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Saint Joseph: Patron of Refugees

Saint Joseph: Patron of Refugees

The fifth new title given to Joseph in his litany is Patron of Refugees. This is an interesting honorific because we don’t usually think of Joseph and Mary as refugees. We tend to imagine Joseph working and Mary keeping house in Israel. But when Herod ordered the killing of all baby boys under the age of two, they fled to Egypt where they were, indeed, refugees.

We will look at what they may have encountered in Egypt and what that may have meant for the young Jesus in a future entry. For now, the general idea that the Holy Family had to leave their home and possessions in the night to escape to a land where they didn’t know the language, the customs, or even something as simple as how to get food and water resonates in today’s world.

The UN Refugee Agency says that by the end of 2020, 82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced, and 26.4 million of those are classified as refugees, half of whom are under the age of 18. To put this in context, more people are refugees than live in the entire country of Australia! It’s little wonder then that Patron of Refugees was added to Joseph’s litany.

A patron is a special guardian and protector, which Joseph is, but a patron also is someone who supports in concrete ways, such as a patron of the arts who makes donations to artistic causes and endeavors. While having Joseph to pray to on behalf of refugees is a great blessing, it is also a challenge to us. We are the ones who must provide the actual funds, material goods, homes, etc. We must be the hands of Joseph for refugees. So, yes, let’s pray to Joseph, Patron of Refugees, but let us also ask what we ourselves can do to give aid to the displaced.

Quotation

“The émigré Holy Family of Nazareth, fleeing into Egypt, is the archetype of every refugee family.” –Pope Pius XII

Prayer

Saint Joseph, open my heart to the needs of refugees and show me how I might help them in practical, concrete ways. Amen.

Image credit: Guy FLEURY/CIRIC

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