The Louisiana State Senate has just established May 1 as a new state holiday: St. Joseph the Worker Day. The resolution also formally recognized the period between December 8, 2020, and December 8, 2021, as “The Year of St. Joseph.”
The Catholic Telegraph reports that Resolution 116 was sponsored by Sen. Fred Mills, a Catholic. It will go into effect on May 1, 2022, as the first celebrated St. Joseph the Worker Day in Louisiana. The day will also honor “the dignity of all working men and women in Louisiana.”
According to NCR, Senator Mills said of the resolution:
“There is an authentic passion and zeal in spreading this St. Joseph devotion in Louisiana that I have personally witnessed. I was grateful to be a part of memorializing this effort at the state level for generations to come!”
The resolution highlighted many reasons why St. Joseph is close to the heart of Louisiana. Not least of all is the “Exodus 290 St. Joseph Pilgrimage.” This pilgrimage is a 290-mile trek through Louisiana, with stops at 14 churches along the way. The route has pilgrims follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph, traveling approximately the same distance covered by the Holy Family in their flight to Egypt.
Upon signing the resolution, a copy was sent to Louisiana’s prelates, along with Father Donald H. Calloway, who was named in the missive. Fr. Calloway has sold more than 1 million copies of his consecration book, St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.When he learned of the new holiday, Fr. Calloway remarked that he didn’t even know it was a possibility.
And today we celebrate...