To mark this special year of St. Joseph, the Shrine will host a special Mass for St. Joseph on his feast day: March 19th, at 7pm. This will be an occasion for people from all around to come together to meditate on the life of the foster father of Christ, asking for his protection, and thanking him for the blessing received by the grace of his Son.
Father Dan Schmitmeyer, the Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, will be a fitting celebrant for this Mass, as his ministry is forming those men who are the fathers of our church communities.
While the body of St. Joseph has never been found, there are relics from his life in churches across the globe. The Shrine will display a relic that is a particle of the cloak of St. Joseph, of which the full cloak is in St. Anastasia’s Church in Rome. After Mass, drawing from a tradition that dates back to Middle Ages, a special table to St. Joseph will be set up in his honor. It is traditional to fill it with treats that surround a stature of the day’s patron.