Roman Catholics celebrate the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker (San Jose Obrero) on Monday, May 1, which coincides with International Labor Day.
Popularly venerated as the patron saint of the Universal Church, fathers, the dying, and workers, the feast highlights how St. Joseph, as a skilled carpenter, taught Jesus not only basic carpentry skills but also appreciation and awareness of the dignity of labor.
Feast masses will be offered in churches placed under his patronage such as the St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Cainta, Rizal.
Rev. Fr. Arnel Vitor and other guest priests will lead the holy mass at 9:30 a.m. on May 1. A procession will be held at 4 p.m.
Bishop Francisco de Leon presided over the last day of the novena mass on April 29 at 4 p.m.
Aside from the Catholic Church, St. Joseph is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism.
The month of March is dedicated to Saint Joseph with March 19 observed as his feast day as the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Pius IX declared him to be both the patron and the protector of the Catholic Church, in addition to his patronage of the sick and of a happy death, due to the belief that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mary.
The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955, to coincide with the observance of International Labor Day or May Day, which was instituted in 1889 in recognition of the basic rights of workers.
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