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Saint Joseph Prayers & Devotions “Joseph, wise ruler of God’s earthly household, nearest of all men to the heart of Jesus, Be still a father, lovingly providing for us his brethren.” (Liturgy of the Hours, 19th March)
by Donal Anthony Foley
All booklets are published thanks to the generous support of the members of the Catholic Truth Society
CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY publishers to the holy see
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Contents Origins and importance of the devotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 St Joseph’s role in the infancy narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Devotion to St Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Prayers and devotions to be said in front of the statue/icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Readings from the feasts of St Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Prayers to St Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Prayers to St Joseph, patron of the dying . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Novenas and meditation in honour of St Joseph . . . . . 34 Hymns to St Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Prayers of consecration to St Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
All rights reserved. First published 2014 by The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, 40-46 Harleyford Road London SE11 5AY Tel: 020 7640 0042 Fax: 020 7640 0046. Š 2014 The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society. ISBN 978 1 86082 910 9
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Origins and importance of the devotion St Joseph’s role in the infancy narratives What we know of St Joseph in historical terms is found in the opening chapters of the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke. Other information has come down to us via the apocryphal writings - that is, writings that were ultimately not accepted by the Church - which were in circulation during the early centuries. But while some of what they contain about him may be true, it is only in the Gospels that we have absolute certainty, since the Church has accepted only them as canonical. And what is in the Gospels about him is so little! We would love to know more. But we do not even have any record of what he said. St Joseph played a very important role as the foster-father of Jesus and the spouse of Our Lady, but he did so quietly, remaining in the background. Joseph was of the House of David, and the tribe of Judah, and from the Gospels we learn that he was born in Bethlehem, the City of David near Jerusalem. His genealogy is given in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. At the time when he entered into his great role as head and protector of the Holy Family, he was living in Nazareth in Galilee, far to the north of Bethlehem. The
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reason for this move is uncertain, but perhaps it was due to the necessity of finding work there as a carpenter. It was probably in Nazareth that Joseph became betrothed to Mary, and then their marriage ceremony would have taken place after the Annunciation, about a year later. In the Jewish culture of the time, betrothal was considered to be the equivalent of marriage in everything but name. It is from the apocryphal writings that the idea of Joseph being an old man originated, and these also give details of the story that Joseph was chosen to be Our Lady’s spouse in a miraculous way. But given the difficulties he had to endure, it is unlikely that he was very old, and it is more probable that he was in his thirties or perhaps his forties when Jesus was born. The marriage of St Joseph and Our Lady According to St Augustine (354-430) and St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), who have been regarded as amongst the foremost Catholic thinkers, although the marriage of Our Lady and St Joseph was a true marriage, it was a chaste and virginal one. The distress of St Joseph on finding out that Our Lady was with child, following the Annunciation of the birth of the Christ Child to her by the Angel Gabriel, was thus considerable, and his faith in her was certainly put to the test. From this we can already gain an idea of Joseph’s holiness and greatness, in that his reaction was very
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different from what might have been expected. Instead of reacting angrily, to spare Our Lady any embarrassment he resolved to send her away quietly. For this reason St Matthew described him as a “just man”. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:20-21). The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem St Joseph did not delay, but when he awoke he firmly resolved to make Mary his wife, and then, some time later, when the baby was due, it became necessary for them to go to Bethlehem in order to comply with the order from the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, for a census. This must have been a difficult journey for both of them, but their distress was compounded when, on arriving in Bethlehem, they could find nowhere to stay, even though the birth was imminent. Here, too, was a strong test of Joseph’s faith. The Holy couple eventually found some lodging, traditionally located in caves outside Bethlehem, and it was here that Our Lady gave birth to Jesus without the usual pains of childbirth. What a mysterious and wonderful event that must have been for Joseph to be part of such a marvel. The Gospel of Luke then outlines how local shepherds, alerted to the miraculous birth by hosts of angels, came
