Glorious Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is the only Saint who appeared at Fatima besides Our Lady. He held the Child Jesus in his arms and blessed the 70,000 people three times. It is he of whom it has been said: “The sound of victory will be heard when the faithful recognize the sanctity of Saint Joseph.”
Prayer to Saint Joseph
O Glorious St. Joseph, Spouse of the Immaculate virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, and charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the Divine Will. Be my guide, father, and model through life, that I may merit to die as thou didst in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Help us St. Joseph, in our earthly strife, ever to lead a pure, blameless life. Amen.
APPEAL TO ST. JOSEPH
O BLESSED ST. JOSEPH, tenderhearted Father, faithful guardian of Jesus, chaste spouse, of the Mother of God, I pray and beseech thee to offer to God the Father, His Divine Son, bathed in Blood on the Cross for sinners, and through the thrice Holy Name of Jesus, obtain for us from the Eternal Father, the favor we implore… Amen.
O JOSEPH, foster Father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray for us daily to the Son of God, so that, armed with the might of His grace and loyally fighting the good fight here on earth, we may be crowned by Him at the hour of our death. Amen.
Novena Prayer to St. Joseph
Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my interest and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. Oh. St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my last breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls – Pray for me. Amen.
This prayer was found in the fiftieth year of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1505 it was sent from the Pope to Emperor Charles when he was going into battle. Whoever shall read this prayer or hear it or keep it about themselves, shall never die a sudden death, or be drowned, nor shall poison take effect on them; neither shall they fall into the hands of the enemy, or shall be burned in any fire or shall be overpowered in battle.
Say for nine mornings for anything you may desire. It has never been known to fail, so be sure you really want what you ask.
“I know by experience,” says St. Teresa of Avila, “that the glorious St. Joseph assists us generally in all necessities. I never asked him for anything which he did not obtain for me.”
Memorare of St. Joseph
Remember, O most illustrious Patriarch St. Joseph, on the testimony of St. Teresa, thy devoted client, never has it been heard that anyone who invoked thy protection or sought thy mediation who has not obtained relief. In this confidence I come before thee, my loving protector, chase Spouse of Mary, foster-father of the Saviour of men and dispenser of the treasures of His Sacred Heart. Despise not my earnest prayer but graciously hear and obtain my petition.
Let us pray.
O God, Who by Thy ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose Blessed Joseph for the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant, we beseech Thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in Heaven. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for Success in Work
Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations; to work with gratitude and joy, considering it an honor to employ and develop, by means of labor, the gifts received from God, without recoiling before weariness or difficulties; to work, above all, with purity of intention, and with detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account which must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch St, Joseph. Such shall be my watchword in life and death. Amen.
Prayer for Purity
Saint Joseph, father and guardian of virgins, into whose faithful keeping were entrusted Innocency itself, Christ Jesus, and Mary, the Virgin of virgins, I pray and beseech thee through Jesus and Mary, those pledges so dear to thee, to keep me from all uncleanness, and to grant that my mind may be untainted, my heart pure and my body chaste; help me always to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity. Amen.
Prayer for a Happy Death
O Glorious St. Joseph, behold I choose thee today for my special patron in life and at the hour of my death. Preserve and increase in me the spirit of prayer and fervor in the service of God. Remove far from me every kind of sin; obtain for me that my death may not come upon me unawares,, but that I may have time to confess my sins sacramentally, and to bewail them with a most perfect understanding and a most sincere contrition, in order that I may breathe forth my soul into the hands of Jesus and Mary. Amen.
Prayer to St. Joseph(5)
O glorious Saint Joseph, chosen by God to be the foster-father of Jesus, the chaste spouse of Mary ever-Virgin, and the head of the Holy Family and then appointed by the Vicar of Christ to be the heavenly patron and defender of the Church founded by Jesus, most confidently do I implore at this moment thy powerful aid for all the Church militant on earth. Do thou shield with thy truly paternal love especially the Supreme Pontiff and all the Bishops and priests who are in union with the Holy See of Peter. Be the defender of all who labor for souls amidst the trials and tribulations of this life, and cause all the peoples of the earth to submit themselves in a docile spirit to that Church which is the ark of salvation for all men. Be pleased also, dear Saint Joseph, to accept this dedication of myself which I now make unto thee. I dedicate myself wholly to thee, that thou mayest ever be my father, my patron and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me great purity of heart and a fervent devotion to the interior life. Grant that, following thine example, I may direct all my actions to the greater glory of God, in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and in union with thee. Finally pray for me that I may be a partaker in the peace and joy which were thine at the hour of thy holy death. Amen. (Raccolta)
Prayer of St. Pius X to St. Joseph
O most sweet Jesus, who came into this world to give to all souls the life of your grace, and who, to preserve and increase it in them, willed to be the daily remedy of their weakness and the food for each day, we humbly beseech you, by your heart so burning with love for us, to pour your divine Spirit upon all souls in order that those who have the misfortune to be in the state of mortal sin may, returning to you, find the light of grace that they have lost. Through this same Holy Spirit, may those who are already living by this divine life devoutly approach your divine table every day when it is possible, so that, receiving each day in Holy Communion the antidote of their daily venial sins and each day sustaining in themselves the life of your grace and thus ever purifying themselves the more, they may finally come to a happy life with you. Amen.
Prayer to St. Joseph for Conversion
O glorious Patriarch St. Joseph, who merited to be called ‘just’ by the Holy Ghost, I urgently recommend to thee the soul of (N.), which Jesus redeemed at the price of His Precious Blood. Thou knowest how deplorable is the sate and how unhappy the life of those who have banished this loving Savior from their hearts, and how greatly they are exposed to the danger of losing Him eternally. Permit not, I beseech thee, that a soul so dear to me should continue any longer in its evil ways; preserve it from the danger that threatens it; touch the heart of this prodigal child and conduct him back to the bosom of the fondest of fathers. Abandon him not, I implore thee, till thou hast opened to him the gates of the heavenly city, where he will praise and bless thee throughout eternity for the happiness which he will owe to thy powerful intercession. Amen.
