MAY, CELEBRATING ST. JOSEPH, OUR BLESSED MOTHER AND ALL MOTHERS

Joan Lewis

May 1

MAY, CELEBRATING ST. JOSEPH, OUR BLESSED MOTHER AND ALL MOTHERS

Today is May 1st and one of my favorite days of the year, a day that starts one of my favorite months of the year! May 1 is, as you know, the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker as well as a month dedicated to Mary and very often, in addition to October. is a second month in which we celebrate the rosary.

Mary, of course was the mother par excellence and we honor motherhood and Mother's Day in May. So now we have 30 days ahead of us and lots to look forward to.

My favorite image of St. Joseph the Worker:

May 1st is Labor Day in Italy and 80 or more countries around the world. It's marked by civil events and gatherings, a day off for people who work in banks, schools, offices, and other places, and it ends in Rome with a very big concert that has been defined in time as the biggest free concert in Europe. For many years, that concert was held on the esplanade in front of Saint John Lateran church, but is scheduled tonight to take place in the massive Circus Maximus. Today was generally a cloudy, gray, rainy day, but the venue for the concert should be OK as the rain has stopped.

Although May 1st is celebrated as the secular Labor Day in so many countries, it is a religious holiday in the Vatican because it is the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Ever since 2021 was proclaimed the Year of St. Joseph for the Universal Church, I have tried to get to really know this wonderful saint, and have made him a much bigger part of my daily life and prayer life. Pleading for his intercession for favors has been remarkably positive in these last few years!

Pope Francis held the weekly general audience today in the Paul VI Hall, instead of St. Peter's Square, due to the rain this morning. His catechesis was about the theological virtue of faith, and he described it as "the happiest gift" and "the only virtue we are permitted to envy."

The Holy Father explained that, "without the three theological virtues, we would not have eyes that see even in the dark, we would not have a heart that loves even when it is not loved, we would not have a hope that dares against all hope." For his entire catechesis: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-05/pope-at-audience-faith-is-first-gift-of-christian-life.html

Another big event today in Rome today took place at the church of Sant'Onofrio on Janiculum Hill when Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, took possession of his titular church. This is the traditional church in Rome of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher. Cardinal Pizzaballa became the Grand Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher on October 24, 2020 when he was named the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem by Pope Francis. He was created a cardinal by Francis on September 30, 2023.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, processes after celebrating Mass to formally take possession of his titular church, the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum, in Rome May 1, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

We first met in Rome in December 2007 when he was the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land and then on successive occasions in Jerusalem when I was there on pilgrimage or covering a papal visit. I've interviewed him several times for my EWTN radio show, Vatican insider.

Cardenal Pizzaballa is certainly at the top of my prayer list, especially given the situation in the Holy Land in these recent months and days. Please put the cardinal patriarch and all Christians in the Holy Land and your prayer list!

Well, just some thoughts on this wonderful May 1st feast of Saint Joseph and Labor Day. I hope in many ways that your day is special, and that May will be a memorable month from start to finish with all the special days devoted to saints and to mothers!