Roman Catholics will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family—Saint Joseph, the Blessed Mother and Jesus on Friday, Dec. 30.
The feast is in celebration of the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families and domestic life.
Feast masses will be celebrated in parishes in different parts of the country that were placed under the patronage of the Holy Family.
The Catholic Church instituted the feast to help counter the breakdown of the family unit. The feast serves as a reminder for all family members of “the importance of staying together through thick and thin, and doing things that strengthen their relationship like spending time together, hearing mass together, reading the Sacred Scriptures regularly, praying daily as a family, and imitating the virtues of the Holy Family,” Church leaders said.
During the Synod on the Family at the Vatican in 2016, the Holy Father Pope Francis highlighted the importance of the family as he cited its significant role in spreading the Word of God.
Traditionally observed on the first Sunday after Christmas, Pope Leo XIII initiated the observance of the feast in 1893. Pope Benedict XV extended the feast to the Universal Church in 1921. Several religious congregations and schools were founded under this title.