THE FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH

Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:

To those who complain that the Church gives short shrift to women, I always want to say — Excuse me. 

Mary: the “Magnificat,” prayed by every priest and nun in the world each evening at Vespers; Joseph: silence. Mary: the rosary; Joseph: an old-timey cough syrup. Mary: crowned queen of heaven and earth; Joseph: gets his statue buried in the backyard so people can sell — or buy — a house. 

With St. Joseph’s feast day coming up on March 19, enter art historian Elizabeth Lev’s “The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art” (Sophia Institute Press, $18.95). 

READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.