by Theresa Cavicchio
Each year on May 1st, we peer into the workshop at Nazareth to view the daily life of Saint Joseph the Worker. Added to the liturgical calendar by Pope Pius XII in 1955, this feast calls our attention to the humility and everyday practicality of the manual labor performed by a unique man among men.
On the surface, we can imagine that Saint Joseph had a working knowledge of all the necessary aspects of his trade. As a carpenter in ancient Israel, he would have been familiar with native woods – cypress, oak, olive, sycamore – and probably had his favorites. His toolbox would have held many implements still in use today – axe, saw, hammer, plane, chisel, and mallet.
Beyond basic skills, Saint Joseph would have developed many qualities of an expert craftsman. A talent for organization and attention to detail, careful measurement and safety measures would have been matched only by his patience, honesty, and integrity when dealing with the public. Surely, his reputation was without reproach.
As mundane as all of this appears, Saint Joseph would have had many opportunities to pass on his skills, foster father to son, to the very Son of God, to provide basic necessities for Him and His most holy Mother.
Yet despite these extraordinary aspects of his life, Saint Joseph passed a quiet – even a hidden – life of daily work. This paradox is emphasized by Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Quamquam Pluries (On Devotion to St. Joseph). “Joseph, of royal blood, united by marriage to the greatest and holiest of women, reputed the father of the Son of God, passed his life in labor, and won by the toil of the artisan the needful support of his family” (4).
Ushered into reflection by this papal introduction, we continue by considering the writings of three men, their lives devoted to God through His holy priesthood.
In his book entitled Joseph the Silent, Father Michel Gasnier, OP, shares an insight into the intrinsic connection between work and prayer for Saint Joseph. “Joseph gave to his carts and yokes the same care he would have given to a tabernacle, since he understood perfectly that a work done in love goes straight to God.”
And while we can assume that the products of Saint Joseph’s workshop were mainly utilitarian objects designed for everyday living – ploughs, cabinets, tables, doors, roofing materials – Father Gasnier comments on what could be construed as an unexpected by-product.
“This man of mystery seemed perfectly content to hollow out logs, to fashion cart-wheels. And Satan had to flee from the ring of Joseph’s hammer, the sound of his saw. To him the sight of this ‘just man’ was torture and frustration.” We can only imagine the holy atmosphere of that workshop and its blessed inhabitants, thwarting the malevolent designs of the evil one!
An excerpt from Through the Heart of St. Joseph, by Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, brings us back down to earth with insights into the “littleness in the ordinariness” of daily work – Saint Joseph’s and ours.
“… Especially when we feel the pinch of littleness in the ordinariness of our work, St. Joseph appears to us as a father of that ordinariness, and as a good father, he encourages us and strengthens us to persevere … He reminds us that like his time with Jesus in Nazareth, it is all an essential part of sanctifying this world and preparing it for the kingdom … It is striking that such an extraordinary man in such extraordinary circumstances actually lived such an ordinary life.”
Father Gary Caster, author of Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus, continues this theme of the dichotomy evidenced in the life of Saint Joseph, extending it to include us in our own time. “The work in Nazareth, while truly the stuff of ordinary life, was carried out by an extraordinary man. This work wasn’t only for Mary and Jesus but also for all women and men united with God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph continues his work for us in the Church today.”
Reflecting on this title of Saint Joseph inevitably brings home the ultimate goal of all his efforts, both during his time on earth and as our heavenly intercessor now: the propagation of the kingdom of God.
We conclude with a prayer eminently appropriate both to our beloved saint and to his unending efforts, particularly for those in need:
Prayer to St. Joseph, Model for Workers
Silent and well-known carpenter in Nazareth, model of workers,
by the work of your hands you gave your contribution to the work of the Creator,
you earned your living, and you provided for the needs of the Holy Family.
Intercede for all workers, especially for the unemployed, in their anxieties for tomorrow,
so that through the guidance of God, the great Architect and Builder,
they all may use their strength and talents to make visible God’s new creation,
to offer a concrete service to society, and to earn wages worthy of their efforts.
With confidence and trust we make this prayer through Jesus. Amen
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