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to reverence the child, and also how Mary pondered on all these things in her heart, an attitude of awe and contemplation surely shared by her silent spouse. St Joseph was also with Our Lady when she went to the Temple for the Presentation of the baby Jesus, but he remained in the background as the aged Simeon spoke to Mary and prophesied how her child was destined to be a sign of contradiction for many in Israel, and spoke about how a sword of sorrow - the crucifixion - would pierce her soul (Lk 2: 34-35). St Joseph and the Holy Family Joseph had an important role to play following the visit of the Wise Men, and the hurried departure of the Holy Family to avoid the wrath of King Herod. Once again, an angel appeared to him in a dream and instructed him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the child, because Herod wanted to kill him. Joseph arose that same night in obedience to this command and the Holy Family departed for Egypt, where they stayed until Herod was dead. Joseph was told about this event through another dream in which God’s Angel told him to go back to his own country. But on their return, following another dream they went to live in Nazareth in Galilee (Mt 2). We hear nothing about the everyday life of the Holy Family in Nazareth, and must assume that St Joseph’s life henceforth was entirely focused on providing for Mary
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and Jesus, living a simple life with them, and supporting them by means of his work as a carpenter while remaining faithful to the religious practices of his ancestors. The last time Joseph is mentioned in the Bible, though not by name, occurs during the narration of the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple when he was 12, after he had been lost for three days. But once again the focus of this account is on Mary, although she does refer to St Joseph touchingly as Jesus’ father (Lk 2:41-52). We are not told anything about Joseph’s death, but presumably this happened before the beginning of the public life of Christ, since further on in the Gospels we hear of Jesus’ mother and brothers (Mt 12:46), but never of Joseph, although Jesus was known as the son of Joseph (Jn 1:45). And it is certain that if Joseph had still been alive at the time of the crucifixion, then Jesus would have entrusted Mary to him while on the cross, rather than to St John. We do not know where he was buried, and no cultus has been attached to any bodily relics of his. Given the fact that St Joseph surely died in the arms of Jesus and Mary, and surrounded by their love, he has come to be recognised as the patron of a happy death. Devotion to St Joseph Devotion to St Joseph is ultimately based on the Scriptural affirmation that he was a “just man” (Mt 1:19), which is high praise in itself, but on reflection, it must be the case
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that Joseph’s holiness was of a truly astonishing nature. That is, he must have been second only to Our Lady in terms of sanctity; and yet devotion to him developed only quite slowly in the Church. If we consider that he was given the immense privilege of protecting Mary and the Baby Jesus from Herod’s rage after the visit of the Magi, then we can see that this privilege - which was not without grave concerns and great responsibilities - was an immense one. And then further consider his role in providing for them as the child grew to maturity. St Joseph was also the human model of fatherhood that Jesus grew up with, the person on whom he would pattern his own life, in a human sense, and who would provide him with his first ideas of human fatherhood, and thus of the fatherhood of God. He must also have been the perfect husband to Mary, totally attentive to her, and totally devoted to her welfare. St Joseph’s exalted vocation To be chosen to be the foster-father of the God-man, and the spouse of the Virginal Mother of God, are signs of an incredibly exalted vocation, and we can get a glimpse of this if we consider his position in relation to the Holy Trinity. Our Lady’s relationship to the Trinity, as Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, is absolutely unique. No other creature comes even remotely close to her in terms of sanctity, and it is this status which has traditionally seen her as being more exalted than
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all the angels and Saints put together. With St Joseph, we are obviously on a much lower plane, but even so, he was given the extraordinary responsibility of being the spouse of Our Lady, and the foster-father of Jesus, which clearly puts him in a separate and very eminent category with regard to the rest of humanity. In the light of such reflections, it is clear that St Joseph’s sanctity was of an astounding nature, and that the devotion to him which has developed in the Church in recent centuries is in no way exaggerated. The cult of St Joseph Despite all this, it is understandable why the cult of St Joseph was relatively slow to develop in the early Church, and indeed for a long time after that. The early years were times of fierce persecution, and it was usually only the martyrs who were venerated. In addition, the theological focus during that period was on clarifying the trinitarian nature of God, and on trying to understand the mystery of how Jesus could be both God and man. And there was a focus, too, on the role of Our Lady as the Theotokos, or God-bearer. Even so, St Joseph was mentioned by some of the Church fathers, and from what they said it seems clear that there was devotion to St Joseph present in the Eastern Church. In the West though, it developed quite late, and it was only in the twelfth century that a church was first dedicated
