Nativity’s Knights of Columbus Council 7992 invites all to view the St. Joseph icon on display at Nativity from March 7 through March 13. Honor St. Joseph and pray for his intercession in preserving, cultivating and passing on the Catholic faith to future generations
About the Icon
Flowing from the Year of St. Joseph declared by Pope Francis, and inspired by his apostolic letter Patris Corde, comes the Knights of Columbus latest Pilgrim Icon. This beautiful St. Joseph icon is housed at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montréal, Canada’s preeminent Shrine to St. Joseph, founded by St. André Bessette.
Elizabeth Bergeron prayerfully painted the original from a drawing by famed iconographer Alexandre Sobolev. In the image, St. Joseph stands with his eyes cast humbly down, but with a determined strength in his face. In his covered arm he bears the Child Jesus, whose own hand is raised, blessing the world. In his right arm, St. Joseph holds a flowering staff, a sign that he was chosen by God. The white lilies of the staff signify his purity and chastity.
Taken together, the icon provides a window into the life and mission of this courageous father, a man who was one of us and yet called to a mission of incomparable significance.
About the Pilgrim Icon Program
The St. Joseph icon is the latest to be a part of the Pilgrim Icon Program.
Every few years, the Knights of Columbus select an icon of a saint whose patronage is particularly inspiring to Knights and their communities. Each jurisdiction receives one or several of these icons which travel from council to council and serve as the centerpieces for prayer services in parishes throughout the Order.
Since its inception in 1979, the Knights of Columbus Pilgrim Icon Program has held more than 174,800 local council and parish prayer services with some 22 million participants. Featured images have included Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of Czestochowa, Our Lady of Pochaiv, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Charity, Our Lady of Persecuted Christians and the Holy Family.
