Most Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph
This expression invites us to contemplate the inner life of Saint Joseph: his faith, chastity, silence, work and dedication to the service of Jesus and Mary. For us, it also identifies a devotion and a petition — not a universal celebration already instituted.
The heart of a father
The Apostolic Letter Patris Corde presents Saint Joseph through his concrete fatherhood and self-giving. He welcomes Mary, protects Jesus, works for his family and turns his vocation into service. To speak of his heart in this context is to speak of the whole person and of the faithful response he offered to God.
The title “most chaste” recalls in a particular way Saint Joseph’s chastity and the love with which he lived his mission as husband and father. The devotional use of the title must not be confused with the existence of a universal feast of his heart.
“Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph” is a natural variation of the same expression and points to this single reading intention.
Popular devotion and liturgy
The Church distinguishes the liturgy from exercises of piety. Prayers, novenas and the tradition of dedicating Wednesdays to Saint Joseph can nourish Christian life without thereby becoming part of the General Roman Calendar.
The Archdiocese of Natal authorized the use and dissemination of a novena to the Heart of Saint Joseph as an exercise of private piety in its territory. This local authorization must be presented within its scope and not as the institution of a celebration for the whole Church.
“Most Chaste” and “Most Pure”
The expressions “Most Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph” and “Most Pure Heart of Saint Joseph” appear in devotional vocabulary. They are brought together on this page to guide those searching for the subject, but they are not declared here to be theologically equivalent formulas.
“Most Pure” emphasizes the purity attributed to Saint Joseph. “Most Chaste” has a broader meaning on this page: it recalls chastity lived as love free from possessiveness. In the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, Pope Francis explains that chastity is freedom from possession and that love is truly love only when it is chaste.
Pontifical vocabulary also calls Saint Joseph the “most chaste spouse”, as in the Encyclical Quamquam Pluries. For this reason, CorJoseph adopts the title “Most Chaste” in its petition. At the same time, it uses the expression “Heart of Saint Joseph” in a broad sense, without anticipating or determining which formulation the Church may eventually welcome.
A proposal for a liturgical memorial
CorJoseph asks the Holy Father to consider instituting a liturgical memorial dedicated to the Most Chaste Heart of Saint Joseph. Until the competent authority makes a decision, the request remains a proposal of the petition.