Saint Joseph the Worker
Feast day: May 1
Saint Joseph supports the Holy Family by his craft and teaches the boy Jesus to value work (01/05)
What is this feast?
The feast of Saint Joseph the Worker honors Saint Joseph as a model worker. In 1955, Pope Pius XII set this feast on 1 May, the day many countries around the world celebrate workers. The Church wants to tell every craftsman and every worker: Saint Joseph is your friend and your patron.
The story
The Gospel does not tell us much about Saint Joseph, but it says that he worked at a trade. When Jesus came to preach in his hometown, the villagers asked one another in surprise whether he was not the son of the craftsman (cf. Mt 13:55). According to tradition, Saint Joseph was a carpenter who made doors, tables, chairs and plows for the villagers.
Jesus is the Son of God, yet he lived nearly thirty hidden years in Nazareth, obedient to his parents (cf. Lk 2:51). Jesus may have helped Saint Joseph in the workshop and learned to use the plane and the saw. The Gospel of Mark even calls Jesus himself a craftsman (cf. Mk 6:3).
The ages of Saint Joseph and the boy Jesus, the apron and the tools on the card are imagined by the artist, using only things from those ancient times.
Why does the Church celebrate this feast?
The Church celebrates it to honor the value of work. We work not only to earn money, but also to cooperate with God and to serve our families and society. Saint Paul teaches: “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others” (Col 3:23). The Church also prays for people who are out of work and for those whose work is hard.
A lesson for you
- Studying is your work; do your homework carefully, the way Saint Joseph planed each board.
- Help your parents with the housework without needing to be reminded.
- Be grateful to and respectful of all workers: cleaners, shopkeepers, motorbike-taxi drivers.
Identifying marks
- Saint Joseph planing a board on his workbench: manual work is noble; through his hard work, Saint Joseph provides for his family.
- The boy Jesus holding the other end of the board, smiling at his father: the Son of God learned a trade and worked like any son in the family; he made everyday work holy.
- Father and son looking at each other lovingly: work done together in love becomes a joy for the family.
- Curled wood shavings, a wooden mallet and a saw on the wall: the simple tools of a poor workshop in Nazareth.
- A leather apron and rolled-up sleeves: Saint Joseph is a real worker who is not afraid of hard work.
The text on this page is the saint card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
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