Located in the foothills of Wyoming's spectacular wind river range, Wyoming Catholic College,

an accredited four-year Great Books Institution is built on the ancient Western tradition

of the liberal arts and the freedom of the American West. The college offers its students an

immersion in the primary sources of the classical tradition, the grandeur of the mountain wilderness,

and the spiritual heritage of the Catholic Church. Students experience the illumination

of imagination and intellect through the great books and traditional disciplines, literature and philosophy, mathematics and theology, science and Latin, and an outdoor

program second to none. The college celebrated an in-person graduation with its seniors

last year and welcomed its largest freshman class ever this year. Learn more about the college's

unique space in the world

of American higher education at Wyoming Catholic.edu. Elizabeth Lev is with us today. She is an art

historian who lives in Rome and who's authored a previous book entitled How Catholic Art Saved the Faith.

She has a new book out entitled The Silent Night, a history of

St. Joseph as depicted in art. And that is our topic today. Welcome, Ms. Lepp.

Thank you very much for having me. All right. What a handsome little volume this is. I'll say first.

You open by noting that Pope Francis dedicated year 2021 to Joseph,

quote, as you put it, this unsung champion of the gospel.

Any thoughts on why he did that?

Well, when Pope Francis was first elected, his first mass was on the 19th of March,

which is the feast day of Joseph. And he spoke very eloquently about Joseph at the opening of his

pontificate, really holding at that particular moment. I mean, we were back in 2013. But he was

speaking about Joseph and the importance and the dignity of work.

Really already a sense of how Joseph would speak to many different aspects of his pontificate.

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