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to him, in Bologna. It was mainly through the influence of figures such as St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Thomas Aquinas, St Gertrude, and St Bridget of Sweden, along with the work of some religious orders, such as the Carmelites and the Dominicans, that devotion to him began to develop more widely. By the early fifteenth century a feast day in honour of St Joseph was celebrated in various dioceses in Western Europe, and his cult was strongly promoted by influential figures such as St Vincent Ferrer and St Bernadine of Siena, while Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84) approved a universal feast day for him in the Roman calendar, on 19th March. As the cult of St Joseph grew, succeeding popes elevated the status of his feast progressively. And other feasts associated with him, for example celebrating his espousals to Our Lady, were also introduced. Under the influence of St Teresa of Avila, the reformed Carmelite Order chose him as their patron in 1621. More recent devotion to St Joseph By the nineteenth century, devotion to St Joseph had become very widespread in Catholic circles, to the extent that, in 1847, Pope Pius IX, who was personally very devoted to the saint, extended the feast of his patronage to the whole Church. In 1870, he declared him the Patron and Guardian of the Universal Church, and further raised the status of his feast day. At first glance, this might seem excessive, but if we consider that in relation to Christ,
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Joseph acted as foster-father and guardian, then, in the economy of salvation, he holds the same position in a spiritual sense with regard to the Body of Christ, that is the Church. So it is no exaggeration to describe him as the Guardian of the Church. Pope Leo XIII also strongly supported this devotion, and ended his encyclical on devotion to St Joseph, Quamquam pluries, issued in 1889, with these thoughts about his wonderful holiness: “No other saint . . . so nearly approaches that place of dignity which in the Mother of God is far above all created natures.� The Pope associated a special indulgenced prayer to St Joseph with this encyclical and ordered that it be added to the public recitation of the rosary during October. He also praised the practice of dedicating the month of March to St Joseph. Other devotions to the saint Another devotion to the saint that can be practised is the Nine First Wednesdays. This is done in a similar manner to the Sacred Heart devotion on the Nine First Fridays, that is, going to Mass and receiving Holy Communion, with the intention of honouring St Joseph and for the grace of a happy death. This devotion, then, is particularly concerned with the salvation of the dying. The cord of St Joseph, another important devotion to the saint, originated in Antwerp in 1657. It involves wearing a knotted cord, blessed in honour of St Joseph, around the waist, as a
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means of obtaining the graces of chastity and purity, and the special protection of the saint during life and particularly at the hour of death. Recent popes and devotion to St Joseph Pope Leo XIII’s successor, Pius X, whose given name was Joseph (Giuseppe), approved, in 1909, a litany in honour of St Joseph, while in 1919, Pope Benedict XV issued a proper preface for the Feast of St Joseph, and added the invocation of his name to the Divine Praises. In 1937, Pope Pius XI made St Joseph the patron against communism, and in 1955, Pius XII instituted the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, to be celebrated on 1st May, May Day, the ancient spring festival that had gradually become associated with workers’ rights. Blessed John XXIII, whose given name - like that of Pius X - was also Giuseppe, had a great devotion to St Joseph, and issued an apostolic letter on the saint on 19th March 1961. He also decided to add the name of St Joseph to the Roman Canon of the Mass, in what we now call Eucharistic Prayer I, in a ruling which came into effect on 8th December 1962. Pope John Paul II was also keen to promote devotion to St Joseph, and issued an apostolic exhortation, Redemptoris Custos (“The Guardian of the Redeemer”), on the person and mission of St Joseph in the life of Christ and his Church, on 15th August 1989. The Pope chose
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this date because it was the centenary of the issuance of the above-mentioned encyclical on St Joseph by Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam Pluries. John Paul II expressed the conviction that “by reflection upon the way that Mary’s spouse shared in the divine mystery, the Church… will be enabled to discover ever anew her own identity within this redemptive plan, which is founded on the mystery of the Incarnation.” The Pope echoed the praise given to St Joseph by Pope Leo in saying that it was inconceivable that the sublime task given to St Joseph by God “would not be matched by the necessary qualities to adequately fulfil it”, and that therefore we must recognise “that Joseph showed Jesus by a special gift from heaven, all the natural love, all the affectionate solicitude that a father’s heart can know.” Still more recently, in June 2013, Pope Francis further enhanced the status of St Joseph in the Church by promulgating a decree to the effect that his name should be inserted into Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV of every Mass. Religious orders and shrines dedicated to St Joseph A number of religious orders have been dedicated to St Joseph, and there are also important shrines dedicated to the saint, including St Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada, which was instigated by St André Bessette in 1904. He was canonised by Pope Benedict in October
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2010 following a life of heroic virtue, and reports of many miraculous healings which he attributed to St Joseph. The first small chapel dedicated to the saint that St AndrĂŠ built was superseded by a larger church constructed in 1917, with work on the present large basilica taking place from 1924 onwards. In Britain, the National Shrine to St Joseph is located at the Benedictine Abbey of St Michael in Farnborough, 30 miles from London. Blessed Pius IX granted an indult in 1874 to Cardinal Manning to crown a marble statue of St Joseph, and this was done in the presence of the English and Welsh hierarchy. Today the statue is set at the centre of a marble altar at the abbey, and it is still a place of pilgrimage and prayer.
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