Saint Raphael Church issued the following announcement on September 6.

Two Catholic laymen are credited with starting Labor Day: Matthew McGuire (1855
1917) and, no relation, Peter J. McGuire (1852
1906). Matthew McGuire was a machinist from Paterson, NJ who began factory work at age 14. Throughout the 1880s he was involved in the Knights of Labor, the first successful national union in this country. Peter McGuire was born in New York City. He moved to St. Louis where he was a carpenter. In 1881 he moved to Chicago and formed the United Brotherhood of Carpenters out of 12 small unions. He eventually became the first secretary of the American Federation of Labor. In 1882 the two men organized a Knights of Labor parade in New York City. It was repeated in 1883 and 1884. The 1884 parade was the first time the day was called Labor Day. Subsequently, the idea of an official Labor Day caught on in Oregon and then in a few other states. The first Saturday of June was the designated holiday. Soon enough the day was changed to the first Monday in September. Finally in 1894 the U.S. Congress voted to make that day a national holiday. (Excerpt from The Working Catholic by William Droel) How can U.S. Catholics observe Labor Day, September 7, 2020? 1. Read about Catholic labor doctrine, starting with St. John Paul II’s beautiful meditations on work titled John Paul II’s Gospel of Work and edited by William Droel 2. Participate in the liturgy at home. Our parish will live stream the Mass at 9:00AM at Saint Raphael. 3. Read the encyclical Laudato Si from Pope Francis. In his Encyclical, Pope Francis teaches that of all groups that play a role in the welfare of society and help ensure respect for human dignity, “outstanding among them is the family, as a basic cell of society” (No157).

Original source can be found here.