The Solemnity of St Joseph is a second commemoration of the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Patron of the Church. The first occurs during Lent, on March 19, and focuses on St Joseph’s place as Spouse of Our Lady and Guardian of Our Lord. Of course, St Joseph is also commemorated with the Holy Mother and Our Lord Jesus during Christmastide.
As is common with nearly all such feasts, East and West, “The Solemnity of St Joseph” first began as a “local” celebration (i.e., in one or more diocese, or in one or more monastic orders/houses). In his large work, “The Liturgical Year,” Dom Prosper Gueranger states that this particular celebration began with the Carmelites, who were (as would be expected) influenced by the writings of St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582). The devotion grew naturally and organically from their love and devotion for the Holy Mother of God. For who cannot, by meditating on the divine mysteries surrounding her life and person, not be drawn to consider her spouse and protector who is, also himself, a model of chastity which is so badly needed even in this day and age?
By the 1700s, so says Gueranger, with the proper approvals from the local bishops the Carmelites began celebrating locally a feast to St Joseph, in addition to the one common feast of March 19. As these things tend to go, several bishops considered this celebration laudable and approved the feast in their own dioceses. In these places, “a Sunday was selected for the celebration of this new Feast, in order that the Faithful might be, in a way, compelled to keep it; for the Feast of St. Joseph in March is not a day of obligation for the universal Church, and, as it always falls during Lent, it cannot be kept on a Sunday, since the Sundays of Lent exclude a Feast of that rite. That the new Feast might not be attended with the same risk of being unnoticed, it was put upon a Sunday, the third Sunday after Easter, that thus the consolations of such a solemnity might be blended with the Paschal joys.” (Gueranger)
As the feast spread from diocese to diocese, the Roman Patriarch noticed the growing affection and desire of the faithful, and so declared what was already celebrated nearly everywhere to be certainly celebrated in all places. The date for this decree, moving the several local celebrations to the “universal” calendar, was September 10, 1847.
In 1911, with his fairly large and significant reform of the Roman Breviary (which is the basis for the Anglican Breviary), the Solemnity of St Joseph was moved from the Third Sunday after Easter to the Wednesday after the Second Sunday after Easter. Nevertheless, the Octave that had always been part of this feast was kept so that the remembrance of this holy patriarch remained on III Sunday Easter by means, at least, of the Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion prayers. In 1955, the nature of the feast was changed from “Patron” to “Worker” and moved to the fixed date of May 1, in order to fall on the same day as “International Worker’s Day.” And that is where this feast remains to this day, albeit with a greatly reduced rank of Memorial.
For our Vicariate use, the 1847 date is significant. It was only a few decades later that J.J. Overbeck made his formal application to the Synod of Moscow concerning the restoration of the Western Rite in the Orthodox Church. That Synod accepted all the liturgical commemorations at that point, excepting the changes in the Mass of December 8 (from Conception to Immaculate Conception). This would have meant that the Solemnity of St Joseph was accepted. Furthermore, that same Synod said that all should be kept according to the Benedictine Use (which, of course, would include their calendar). It is interesting to note that the Benedictines very early on, in both their Missal and Breviary, accepted the Solemnity of St Joseph; and, in fact, the edition of the Breviarium Monasticum, which is listed in the Western Rite Directory (approved by Metropolitan Antony when the Vicariate was established 60 years ago) and which is the basis for the official Vicariate Ordo, lists the following: Feria IV Infra Hebdom. II Post Oct. Paschae In Solemnitate S. Joseph, Sponsi B.V.M., Conff. et Ecclesiae Universalis Patroni. Where our Vicariate has departed from the Benedictine Use, in this regard, is that we have not listed this feast with an Octave but merely kept its original designation of 1st Class Double.
As a side note, it should be mentioned that all patronal feasts (St George for the Archdiocese, St Tikhon for the Vicariate, and patrons of parishes) outrank all other feasts (including the Solemnity of St Joseph) which are not Feasts of Our Lord or His Mother.