St. Joseph in the Maronite Church

The Catholic Church has designated this year as the “Year of St. Joseph.” St. Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mary, and foster father of Our Lord, is deeply loved and revered in the Maronite Church. Numerous churches and monasteries in Lebanon have St. Joseph as their patron, and in the United States there are also several churches named for St. Joseph.

The first Maronite Church in Manhattan began in 1890 under the patronage of St. Joseph. Here is an excerpt from the website of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York, regarding the history of the Maronite Community in New York City:

In parallel to Our Lady of Lebanon, Saint Joseph’s continued its mission among the Manhattan Maronites, purchasing property at 57–59 Washington Street in 1910. However, as early as 1902, the Maronite population of Manhattan was decreasing as the immigrants prospered and their children grew up and moved out of lower Manhattan. By the late 1930s, Saint Joseph’s had a very small congregation of Maronites in the immediate neighborhood of the church. On February 5, 1946, the City of New York acquired title to the 57 Washington Street property in connection with the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Saint Joseph’s Church moved to 157 Cedar Street, which, after extensive remodeling, was in use by May 1949.

In December 1966, the Archbishop of New York suggested that Saint Joseph’s Church be suppressed as a Maronite parish so as to promote the founding of a new Latin parish in the area to meet the needs of the predominantly Latin Catholics who would work in the World Trade Center, then in the final planning stages. After several years of consultation, the Saint Joseph’s Church property was sold to the Archdiocese in April 1969, after being assured that the Maronite Liturgy could always be celebrated at Saint Joseph’s Church. However, soon thereafter, the property was taken again by eminent domain, this time for construction of the World Trade Center. The church was relocated for the third time, and continues today as Saint Joseph Chapel, one block to the West of the Cedar Street location, at 385 South End Avenue (the church entrance is on Liberty Street) and is administered as part of Saint Peter’s Catholic Church on Barclay Street.

Along with the numerous Churches named for St. Joseph, several of our prominent Maronite saints were also given the name of Joseph (Youssef in Arabic) at birth. These saints include the beloved St. Charbel Makhlouf, St. Nimatullah al-Hardini, and Blessed Estephan Nehme.

With regards to these significant aspects of the great Saint Joseph in our Maronite Church, we wished to also honor him with one of our “Patron” soaps in the line of Maronite Monasticism Soaps. May his prayers be with us and may he watch over our families, our Churches & Monasteries, and our nations.

St. Joseph, pray for us!