the faithful, and then surge forth in the form of special prayers and of a profound sense of trust and confidence. The fervent joy of pouring forth these deepest feelings of the heart in so many impressive ways has been saved for modern times; and it gives Us special pleasure to draw upon these treasures now for something quite pertinent and meaningful.

St. Joseph: be always our protector. That your internal spirit of peace, silence, honest work, and prayer in the service of the Church give us life and happiness in union with your blessed Spouse, our Sweet and Immaculate Mother in the strong and mild love to Jesus, Glorious and Immortal King of the centuries and the people. + Amen.

The Popes & St Joseph - II

Pope Francis, 19 March 2013 - Caring and protecting demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!

Pope Benedict XVI, 18 March 2009 - Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing. In contemplating Joseph, all men and women can, by God’s grace, come to experience healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to him, just as Joseph entered into the work of redemption through Mary and as a result of what God had already done in her.

Pope Paul VI, 27 March 1969 - St. Joseph was a "committed" man, as we might say nowadays. And what commitment! He had total commitment to Mary, the elect of all the women of the earth and of history, always his virgin spouse… and total commitment to Jesus, who was his offspring only by legal descendance, not by the flesh. His were the burdens, the responsibilities, the risks and the labors surrounding the Holy Family. His was the service, the work and the sacrifices, in the shadows of that Gospel picture in which we love to meditate on him; and we are certainly not mistaken, for we all know him now and call him blessed.

Blessed Pope John XXIII, 19 March 1961 - As a new spring breaks into view and we stand on the threshold of the Sacred Easter Liturgy, we find ourselves face to face with the kind and gentle St. Joseph, stately spouse of Mary, a figure so dear to the minds and hearts of those who are most responsive to the appeal of Christian asceticism and the forms of religious devotion that are quiet and unobtrusive, but all the sweeter and more pleasing for being so. …For long centuries St Joseph remained in the background that was so typical of him, like a kind of ornamental detail in the overall picture of the Saviour’s life. It took time for devotion to him to go beyond those passing glances and take root in the hearts of the faithful, and then surge forth in the form of special prayers and of a profound sense of trust and confidence. The fervent joy of pouring forth these deepest feelings of the heart in so many impressive ways has been saved for modern times; and it gives Us special pleasure to draw upon these treasures now for something quite pertinent and meaningful.

Pope Leo XIII, 15 August 1889 - St. Joseph set himself to protect, with a mighty love and a daily solicitude, his spouse and the Divine Infant; regularly by his work he earned what was necessary for the one and the other for nourishment and clothing; he guarded from death the Child threatened by a monarch's jealousy, and found for Him a refuge; in the miseries of the journey and in the bitterness of exile he was ever the companion, the assistance, and the upholder of the Virgin and of Jesus.

Blessed Pope Pius IX 8 December 1870 - Him whom countless kings and prophets had desired to see, Joseph not only saw but conversed with, and embraced in paternal affection, and kissed. He most diligently reared Him... Because of this sublime dignity which God conferred on his most faithful servant, the Church has always most highly honored and praised blessed Joseph.

 

The Popes Speak of St Joseph Patron of the Church

How does St Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God's presence and receptive to God's plans, and not simply to his own. … Joseph is a "protector" because he is able to hear God's voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God's call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation! – Pope Francis, Homily, 19 March 2013

Dear brothers and sisters, our meditation on the human and spiritual journey of Saint Joseph invites us to ponder his vocation in all its richness, and to see him as a constant model for all those who have devoted their lives to Christ in the priesthood, in the consecrated life or in the different forms of lay engagement. Joseph was caught up at every moment by the mystery of the Incarnation. Not only physically, but in his heart as well, Joseph reveals to us the secret of a humanity which dwells in the presence of mystery and is open to that mystery at every moment of everyday life. – Pope Benedict XVI, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 19 March 2009

 

The life of Saint Joseph, lived in obedience to God’s word, is an eloquent sign for all the disciples of Jesus who seek the unity of the Church. His example helps us to understand that it is only by complete submission to the will of God that we become effective workers in the service of his plan to gather together all mankind into one family, one assembly, one ‘ecclesia.’  - Pope Benedict XVI, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 19 March 2009

The Church invokes St. Joseph as her Patron and Protector through her unshakable trust that he to whom Christ willed to confide the care and protection of His own frail human childhood, will continue from heaven to perform his protective task in order to guide and defend the Mystical Body of Christ Himself, which is always weak, always under attack, always in a state of peril. We call upon St. Joseph for the world, trusting that the heart of the humble working man of Nazareth, now overflowing with immeasurable wisdom and power, still harbors and will always harbor a singular and precious fellow-feeling for the whole of mankind. So may it be. – Pope Paul VI, Homily, 19 March 1969

All the saints in glory assuredly merit honor and particular respect, but it is evident that, next to the Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph possesses a just title to a more sweet, more intimate and penetrating place in our hearts, belonging to him alone… We are able to see all the greatness of Saint Joseph, not only by reason of the fact that he was close to Jesus and Mary, but also by the shining example he has given of all virtues…

- Blessed Pope John XXIII, Allocution, 19 March 1959

  

The Blessed Patriarch Joseph looks upon the multitude of Christians who make up the Church as confided especially to his trust - this limitless family spread over the earth, over which, because he is the spouse of Mary and the father of Jesus Christ he holds, as it were, a paternal authority. It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ. - Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam Pluries

 

The Catholic Church rightly honors and venerates, with a feeling of deep reverence, the illustrious patriarch blessed Joseph, now crowned with glory and honor in heaven. On earth Almighty God, in preference to all His saints, willed him to be the chaste and true spouse of the Immaculate Virgin Mary as well as the putative father of His only-begotten Son. He indeed enriched him and filled him to overflowing with entirely unique graces, enabling him to execute more faithfully the duties of so sublime a state.  - Blessed Pope Pius IX, Inclytum Patriarcham

In these latter times in which a monstrous and most abominable war has been declared against the Church of Christ … we should more efficaciously implore the compassion of God through the merits and intercession of Saint Joseph … Hence, by a special decree … We solemnly declare the blessed patriarch Joseph Patron of the Universal Church! … O God, who in your ineffable providence was pleased to choose blessed Joseph as the spouse of your most holy mother, grant, we beseech you, that we may be made worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom we venerate as our protector on earth… - Blessed Pope Pius IX, Inclytum Patriarcham

Click here to read Papal Entrustments to St Joseph 

 

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.

 

www.PrinceOfTheChurch.yolasite.com