Saint Joseph's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Joseph or the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ, celebrated on 19 March. It has the rank of a solemnity in the Catholic Church. It is a feast or commemoration in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland as well as for Canada, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious institutes, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, and Italy. It is not a holy day of obligation for Catholics in the United States.
Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus by Guido Reni, c 1635
Traditional Saint Joseph's Altar in New Orleans
Father's Day is a holiday honoring one's father, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United States, Father's Day was founded in the state of Washington, United States, by Sonora Smart Dodd in 1910.
Paternal Advice, painted by Josephus Laurentius Dyckmans
Hiking tour on Father's Day with smaller wagons.
A 2004 outdoor banner at Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece, with the message "Μπαμπά Σ'αγαπώ", i.e. "Daddy I love you".
A Royal Navy Officer hugs his daughter after returning from a long deployment on HMS Chiddingfold