Diocese celebrates Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
SALT LAKE CITY —The Diocese of Salt Lake City had special celebrations on March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast honors St. Joseph for his personal characteristics and for his part in the work of redemption.
Pope Francis has proclaimed this a special Year of St. Joseph; an opportunity “to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal,” the Holy Father wrote in Patris Corde, the apostolic letter marking the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St. Joseph as patron of the Universal Church.
On the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Bishop Oscar A. Solis celebrated a livestreamed Mass in the chapel of the Pastoral Center. (See Bishop Solis presides at Mass in honor of St. Joseph.)
In celebration of St. Joseph, many local Catholics prayed a novena that culminated in a celebratory Mass on March 19.
For example, the pro-life ministry at St. Olaf Parish in Bountiful asked parishioners to pray, from March 10 to March 18, the St. Joseph adoption novena that was posted on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The novena was “a great way to pray for all of those involved and increase that noble service of adopting children whose mothers have chosen life for them but may not be able to care for those children on their own,” said Cindy Wilson, chairperson of the parish pro-life ministry.
The novena was appropriate for the solemnity because St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, “is such a good role model for people who are looking at adoption or thinking about it,” Wilson said.
During the March 19 Mass, St. Olaf pastor Fr. Andrzej Skrzypiec unveiled a new picture of St. Joseph that has been placed in the shrine at the back of the church. The image, of St. Joseph holding the child Jesus, with St. John the Baptist kissing the Lord’s foot, shows “early recognition of the divinity of Christ,” Fr. Skrzypiec said.
The shrine also holds a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “The Holy Family is together,” Fr. Skrzypiec said.
After the unveiling, the congregation recited the Litany of St. Joseph. Fr. Skrzypiec said the picture and the novena were a way to accept Pope Francis’ “invitation to make St. Joseph a part of our lives, in our families and our parish.”
Others marked the solemnity in different ways.
At Juan Diego Catholic High School, celebrating St. Joseph has become a tradition.
St. Joseph is one of the school’s patron saints; the cafeteria is named Saint Joseph’s Commons, “and honoring St. Joseph is something we do annually as a school community,” said April van der Sluys, the school’s advancement coordinator.
As a special way to mark the Year of St. Joseph proclaimed by Pope Francis, the JDCHS community set up a St. Joseph’s Table in the school’s Great Hall to collect donations brought in through a weeklong food drive that benefited the Catholic Community Services food bank. More than 12,500 items were collected.
“The tradition of a St. Joseph’s Table dates to the Middle Ages, when there was a severe drought and famine in Sicily. The peasants prayed to St. Joseph, and when the rains arrived, they organized a celebration in his honor. This event became an annual tradition held around St. Joseph’s feast day, March 19,” said Michelle Moynihan, JDCHS theology teacher, who with her social justice students and Dave Brunetti, the school’s director of Campus Life, organized the St. Joseph’s Table.
The message behind a St. Joseph’s Table fits with the school motto, Spiritus Donorum (the Spirit of Giving), Moynihan said. “Our hope was to give back to the community, particularly those who are facing financial hardship in these turbulent times.”
In Salt Lake City, St. Vincent de Paul Parish spent the full day March 19 celebrating the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Activities included a daylong Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a healing prayer service. Fr. John Norman, pastor, said he felt it was important to follow the call by Bishop Solis to observe the Year of St. Joseph.
“A lot of things just converged,” Fr. Norman said. “We thought, ‘Why not just combine all of those things for the feast of St. Joseph?’ It worked out nicely to be able to combine everything; plus we’re in the middle of a pandemic, so we could pray for those who are sick. It’s a nice opportunity to do all of those things together and make it a day, almost a retreat day.”
At the 9 a.m. Mass, Fr. Norman used his homily to speak of the example St. Joseph set. At 6:30 p.m., he and Deacon Jeff Allen led more than 40 participants in a prayer service for healing. The service included hymns, and readings from Psalms and the Gospel of St. Mark.
After the readings, Fr. Norman invited participants to meditate and reflect on “the need for healing that each of us experiences in our lives, to pray for healing for those that we love and those who love us and to pray for healing that is so needed in every part of our world from many diseases and afflictions that can be present in our lives and present in our world.”
The meditation was followed by a recitation of the Litany of St. Joseph and the Our Father. Fr. Norman then led the Stations of the Cross.
Parishioners David and Carol Hughes were surprised by the prayer service. They were expecting a more traditional service where Fr. Norman would administer the Sacrament of the Sick, they said. However, “COVID has impacted on everything, so maybe there are those that don’t want to be in so close a proximity,” Carol Hughes said. “I’m glad that Fr. Norman tried this for what we can do in this time.”
Stephen Sadiq found the service comforting.
“I think it’s beautiful and does help people who are going through some kind of sickness,” he said. “I think it helps.”
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