Prayer to St. Joseph in Time of Difficulty
O Glorious St. Joseph, thou who hast power to render possible even things which are considered impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and distress. Take this important and difficult affair under thy particular protection, that it may end happily…(indicate petition). O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in thee. Let it not be said that we would invoke thee in vain; and since thou art so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that thy goodness equals thy power. Amen. St. Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.
A Notice on the Cord of St. Joseph
I. Origin
The devotion to the Cord of St. Joseph took its rise in the town of Antwerp (Belgium), in the year 1657, in consequence of a miraculous cure effected by the wearing of this precious girdle.
At the above epoch there lived at Antwerp an Augustinian nun remarkable for her piety, called Sister Elizabeth, who, during three years, had suffered excruciating pains, occasioned by a most cruel distemper. She had then reached such a stage that the physicians, seeing no resource possible, declared her death to be inevitable, and fast approaching. Losing all hope in human aid, the Sister addressed herself to Heaven, and having always had a particular devotion to St. Joseph, she prayed to him to intercede with our Lord for her recovery. At the same time she had a cord blessed in the Saint’s honour, girded herself with it, and a few days after, as she was praying before his image, she found herself all of a sudden freed from pain. Those who knew the disease and its nature, in her instance, declared her recovery miraculous. An authentic act was drawn up in presence of a public notary, and a Protestant physician could not help proclaiming the truth.
This fact, related by the Bollandists, was admitted by the author of a ‘Month of St. Joseph,’ published at Rome in 1810. The reading of this book in 1842, in St. Nicholas’s Church at Verona, where the devotion of the Month of March was beginning to be practiced, brought to the knowledge of several persons the event above related. Immediately, in imitation of the religious of Antwerp, many patients, animated by a tender piety towards St. Joseph, procured a cord blessed in the Church of St. Nicholas, where there is a chapel (since become a celebrated sanctuary consecrated to the Saint).
Numerous special graces were obtained, and the devotion soon spread rapidly. Hundreds of cords were dispatched to France, Belgium, all parts of Italy, and even to America and Asia.
The Cord of St. Joseph was asked, not merely as a remedy against bodily ailments, but also as a preservative of the virtue of purity. Ere long, his lordship the Bishop of Verona became aware of the necessity of addressing a supplication of the Congregation of the Rites, which he did by a letter bearing date January 14, 1859. After a mature examination the Sacred Congregation, in accordance with the request, approved, by a Rescript of September 19, 1859, the new formula of blessing, and permitted its solemn and private use. Finally, his lordship obtained for the Association of the Cord of St. Joseph the privilege of being declared ‘primarie,’ and at the same time His Holiness Pope Pius IX, enriched it with precious indulgences.
II. Graces Attached to the Wearing of the Cord of St. Joseph
Graces precious to the piety of St. Joseph’s servants are attached to the wearing of his cord. They are:-1st, St. Joseph’s special protection; -2nd, purity of soul; -3rd, the grace of chastity; -4th, final perseverance; -5th, particular assistance at the hour of death.
III. Nature of the Cord and the Manner of Wearing It
The Cord of St. Joseph should be of thread or cotton, ending at one extremity in seven knots, indicative of the joyful, dolorous, and glorious mysteries of the august Patriarch. It is worn as a girdle, and ought to be blessed by a priest possessing powers to engird one with it.
IV. Prayers of the Holy Cord
Recite daily in honour of St. Joseph seven times Gloria Patri, together with the following prayer:
O St. Joseph, Father and Protector of Virgins, to whose faithful custody Christ Jesus, Innocence itself, and Mary Virgin of virgins, were committed; I pray and beseech thee by these dear pledges Jesus and Mary, that being preserved from all uncleanness, I may with spotless mind, pure heart and chaste body, ever most chastely serve Jesus and Mary all the days of my life. Amen.
V. Plenary Indulgences Attached to the Cord of St. Joseph
1. On the day of entrance into the Association.
2. On the day of the Feast of the Espousals of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph (January 23).
3. On the 19th of March, the Feast of St. Joseph, and on one of the seven days which immediately follow that festival.
4. On the Patronage of St. Joseph (3rd Sunday after Easter).
5. At the article of death, for all the Associates who, being truly penitent, and having confessed their sins, shall receive the Holy Viaticum; or who, not being able to do this, shall invoke with the mouth or at least with the heart the name of Jesus.
Conditions for Gaining the Said Indulgences
1. To be truly contrite, and to confess and communicate.
2. To visit the church or chapel of the Association or any other church or public oratory.
3. To pray there for peace between Christian princes, the extirpation of heresies, and the exaltation of our holy Mother the Church.
The plenary indulgences of a privileged altar is attached to all Masses celebrated for a departed Associate.
An indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines on each of the Sundays which come immediately after the Ember Saturdays for the Associates who shall visit with a contrite heart the church of the Arch-Confraternity, and there pray for the intentions of the sovereign Pontiff.
All these indulgences are applicable to the souls in Purgatory.
Blessing of the Cord of Saint Joseph
P. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made Heaven and Earth
P. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Bless O Lord, Jesus Christ, this cord (cincture) that they who wear it may by the protection of St. Joseph, be shielded from every danger, and obtain health of soul and body. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen
Sprinkle with holy water.
(For the long form see the 1964 Roman Missal)
To get your own Cord of St. Joseph go here
January 19 2009 09:45 am