Today marks the 150th anniversary of Saint Joseph being declared the patron of the universal Church, by Pope Blessed Pius IX, on this day, in 1870. That was sixteen years after the same Pontiff defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, on the same day, in 1854, with the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus. That was also the year the Pope began his long sojourn as the ‘prisoner of the Vatican’, with the usurpation of the papal states. But the loss of (most of) his temporal power, only increased his spiritual prestige.

We should beseech Saint Joseph mightily for his intercession. The close of this year dedicated to him should not end our devotion, but rather increase it ten, twenty a hundred fold!

On that note, peruse the Pope’s decree, Quemadmodum Deus, from that year, 1870.

The post The 150th Anniversary of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church appeared first on Catholic Insight.