A saint’s feast day can be the day of their actual death or a day assigned by the Church. Typically, the Church only assigns a day when the day of death is unknown or if several other saints are already assigned to that day. The number of canonized saints, however, is greater than the number of days in a calendar year. So two or more saints often share the same feast day. Because overlap often occurs, and the Church isn’t sure of the date of death of some saints, other calendar dates are sometimes chosen — such as the day that the saint was canonized.
Another example is St. Joseph’s Day, March 19, and his day is also a full solemnity. The reason is obvious due to the belief about Joseph’s role in the early life of Jesus: As the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus, he took care of Mary and Jesus. He’s the patron of the universal Church and the head of the holy family, which refers to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph during the first 30 years of Jesus’ life.
Because I have hope eternal in the mercies of God through His Son Jesus Christ, I tend to think of the dates that my loved ones pass on as their "feast days." Today is my grandfather's "feast day", as he was called home to Christ on the Solemnity of St. Joseph in 1970.
I was only 16 years old when he died. Mom and Dad took us (my brother and me) to visit him and Grandma pretty frequently as I was growing up, but I was never one to "visit". Most of my memories of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house are sketchy at best. As I prayed for him today, I was trying to remember any experiences that stuck in my mind.
The more I thought about it, the more I think it was Grandpa who introduced me to the "funny papers" in the Sunday newspaper. Since most of our visits were on Sunday (or so it seemed, anyway), I can see in my mind's eye Grandpa sitting on his sofa as we entered his house reading the Sunday paper, starting with the comics. To this day, the first section I reach for on Sunday is the "funnies".
In fact, the only memories that come to me about my visits to Grandpa's house involve reading. I don't know if it was Grandma or Grandpa who bought them, but I remember reading a lot of comic books at their house. Not Superman or Batman or any of the "cool" comics I collected at home, but "Classic Comics" (I think that's what they were called)--comics that were condensed, illustrated versions of classic novels. I read "Last of the Mohicans", "Moby Dick", and several other "novels" for the first time in this format, all while sitting or lying prone on the floor at my grandfather's feet while he and my parents held their conversations in the living room.
I remember my grandpa as a quiet, gentle man who showed nothing but love and respect for everyone he came in contact with. I never heard him raise his voice or speak with anger. He was a great role model, just like my Dad.
I thought I would post a few links to some memories my mom put on her blog a couple of years ago that will give my readers some more insight into my grandfather's life. Life was sure a lot more interesting back then, I think.
My father
Today's feast day
More on Dad on St. Joseph Day
God Bless you and keep you, Grandpa. I'm keeping you in my prayers today.
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