Saint Joseph with Child Sculpted in Baroque Design Hand carved Wooden Figurines; The Catholic Church remembers St. Joseph on March 19 with a solemnity named after him; if March 19 falls on a Sunday, the feast is moved to the following day; also, in years when March 19 falls in Holy Week, the celebration is brought forward to the Saturday before Palm Sunday (for example, in 2008 the solemnity was celebrated on March 15). In some places, such as the Vatican and Canton Ticino, but not in Italy, it is a feast of obligation. The first to celebrate it were the Benedictine monks in 1030, followed by the Servants of Mary in 1324 and the Franciscans in 1399. It was finally promoted by Popes Sixths IV and Pius V and made mandatory in 1621 by Gregory XV. Until 1977, the day on which the Catholic Church celebrates St. Joseph was considered a public holiday in Italy, even for civil purposes, but with law n. 54 of March 5, 1977 this recognition was abolished and since then March 19 became a weekday. In Canton Ticino, in other cantons of Switzerland and in some provinces of Spain, this day is considered a holiday for civil effects. In Italy some bills have been presented (2008), to the House and Senate, for the restoration of festivities suppressed for civil effects (St. Joseph, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Saints Peter and Paul and Pentecost Monday).
Another feast was that of the """"Marriage of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Saint Joseph"""" begun in France in 1517, adopted by the Franciscans in 1537, promoted in particular by Saint Gaspar Bertoni, celebrated on January 23. The Holy Nuptial Ring of the Madonna would be preserved, according to the traditions, in the Cathedral of Perugia.
Pius IX in 1847 instead extended to the whole Church the feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, already celebrated in Rome since 1478: it was celebrated on the third Sunday after Easter and was later moved to the third Wednesday after Easter. It was finally replaced in 1955 by Pope Pius XII with the feast of """"St. Joseph the Craftsman"""", assigned to May 1, so that the feast of labor could be fully shared by Catholic workers.
In some places was celebrated, on February 17, """"the Flight into Egypt"""", still preserved in the particular calendar of the Catholic Church in Egypt, while the Copts remember it on June 1.
Another feast was that of the """"Marriage of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Saint Joseph"""" begun in France in 1517, adopted by the Franciscans in 1537, promoted in particular by Saint Gaspar Bertoni, celebrated on January 23. The Holy Nuptial Ring of the Madonna would be preserved, according to the traditions, in the Cathedral of Perugia.
Pius IX in 1847 instead extended to the whole Church the feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, already celebrated in Rome since 1478: it was celebrated on the third Sunday after Easter and was later moved to the third Wednesday after Easter. It was finally replaced in 1955 by Pope Pius XII with the feast of """"St. Joseph the Craftsman"""", assigned to May 1, so that the feast of labor could be fully shared by Catholic workers.
In some places was celebrated, on February 17, """"the Flight into Egypt"""", still preserved in the particular calendar of the Catholic Church in Egypt, while the Copts remember it on June 1.
