19th of the month is St. Joseph Day at the Shrine

By Myrna S. Bermudo

“To further enrich and promote the devotion to our patron saint and as a response to the request of some parishioners, we have designated every 19th of the month as St. Joseph Day, “ says Fr. Luisito A. Occiano, parish priest and rector of the shrine of St. Joseph, San Jose, Camarines Sur.

Novena to St. Joseph, Confession, Eucharistic Celebration and lucenarium or light procession have been scheduled every 19th of the month at the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Joseph in San Jose, Camarines Sur.

In 2019, the parish church was conferred as an Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Joseph when the universal church was celebrating the Year of St. Joseph.

Pope Francis recalled the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. The Holy Father proclaimed a “Year of St. Joseph from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021.

An Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart ) was written by the Holy Father where he describes Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.

Monthly activities have been lined up at the shrine at San Jose: mass wedding in February; parish day in March; catechetical day in April; Pintakasi in May, and pilgrimage walk to Padre Pio parish in June.

Archbishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD, DD local ordinary of Caceres, has granted the petition of the rector of the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Joseph for plenary indulgence “on the properly disposed faithful who will participate in the Eucharistic celebrations organized by the parish.”

Pilgrims who will visit the shrine, attend mass, go to confession, participate in the procession and recite the prayer of consecration to St. Joseph will be granted Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 1471), “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.” The faithful have to be in a state of grace, must have sacramentally confessed their sins, participate in the Holy Eucharist and receive communion, and pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.

On January 19, the Eucharistic celebration was presided over by Fr. Joey Gonzaga, rector of the Holy Rosary Major Seminary with Fr. Tito Oliva, Fr. Adonis Angelo Belmonte and Fr. Louie Occiano as concelebrants. Despite the rain, parishioners wearing rain coats and carrying umbrellas, participated in the light procession or lucenarium which commenced after the Mass.

Archbishop Tria Tirona will be the main celebrant on March 19, during the parish day celebration.