Celebrate St. Joseph the Worker Today...

And offer your labors through his intercession. May all our work be to the greater honor and glory of God.

A little history:

 In 1955, Pope Pius XII established the feast of St. Joseph the Worker and designated May 1st for its celebration, an apparent response to Communist "May Day" celebrations. Like the solstice festivals, May Day has ancient, pagan roots. Since you can't replace something with nothing, in her wisdom, Holy Mother Church, always takes what is out of order and reorders it. Hence, Pope Pius XII, took action to celebrate the goodness of honest labor through the goodness of the hard-working foster father of Jesus. Pope Pius also hoped that the feast would dignify and sanctify the work of the labor unions. What a good day this is to pray for workers. Here's a prayer to say with your rosary today for all the workers of the world, which I would say includes everyone, even children, whose play is their "work."

Prayer to St. Joseph for Workers

Joseph, by the work of your hands
and the sweat of your brow,
you supported Jesus and Mary,
and had the Son of God as your fellow worker.
Teach me to work as you did,
with patience and perseverance, for God and
for those whom God has given me to support.
Teach me to see in my fellow workers
the Christ who desires to be in them,
that I may always be charitable and forbearing towards all.
Grant me to look upon work
with the eyes of faith,
so that I shall recognize in it
my share in God’s own creative activity
and in Christ’s work of our redemption,
and so take pride in it.
When it is pleasant and productive,
remind me to give thanks to God for it.
And when it is burdensome,
teach me to offer it to God,
in reparation for my sins
and the sins of the world.