December 8, 2023 / 01:06 AM
On this day, December 8, 1870, Pope Pius IX published the decree Just like Godproclaiming Saint Joseph as “Patron of the Catholic Church.”
The decree reads the following: “Just as God appointed the other Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob, governor of the entire land of Egypt to ensure sustenance for the people, so when the fullness of time came, when he was to send his only begotten son to earth for the salvation of the world, he designated this other Joseph, of whom the first was a symbol, and made him lord and prince of his house and his possession and chose him to be the custodian of his deepest treasures. beautiful”.
“Because he had as his wife the Immaculate Virgin Mary, from whom by the power of the Holy Spirit our Lord Jesus Christ was born, considered before men as the son of Joseph, to whom he was subject. And whom so many kings and prophets longed to contemplate, this Joseph not only saw him but spoke with him, embraced him, kissed him with fatherly affection and with solicitous care fed him whom the faithful people would eat as bread that came down from heaven for eternal life. ”, the text continues.