The Feast of St Joseph 2026

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary as thy wife; for that which is conceived in Her is of the Holy Spirit; and She shall bear a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus.’ (The fifth antiphon of First Vespers of St Joseph, taken from the Gospel of the feast, Matthew 1, 18-21.)

St Joseph and the Christ Child, ca. 1617, by the workshop of Jan Breughel the Elder (1568-1625). Within the garland, five oval medallions represent the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, beginning with the Annunciation at the upper left, and running clockwise.

Aña Angelus Dómini appáruit Joseph, dicens, ‘Joseph, fili David, noli timére accípere Maríam cónjugem tuam; quod enim in ea natum est, de Spíritu Sancto est: pariet autem fíilium, et vocábis nomen ejus Jesum.’

Thanks to an old friend, Dom Aelred Hawker of St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, England, for sharing these lovely pictures of the church’s altar of St Joseph decorated for today’s feast. The abbey is also England’s national shrine of St Joseph.

Farnborough was founded by the last French empress, Eugénie, the Spanish wife of the last emperor, Napoleon III, while she was living in exile in England, partly to serve as a mausoleum for her husband and son. These candlestick are decorated with the colors of the French monarchy and the fleurs-de-lys of their emblem.