Upper Torso of St. Joseph (Detail; DT 01) Rubber Stamp

The figure on this rubber stamp was extracted from a black and white 1889 litho. The litho's publication coincided with the promulgation of a “Prayer to St. Joseph” authored by Pope Leo XIII. It was included in his encyclical known from its opening words in Latin as “Quamquam Pluries”, that is, “Although Many Times…” about devotion to that saint. + Here, St. Joseph holds a spray of lilies symbolising purity in his right hand and an L-shaped carpenter’s rule indicative of his profession in his left. + Principal Feast of St. Joseph: March 19; Feast of St. Joseph the Worker: May 1 + Image Credit (DT 01): Figure extracted from an antique lithograph of Sancte Joseph, Patronus Ecclesiae [Saint Joseph, Patron of the Church], originally published by Desclée, Lefebvre et Cie, Tournai, Belgium, 1889, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera.