"Patris Corde": an Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis on St. Joseph: Patron and Guardian of the Universal Church

Pope Francis has given us a Holy Year dedicated to St. Joseph, beginning December 8, 2020 and continuing to December 8, 2021.  This marks the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX's letter naming St. Joseph the Patron and Guardian of the Universal Church.  This falls midway through the holy year proclaimed by Bishop Callahan for the Diocese of La Crosse which runs from May 1, 2020 to May 1, 2021, the Feast of St. Joseph the Workman, principal patron of the Diocese of La Crosse.  Enjoy the accompanying letter!

As I pointed out in my homily this past weekend, it's interesting that this would be proclaimed by two prelates who each have included a symbol for St. Joseph in their coat of arms: Pope Francis' coat of arms includes a sprig of "spikenard" on the lower right of the shield, which is typical of Hispanic countries (the star on the left represents St. Mary); Bishop Callahan's coat of arms includes a fleur-de-lis, traditionally a symbol of purity (on his coat of arms there are two, one each for St. Mary and St. Joseph).