A Century Away. A Year Dedicated to Saint Joseph in 1921
On December 8, 2020, Pope Francis invited us to a year dedicated to Saint Joseph.
We were astonished to discover, while browsing through the Annales de l’Oratoire Saint-Joseph that the year 1921 had also been consecrated to Saint Joseph by Pope Benedict XV. One hundred years to the day from the call of Pope Francis.
It is in the January 1921 issue of the Annales that we read a circular from the Archbishop of Montreal, Most Rev. Paul Bruchési.
He recalls that in July 1920, Pope Benedict XV announced that as of December 8 of the same year, the entire Church was invited to celebrate « by the whole Catholic world a solemn ceremony in honor of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and patron of the Catholic Church, at a time and in a manner to be determined by each bishop” (1).