St. Joseph with baby Jesus: Joseph as father and role model
This special Christmas stamp shows St. Joseph holding the smiling baby Jesus in his arms. This motif adorns the altar of St. Joseph in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.
It is no coincidence that this stamp is issued in the Christmas season of the year 2021. On December 8, 2020, Pope Francis proclaimed the year ending on December 8, 2021 as the
„Year of St. Joseph“, and this proclamation happened 150 years after St. Joseph himself was declared the patron saint of the entire Catholic Church, at that time by Pope Pius IX. Apart from that, Joseph as a member of the Holy Family and foster father of Jesus plays an important role in the birth of Jesus and is one reason why we celebrate this holy day.
2021 was proclaimed the Year of St. Joseph also because he is considered a role model for all of us. He was a very inconspicuous person, a quality that is emblematic of the everyday heroines and heroes during the pandemic and universally emblematic for the people who demonstrate patience, hope and a sense of responsibility on a daily basis. This sense of caring is also reflected in the motif of Joseph as a young, loving father, a rather unusual depiction, since Josef is often portrayed as an older man.
