March is the month of St. Joseph! We love celebrating the Solemnity of St. Joseph at our parish and at home on March 19th (with a traditional St. Joseph altar). One year, our pastor shared 3 saints devoted to St. Joseph during his homily on the Solemnity, and I am sharing them here with you today for inspiration and reflection.
Bring your favorite saint story book to your religious education classes to teach the children about these saints! Parents, you could have your children each choose one to learn about, dress up like him or her, and then have each child present his or her special saint to the family. Ite ad Joseph! (Go towards St. Joseph!)
3 Saints Devoted to St. Joseph
St. Andrew Bassette
Patronage: the sick, the marginalized, those in need of healing, and family caregivers
Feast day: January 6
Location: Canada
St. Andrew is known for his lifelong devotion to St. Joseph as well as miraculous healings of other people who came to him for help. He did not take credit for healing people, and said it was due to the intercession of St. Joseph. He was unwell himself since birth, but he never hesitated to visit with sick people and pray with them.
With only a few hundred dollars and a statue of St. Joseph, he built a modest chapel on the hill near the boys’ school where he worked as a porter. The Archbishop gave him permission to continue to build the shrine, which eventually expanded into a basilica.
You can visit St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal today, found by Saint Brother Andre. He always pointed everyone he met towards God and encouraged them to get to know St. Joseph. St. Andre Basette’s faithful devotion to St. Joseph shows the powerful protection and intercession of the humble and strong foster father of Jesus.
St. Don Bosco
Patronage: apprentices, editors and publishers, schoolchildren, magicians, and juvenile delinquents
Feast day: January 31
Location: Italy
St. Don (John) Bosco is a favorite saint among teachers and schoolchildren. Since he served and protected youth, it is natural that he would have a devotion to St. Joseph. He was a father figure to many orphaned and abandoned children, and he would pray to St. Joseph asking for this powerful saint’s protection of these young boys. In his writings, he encouraged praying for St. Joseph’s intercession. He writes:
Pray to the Blessed Virgin, who is the Mother of Good Counsel, ask the help of St. Joseph, her spouse, who faithfully kept the divine commandments; pray to your Guardian Angel and to your Patron Saints.
St. Teresa of Avila
Patronage: headache sufferers, Spanish Catholic writers
Feast day: October 15
Location: Spain
St. Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun, and eventually reformed the Carmelite order. She is also a Doctor of the Church. In her convents, St. Teresa of Avila emphasized prayer and pointing everyone she and her sisters met to heaven.
Like St. Andre Basette and St. Don Bosco, she promoted devotion to St. Joseph throughout her life. She considered St. Joseph her patron saint, and she attributed her recovery from a serious illness to St. Joseph. The majority of her monasteries were also dedicated to St. Joseph. Here is a wonderful article with many of St. Teresa of Avila’s quotes about the power of St. Joseph’s intercession.
Keep celebrating St. Joseph all month long!
Do you have a devotion to St. Joseph or any of the 3 saints devoted to St. Joseph? Do you attribute any miracles (big or small) to St. Joseph in you life? Please share in the comments below, and be sure to keep celebrating this amazing saint all of March, and never hesitate to ask for his help!
References
- https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-andre-bessette/
- https://www.catholic.org
- https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/special-reports/item/12465-rmg-don-bosco-s-devotion-to-saint-joseph
- https://www.ncregister.com/features/st-teresa-of-avila-st-joseph-wonder-worker-is-waiting-to-bless-you
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This post originally appeared on amazingcatechists.com on March 21, 2025.