The feast of the Holy Patriarch, even though this year it fell on a Wednesday, attracted a large number of believers around the Lord's putative Father.
AAt the end of the afternoon procession, the Maestro of the Lazio Region Orchestra Band made a spontaneous (and unsolicited) observation: "Your feast of St. Joseph, together with that of the Ausiliatrice in the Tuscolano district, is the one in Rome that attracts the most people." Perhaps it is not entirely accurate, but it can certainly be said that the feast of St. Joseph at the Trionfale is widely popular among Romans.
This year there have been two things that have increased this notoriety. First of all the broadcasts on TV2000 of the Holy Mass from the Basilica, which have reached Italian viewers since the beginning of March; secondly the display in the Basilica of the relics of the Veil of the Virgin Mary and the Mantle of Saint Joseph for four days, starting on March 16. Many have come to venerate these relics, thinking that they were always kept at the Trionfale. Instead it is a concession of the Cardinal Vicar Baldo Reina (whom we thank), who has allowed the precious reliquary to be removed from the church of Sant'Anastasia al Palatino, where it is kept but not shown to the faithful.
The celebrations followed the program published by The Holy Crusade of March. On Sunday, March 9, on the eve of the solemn Novena, Monsignor Renato Tarantelli Baccari, vicegerent bishop of the Dioceses of Rome and a native of our neighborhood, after the Mass, attended the display of the simulacrum of Saint Joseph at the main altar. On Sunday, March 16, the 10.30:XNUMX Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Vicar Reina, always benevolent towards the parish community of Saint Joseph. In the evening Masses of the concluding triduum, the auxiliary bishops of Rome, Benoni Ambarus, titular bishop of Eraclea, and Paolo Ricciardi, bishop-elect of Jesi and former auxiliary in the city, took turns celebrating.
On the day of the feast, March 19, in the morning and afternoon, Eucharistic celebrations took place starting at 7.30:19.00 until the evening at XNUMX:XNUMX. At the end of each Mass, blessed bread was distributed, which the parish priest Don Tommaso Gigliola indicated as a concrete reminder of Saint Joseph, who with humble work procured bread for the Holy Family.
The time of greatest popular influx was in the afternoon, when starting at 15.30:XNUMX pm the long procession that accompanied the simulacrum of our Patron Saint began. Many people preceded and followed the image of Saint Joseph, together with Cardinal Emil Paul Tscherrig, titular of the Basilica, and the priests, and many watched from the windows of the buildings and from the sidewalks of the streets. And even if the procession impacts every year with the problems of chaotic urban traffic, it was the moment of greatest emotional involvement.
At 17.00:XNUMX p.m. the solemn concelebration began, presided over by the Cardinal, surrounded by priests, in a basilica packed with people. In his homily (published in the previous pages), the Cardinal exhorted the faithful to live, following the example of Saint Joseph, a solid virtue of hope, which has its roots in trust in God.
At 19.00:XNUMX pm, the Holy Mass for all the living and deceased Associates of the Pious Union was celebrated by the Director of the Pious Union of the Transit of Saint Joseph, Don Bruno Capparoni. Don Bruno recalled the testimony of faith of Saint Joseph, the first together with Mary to recognize the Savior, and urged to invoke him for the dying, according to the purpose assigned by Saint Luigi Guanella to the Pious Union itself. This celebration was accompanied by the choir Laeti Cantores, with liturgical songs performed with great art. The day ended with many people still looking up to the sky, admiring the final fireworks display.
The intense program of the feast of St. Joseph 2025, beyond the individual gestures, has helped the faithful to gather around the patron saint Joseph, who in his image and in reality refers us to his most precious treasure which is Jesus..