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Year of St. Joseph during Pandemic  


In 1870, the same year that the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida was established, Pope Pius IX named St. Joseph as patron of the Universal Church. Here we are, 150 years later in 2020, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, so celebrations of any kind are limited due to social distancing restrictions because of the chance of spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus. 
However, when Bishop Felipe Estevez asked our Congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine, Florida, to take the lead in planning whatever we could for the Year of St. Joseph in the Diocese of St. Augustine, we said yes. Sister Kathleen Carr, our General Superior, formed a committee and we came up with a plan. The theme chosen for the year was "Go to Joseph." 

Prayer Cards sent to Catholic Schools

The first activity was writing, designing, and having printed prayer cards with prayers to St. Joseph on them to be distributed to all Catholic school students in the diocese in grades K-12, along with the faculty. We requested that the principals of the 28 schools have the students pray the prayer at least weekly through the year, which lasts until March 19, 2021. We mailed most of the cards and hand-delivered some of them. Sister Mary Josepha Butterfield designed the artwork of St. Joseph and the child Jesus on one side of the prayer card (see artwork above). The prayers on the cards were written by Sister Suzan Foster (7 through 12) and Sister Kathleen Carr (K-6). 


Stacks of St. Joseph prayer cards organized for mailing. 

Social Media Videos  

Now that the prayer cards have been delivered and schools have started, the next activity planned by the committee is the writing and scheduling of short video posts on Facebook of prayers to St. Joseph written by members of our Congregation. The aim is to have these start airing on Wednesdays, the day of the week traditionally dedicated to St. Joseph, after Labor Day. 

Sister Kathleen Carr, our General Superior, will appear in an introductory video explaining the Year of St. Joseph, and we will also have a special section on the year on our Congregational website, www.ssjfl.org. 



 
Stained glass window of St. Joseph and Jesus designed by Sister Diane Couture. 


There is one more activity planned for the Year of St. Joseph, but it will not take place until March 2021. More about it to come. Stay tuned. 











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