St. Joseph novena guides those 'on the path to adoption'

(OSV News) -- The faithful are invited to pray for those whose lives are touched by adoption, seeking the intercession of St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced its annual March 10-18 "Novena to St. Joseph For Those on the Path to Adoption," ahead of the saint's March 19 feast day.

The novena prayers, available online in both English and Spanish, have in recent years become an annual initiative of the USCCB's Respect Life project, part of the conference's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities.

Each day of the novena features a Scripture passage for silent reflection, as well as prayers and a petition to St. Joseph for the given intention.

The first day is dedicated to mothers who place their children for adoption, with Scripture taken from Exodus 1:22-2:6, 10, in which Moses' mother saves her infant son from Pharaoh's attack by placing him in a reed basket that Pharaoh's daughter retrieves from the Nile and then adopts the boy.

The subsequent days of the novena focus on fathers and family members who choose to place children through adoption, children waiting to be adopted, married couples pursuing adoption, adopted children, and adoptive mothers, fathers and family members.

"The novena is an opportunity to seek St. Joseph's intercession for the many people whose lives are touched by adoption," Kat Talalas, assistant director for the USCCB's pro-life communications, told OSV News.

The novena was first drafted by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley of Boston during his term as chair of the USCCB's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, with the prayers finalized and first published in 2016 under Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, the USCCB pro-life secretariat previously told OSV News.

The novena is posted on the USCCB's Respect Life Facebook and X accounts. Participants also can sign up to receive the daily prayers by email or text by visiting the novena website at respectlife.org/adoption-novena.

As of fiscal year 2022, there were 108,877 children awaiting adoption in the U.S. with most (78%) under the age of 12 (37% age 4 years or younger, 41% ages 5-12), according to the most recent data available from the Administration for Children and Families, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A March 2024 analysis of the HHS agency's latest data by the National Adoption Council noted that children are spending too long in foster care and too long awaiting adoption.