March 19th

St Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary, Patron of the Order

Among the Augustinians the devotion and cult to St. Joseph dates back to the XV century. The general chapter of 1491, celebrated in Rome, ordained: «Let the office of St. Joseph, whose feast falls on March 19, be celebrated in all houses and convents of our Order».

The feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph started to be celebrated in a more particular way in the XVII century. Within the Augustinian family, it was the recollects and the discalced who, having the faculty for this since 1700, began the celebration of the feast. In imitation the shod Augustinians petitioned for it in 1722. Pius IX would introduce this in the Roman calendar, fixing the date on the third Sunday after Easter. Pius the X transferred the feast to the preceding Wednesday, with Pius XII suppressing it with the creation of the feast of Joseph the Worker, which was to be celebrated on May 1.

According to our Constitutions (nº 80) and as declared in the chapter of 1669, the devotion and cult to St. Joseph, special protector of the Order, constitutes also part of our Augustinian Recollect spirituality.

In the ultimate edition of the Augustinian Missal  St. Joseph is called Patron of the Order.