Join Autom today as we celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker!
SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER
Feast Day: May 1
Patron of Workers
Feast Day: May 1
Patron of Workers
As you may recall, we celebrated the feast of St. Joseph, husband of Mary, on March 19th.But he is so important, the Church wanted to honor him more, and they found a way.
For decades, May Day was the occasion for Communist countries to parade their military power. On this day in 1955, Pope Pius XII inaugurated the celebration of St. Joseph the Worker. It seemed comical, even absurd, to raise up Joseph to challenge the Communist military machine on its May Day march, but look at what happened! The disintegration of Communism is often attributed to the Lord working through the prayers of His people, and especially in response to the apparitions of Mother Mary at Fatima in 1917, urging all to pray and do penance for the conversion of Russia.
That being said, it is also true that the Lord has transformed the world through Joseph and through simple, common, obscure workers like him--like us!
As St. Paul exhorts us, "Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being. Do it for the Lord rather than for men. ... Be slaves of Christ the Lord". (Colossians 3:23-24).
Our obscure lives and routine work can change the world if we have faith as did Saint Joseph. The Lord is speaking to us: "Take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work! For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts". (Haggai 2:4)
A Prayer to Saint Joseph for Workers
O glorious Joseph! Who concealed your incomparable and regal dignity of custodian of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary under the humble appearance of a craftsman and provided for them with your work, protect with loving power your sons, especially entrusted to you.
You know their anxieties and sufferings, because you yourself experienced them at the side of Jesus and of His Mother. Do not allow them, oppressed by so many worries, to forget the purpose for which they were created by God. Do not allow the seeds of distrust to take hold of their immortal souls. Remind all the workers that in the fields, in factories, in mines, and in scientific laboratories, they are not working, rejoicing, or suffering alone, but at their side is Jesus, with Mary, His Mother and ours, to sustain them, to dry the sweat of their brow, giving value to their toil. Teach them to turn work into a very high instrument of sanctification as you did. Amen.
You know their anxieties and sufferings, because you yourself experienced them at the side of Jesus and of His Mother. Do not allow them, oppressed by so many worries, to forget the purpose for which they were created by God. Do not allow the seeds of distrust to take hold of their immortal souls. Remind all the workers that in the fields, in factories, in mines, and in scientific laboratories, they are not working, rejoicing, or suffering alone, but at their side is Jesus, with Mary, His Mother and ours, to sustain them, to dry the sweat of their brow, giving value to their toil. Teach them to turn work into a very high instrument of sanctification as you did. Amen.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
AINT CATHERINE OF SIENA
Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes, France, in 1844. One day, as she was gathering firewood beside a river, Bernadette saw a beautiful Lady wearing a blue and white dress who was floating above a rose bush. The Lady smiled at her and made the sign of the cross with a golden rosary. Bernadette knelt down and began to pray. The Lady, who was the Virgin Mary, asked Bernadette to dig nearby. When she did so, a spring emerged with healing waters. Mary asked Bernadette to have a chapel built by the spot, so people could come there to wash and drink. The water from this spring continues to bring healings to many people. Our Lady also requested that a church be built there. Bernadette became a nun, and died a few years later. Pope Pius XI canonized Saint Bernadette in 1933.
Saint John Baptist de la Salle was born in 1651 in France. He decided to follow Jesus at an early age, and became a priest in 1678. John wanted to help children learn better. In 1679, he helped a friend open up a school for poor boys. He realized that was what he wanted to do the rest of his life. Saint John believed that the best way to serve his students was to teach their teachers. He therefore established the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1680. Soon after, he founded colleges for training teachers. John died in 1719, but his work spread quickly throughout the whole world. Pope Leo XIII canonized Saint John Baptist de la Salle in 1900, and in 1950 he was made the patron saint of teachers.
SAINT VINCENT FERRER
Isidore was born of a royal family in Spain in 560. He didn’t get very good grades, so he ran away from school. He stopped for a drink of water from a spring, and noticed a stone, which was hollowed out by the dripping water. He realized that if he kept working at it, little by little, just like that dripping water, he could
SAINT JOSEPH
SAINT PATRICK
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The Vatican announced today that the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is due to begin tomorrow, 18 January, under the theme "We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ". The Week is promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), a worldwide fellowship of 349 Churches seeking unity, common witness and Christian service. The Catholic Church participates in this ecumenical initiative, despite not being a member of the WCC.
