The Year of St Joseph

Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph, in honour of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church. Pope Francis said he was establishing the year so that “every member of the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily in the complete fulfilment of God’s will.”In his Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father and a father in the shadows. In school, each class has been given one of the characteristics given by the Pope about St Joseph. Each class will focus on this characteristic throughout the year, learning who St Joseph was and why he is very special.

To mark the Year of St Joseph, each class presented what they had found out about who St Joseph was and the wonderful things he did for Jesus. The children wrote some beautiful prayers asking God to help us show the characteristics of St Joseph and there was some beautiful art work created by the children. Below are examples of some of the work from each class.