St. Joseph Triduum
On March 19th we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Join us for three days of reflection on the life of St. Joseph through a Salesian lense led by Fr. Lewis Fiorelli, OSFS.
For three decades, the Holy Family led what most of us lead: a family life of ordinary daily interactions with one another, lives lived in the practice of what St. Francis de Sales calls the “little virtues” such as gentleness, charity, humility, simplicity, forgiveness, and kindness. From whom did the child Jesus learn to live and love as he will later show us in Scripture? His parents, Joseph and Mary.
St. Francis de Sales appreciated the faith, gentle strength, creative courage, and large-hearted soul of St. Joseph. For him, such a life is a model for us, and an encouragement as well. For it is the kind of ordinary life that most of us live. St. Joseph’s life of quiet fidelity delighted the heart of God. So will ours!
Fr. Lewis Fiorelli, OSFS, received his S.T.D. in Systematic Theology from The Catholic University of America; his doctoral thesis, "The Trinity: Its Doctrine and Use in Saint Francis de Sales," was directed by the late Fr. Eamon Carroll, O.Carm., the distinguished Mariologist and a major figure in the Mariological Society of America. Subsequently, Fr. Fiorelli taught on several theological faculties in the Washington, D.C., area. He later served as Superior General of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (1994-2006) and Provincial of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province (2018-2022).