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The prayer for the Year of St. Joseph—To you, O blessed Joseph (Ad te, beate Ioseph)—was composed by Pope Leo XIII in his 1889 encyclical, Quamquam Pluries. The Holy Father asked that it be added to the end of the Rosary especially during October, the month of the Holy Rosary. This prayer is enriched with a partial indulgence (Source: USCCB).
THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH PRAYER
To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our afflictions, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also.
Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.
O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.
As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.
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What is a plenary indulgence?
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An indulgence is not a quick ticket to heaven, as St. John Paul II once said; rather, it is an aid for the real conversion that leads to eternal happiness. Sins are forgiven through the sacrament of penance, but then there is a kind of punishment still due the sinner, the late pope explained during a general audience in 1999.
God’s fatherly love “does not exclude chastisement, even though this always should be understood in the context of a merciful justice which reestablishes the order violated,”
- St. John Paul II
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St. Theresa of Avila
“I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of [St. Joseph] which he has failed to grant… To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succour us in some of our necessities, but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succours us in them all…” (Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila)
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Other Prayers and Devotions to St. Joseph
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Novena to St. Joseph
( Pray this Novena for nine days and submit your request for intercession)O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.
O Saint 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 experienced here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.
(Submit your request for intercession)
O Saint Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Hold Him close in my name and kiss His fine head from me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen.
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Prayer to St. Joseph
O Glorious Saint Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance for the expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations; to work with thankfulness and joy, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, never shrinking from weariness and trials; to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, keeping unceasingly before my eyes death and the account that I must give of time lost, talents unused, good omitted, and vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch, Saint Joseph. Such shall be my watch-word in life and in death. Amen. (Composed by Pope St. Pius X)
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Morning Offering to St. Joseph
Receive me, dear and chosen Father, and the offering of every
movement of my body and soul, which I desire to present
through thee to my blessed Lord.Purify all! Make all a perfect holocaust! May every pulsation
of my heart be a Spiritual Communion, every look and
thought an act of love, every action a sweet sacrifice,
every word an arrow of Divine love, every step
an advance toward Jesus, every visit to Our Lord as
pleasing to God as the errands of Angels, every thought
of thee, dear Saint, an act to remind thee that I am thy child.I recommend to thee the occasions in which I usually fail,
particularly . . . [Mention these]. Accept each little devotion
of the day, though replete with imperfection, and offer it
to Jesus, Whose mercy will overlook all, since He
regards not so much the gift as the love of the giver.
Amen.
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Memorare to St. Joseph
Remember, O most pure spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, my great protector, Saint Joseph, that no one ever had recourse to your protection, or implored your aid without obtaining relief. Confiding therefore in your goodness, I come before you. Do not turn down my petitions, foster father of the Redeemer, but graciously receive them. Amen.
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Prayer Before Adoration, Invoking St. Joseph
Dear Jesus, we believe that You are here, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament: that You see us, that You hear us. We adore You with profound reverence. We beg pardon for our sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.
Our Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph our Patron, our guardian angels, our patron saints, intercede for us during this time of prayer and adoration. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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St. Joseph died with Jesus and Mary on either side of him in Goya's painting on the subject. Could there be a better death? Pray to the Father, ask St. Joseph to join you.
O Blessed Joseph, you gave your last breath in the loving embrace of Jesus and Mary. When the seal of death shall close my life, come with Jesus and Mary to aid me. Obtain for me this solace for that hour - to die with their holy arms around me. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I commend my soul, living and dying, into your sacred arms. Amen.
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Oh St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests 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 dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us.
Amen.
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The Chaste Heart of St. Joseph
St. Joseph is known as “the just man.” Chastity is justice in the relationship between a man and a woman. Our culture presents serious and chronic challenges to the purity of mind and action for both men and woman. Happiness in relationship, both dating and marriage, is closely tied to the virtue of chastity.
In art, there has grown up a tradition of presenting St. Joseph as an aged man marrying a far younger woman, Mary. Perhaps, for the artist and audience, it renders St. Joseph's chastity easier to comprehend. Just men, like St. Joseph, make sacrifices for the women they truly love. This should be a consolation to us who struggle, that the battle is ultimately on concerning the choice to love. Chastity can only be achieved by disciplining our affections and appetites and ordering them according to our capacity for reason. Our capacity to love one another begins in our relationship with God and his love for each of us, especially in the struggle for a chaste heart. The heart of our relationship with God is found in prayer and worship. St. Joseph gives us great hope that purity of heart lies within our reach, thanks to the grace of God and the intercession of Joseph-most-chaste!Prayers to St. Joseph for a Chaste Heart
O GUARDIAN of Virgins and holy Father St. Joseph, into whose faithful keeping were entrusted Christ Jesus, Innocence Itself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, 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 serve Jesus and Mary most chastely all the days of my life. Amen.
The daily commitments associated with the devotion are to pray seven Glory Be's along with a prayer to St. Joseph for Purity.
Chastity Cord of St Joseph
St. Joseph’s Cord
The devotion of the White Cord of St. Joseph worn in honor of St Joseph is a devotion to aid in chastity. The devotion was approved as a devotion by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on September 19, 1859, and it was also blessed and approved by Pope Pius IX. Graces obtained by the wearing of this Cord are:- Purity of soul,
- The grace of chastity,
- Final perseverance,
- Particular assistance at the hour of death.
The Cord should be of thread or cotton, with seven knots at one end, and should be worn around the waist. It should be blessed by a priest (see blessing prayers below). One who wears the Cord should recite the Glory be to the Father seven times daily in honour of St. Joseph, together with the prayer for purity. A priest wears a cincture during Holy Mass as a sign of chastity. The cincture alone does not protect chastity - prayer and discipline of thought, word and deed are also required.
If this seems spiritually prudent to aid you in your struggles, bring a cord with seven knots for the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph to confession and have the priest bless the cord, your cincture, in these words:Priest's Blessing of Chastity Cord
V: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R: Who made heaven and earth.
V: The Lord be with you.
R: And with your spirit
V: Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, who gave us the counsel and love of virginity, and gave the precept of chastity, we appeal to Thy kindness, asking that You bless and hallow this cincture as a token of purity. Let he who girds himself with it as a safeguard of chastity be enabled, by the prayers of Saint Joseph, spouse of Your holy Mother, to practice that continence which is so pleasing to You, and to live in obedience to Your commandments. May he also obtain pardon of his sins, health in mind and body, and finally attain everlasting life. We ask this of You who live and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.
R: Amen.
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Words of Saint Thomas Aquinas on St Joseph:
“Some Saints are privileged to extend to us their patronage with particular efficacy in certain needs, but not in others; but our holy patron Saint Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every necessity, in every undertaking.”
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