Let’s honor “the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah” (Mt 1:16). On the day of the Immaculate Conception more than 150 years ago, December 8, 1870, Blessed Pope Pius IX, with the decree Quemadmodum Deus (As almighty God) by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, solemnly declared St. Joseph Patron of the Church. The First Vatican Council had been suspended because of political events in the autumn of 1870 and the Pope, wishing to satisfy the requests of the…