Each year ecumenical partners in a particular region are asked to prepare a basic text on a biblical theme. Then an international group with WCC-sponsored (Protestant and Orthodox) and Roman Catholic participants edits this text to ensure it is linked with the search for Christian unity. The text is jointly published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and by the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order which also accompanies the entire production process of the text. The final material is sent to member Churches and Roman Catholic dioceses, which are invited to translate the text and contextualise it for their own use. 
The word Epiphany, from the Greek epiphaneia, means appearance or manifestation. In the New Testament the word refers either to the birth of Jesus, or to one of His manifestations, for example, after His Resurrection. The Epiphany, or Manifestation, of Jesus to the Gentiles, represented by the Wise Men, was a most significant event, for it signaled that Christ was sent for the salvation of all people. Isaiah had prophesied about the Messiah:
Herod did not want to hear of any king but himself. He therefore called together the learned men in Jerusalem and asked them, “Where is the Messiah, called Christ, to be born?” They answered, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus wrote the prophet: ‘You, Bethlehem, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”
The morning of the battle arrived on October 7th, 1571, with a strong wind blowing in favor of the Turkish fleets. Don Juan sailed in a small, speedy vessel to each of his ships, shouting encouragement and prayers to the men. Immediately, the winds shifted in favor of the Christians. The battle lasted 5 hours and Christians won a stunning victory at Lepanto, defeating the Turks and saving Europe from Muslim invasion and eventual domination.
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Saint Anthony was born on August 15, in the year 1195, in Lisbon, Portugal, to a wealthy family. His given name is Fernando Martins de Bulhão. His parents wanted Fernando to become a noble, but Fernando had other plans. He did not want to attend the local Catholic school, as his family desired, and chose instead to enter the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Vincent near Lisbon, Portugal. Fernando was a member of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, a group well known for their pursuit of education and all things scholarly. While attending the Augustinian Abbey, 15-year old Fernando studied the Holy Scriptures and Latin classics. However, because of the constant interruptions from friends and family who’d come to visit and bring him gifts that embarrassed him, Fernando’s schoolwork suffered, leaving him restless and without peace. To avoid this, he requested a transfer to the Abbey of the Holy Cross in Coimbra (the capital of Portugal at the time). Upon the approval of his superiors, Fernando transferred schools and continued his studies for the next nine years, away from suchbothers and interruptions.
In 1221, Saint Francis held a general chapter at Assisi and Anthony left the mountaintop where his hospice was located for an ordination in the town of Forli. Once there, a misunderstanding arose between the visiting Dominican monks and the Franciscans about who would do the preaching for that day. Everyone declined, at which point Anthony, the poor Portuguese friar, was asked by the head of the hermitage to speak whatever the Holy Spirit put into his mouth. Like the others, Anthony did not want to preach, but he was overruled and did as he was instructed. Though his speech was initially quite timid; though he faltered often, the sermon left a profound mark on the listeners; so much so that his amazed brethren rushed to tell Francis of Assisi of the impact Anthony’s rich voice, arresting manner and Gospel-inspired eloquence had had on them. In response, Francis of Assisi had Anthony moved from preaching the Gospel in the rural village to spreading the Gospel throughout the whole of Italy. It was at this time that Anthony became the first Franciscan in history to be appointed as lector in theology.
In 1227, Anthony was elected Provincial of the Franciscans of Northern Italy. The following year, a sermon he preached to Pope Gregory IX was said by many that heard it to resemble a second coming of Pentecost. In 1230, Anthony asked to be released from his Provincial duties so that he could devote himself in full to preaching. He always felt his calling to preaching to be more important than his call of teaching. A short distance from Venice, in the town of Padua (hence, “Saint Anthony of Padua”), Anthony took up his residence, where he continued his daily regimen of preaching and prayer, typically with even more vigor than in the past. The toll on his physical life would drain him of so much strength that he’d become gravely ill within only a few months. As a quickly approaching death became eminent, Anthony celebrated his last rites of the Sacrament. With a smile on his face, he gazed upward and said, “I see my Lord.”
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