MADISON, Wisconsin (LifeSiteNews) — The state of Wisconsin will officially recognize this Thursday, May 1, as “St. Joseph the Worker Day,” aligned with the Catholic Church’s calendar, becoming at least the second state to do so in recent years. The resolution also declares the state will recognize the holiday every year.
“[T]the Wisconsin Legislature does hereby recognize May 1 of each year as St. Joseph the Worker Day in the state of Wisconsin,” the resolution states.
It also recognizes May 1 as “a day to be observed to honor the working men and women in Wisconsin, who get up every day and work hard to provide for and lift up their families, their communities, the state of Wisconsin, and the United States of America.”
The resolution recognizes that St. Joseph “found favor with his heavenly Father and was entrusted with the Father’s greatest treasures, His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, and Mary, the mother of Jesus.” The resolution also recognized St. Joseph’s work as a carpenter to support the Holy Family.
“Wisconsin is proud to join Louisiana in recognizing St. Joseph the Worker Day, a tribute to the hardworking men and women who are the backbone of our economy,” state Senator Cory Tomczyk told the press.
“This resolution honors the resilience, dedication, and tireless spirit of our workforce, reflecting the timeless virtues of St. Joseph that guide workers in their daily endeavors. By establishing this day, we celebrate the dignity of labor, foster unity and purpose among our workers, and strengthen Wisconsin’s commitment to a thriving, values-driven workforce.”
The resolution follows a similarly successful effort in 2021 to convince Louisiana to celebrate the holiday statewide.
“There is an authentic passion and zeal in spreading this St. Joseph devotion in Louisiana that I have personally witnessed,” state senator Fred Mills said about his resolution at the time. “I was grateful to be a part of memorializing this effort at the state level for generations to come!”
The Wisconsin resolution notes the history of the feast day, first added to the calendar by Pope Pius XII in 1955.
However, devotion to St. Joseph had been around for hundreds of years. In 1870, Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph the “Patron of the Universal Church.”
Pope Pius IX, in the decree Quemadmodum Deus, stated:
Because of this sublime dignity which God conferred on his most faithful servant, the Church has always most highly honored and praised blessed Joseph next to his spouse, the Virgin Mother of God, and has besought his intercession in times of trouble.
And now therefore, when in these most troublesome times the Church is beset by enemies on every side, and is weighed down by calamities so heavy that ungodly men assert that the gates of hell have at length prevailed against her, the venerable prelates of the whole Catholic world have presented to the Sovereign Pontiff their own petitions and those of the faithful committed to their charge, praying that he would deign to constitute St. Joseph Patron of the Church. And this time their prayer and desire was renewed by them even more earnestly at the Sacred Ecumenical Council of the Vatican.
CatholicVote called the Wisconsin resolution a “big win” and thanked the state for “honoring the patron saint of workers and aligning with the Catholic feast day.”
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