04/19/2026
By Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.
Director of the National Shrine of St. Joseph
Happy Easter!
Earlier this month, my friend Patrice posted about her love of the Easter Exsultet. When referring to the Easter event “bringing joy to mourners,” perhaps she was referring to the line from the Exsultet, “This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.” Indeed, the Paschal mystery puts a new spin on death.
The Church recognizes Joseph as “patron of a happy death.” Tradition states that Joseph died in the company of the Blessed Mother and Jesus; what could be a happier state of dying than to be in the presence of these two? The Christian understanding of Easter also reminds us that the death of Jesus is reason to joyfully celebrate, as his death opened the gates of heaven for all of us.
Earlier this year, I was praying in the National Shrine of St. Joseph when I read an announcement of the dying of the mother of Jesuit Fr. James Martin. How ironic that I came upon Fr. Martin’s prayer to St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, when I was praying at the National Shrine of St. Joseph. I wrote to Fr. Martin, extending my appreciation for his ministry in the Church, my sympathies to him and his family, and gratitude for his prayer to St. Joseph on the occasion of his mom’s dying. His prayer included the following, “Gentle Joseph, patron of a happy and peaceful death, who, it is believed, breathed your last in the presence of Jesus and Mary, obtain for Eleanor this same grace….”
Many of us have been beside a loved one at the time of death. This Easter season, may we pray to our patron saint, patron of a happy death, should we be so honored to accompany another in life’s final moments. Not everyone dies in the physical presence of the Blessed Mother and Jesus, but Easter reminds us that we all benefit from the resurrection of Jesus who conquered death by removing its victory and sting (I Corinthians 15: 55).
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Br. Steve Joseph Herro, O. Praem., is Director of the National Shrine of St. Joseph and a member of the Norbertine Community of St. Norbert Abbey. The National Shrine of St. Joseph has been a ministry of St. Norbert Abbey since 1898. For more information about the National Shrine of St. Joseph, please visit norbertines.org/joseph.
