Today is the feast day of St Joseph the worker, it is also the beginning of a month of prayer to Mary. In his general audience on Wednesday 1st May in 2002 Pope John Paul II encouraged people to pray the rosary for the gift of peace. He wrote:
Colouring pages of St Joseph the worker
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| Statue of St Joseph the Worker |
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. Today, on the first of May, we observe Labour Day. We Christians place the celebration under the patronage of St Joseph the Worker. We observe such an important day with initiatives that tend to emphasize the importance and value of the work by which the human person, transforming nature and adapting it to his needs, realizes himself as a human being.
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2. Today we begin the month dedicated to Our Lady a favourite of popular devotion. In accord with a longstanding tradition of devotion, parishes and families continue to make the month of May a "Marian" month, celebrating it with many devout liturgical, catechetical and pastoral initiatives!
The Lady Chapel
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| Altar in Lancaster Cathedral's Lady Chapel |
CCC 963 Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. "The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honoured as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. . . . She is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ' . . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head." "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church."