To Saint Joseph for the Needs of the Holy Church

Prayer of Leo XIII O Blessed Joseph, we have recourse to you in our tribulation and, having implored the help of your Most Holy Bride, we also confidently seek your patronage. In the name of the affection which united you to the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God; in the name of the fatherly love with which you surrounded the Child Jesus, we beg you to look favourably on the inheritance acquired by Jesus Christ at the price of His blood, and to assist us with your power and help in our needs. O most vigilant guardian of the Holy Family, protect the privileged family of Jesus Christ; most loving Father, preserve us from all contagion of corruption and error; most powerful protector, assist us from Heaven in our struggle against the power of darkness. And, just as you once snatched the Infant Jesus from the peril of death, defend the Holy Church of God today from the snares of the enemy and from every adversity, and cover us all with your constant protection, so that we may, following your example and through your assistance, live holy, die piously and obtain eternal bliss in Heaven! Amen. O Saint Joseph, our guide, protect us! Protect the Holy Church!

To Saint Joseph, Guardian of Virgins

Saint Joseph, father and guardian of virgins, to whose faithful keeping Christ Jesus, innocence itself, and Mary, the virgin of virgins was entrusted, I pray and beseech you by that twofold and most precious charge, by Jesus and Mary, to save me from all uncleanness, to keep my mind untainted, my heart pure, and my body chaste; and to help me always to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

to obtain a profound Humility

Faithful imitator of Jesus and Mary, humble Joseph, you who were as lowly in your eyes and in the opinion of men as you are great before God; teach me to be, like you, lowly and humble of heart. Alas, you know it, my sins, after having made me ungrateful to my God, have filled me again with a foolish pride, which is the greatest wound of my soul. O kind Saint, my protector, my Patron and my Father, on this day I ask you for a virtue which is the foundation of all Christian perfection. Obtain for me humility, the grace to know and to despise myself; obtain for me the grace to seek to please God alone in all my actions. May I, like you, love silence and the hidden life; may I, like you, be forgotten and despised by creatures; may the humiliations and the Cross of Jesus Christ be my share in this world, as they have been yours. O Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I now wish to put all my glory and my delights into humbling myself following your example. Amen.

For the grace to never be separated

from Jesus and Mary

My holy protector! By your prompt and continuous obedience to the Will of God, obtain for me from your Jesus the grace to obey perfectly His divine precepts. Obtain for me on my journey to eternity, in the midst of so many enemies, the grace to never lose the company of Jesus and Mary until my last breath: in this company all the sorrows of this life and death itself will be sweet and precious to me. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

for Union with God

O glorious Patriarch, now that you are in Heaven in the fullness of joy, on a high throne, with your beloved Jesus, who was submitted to you on earth, have compassion on me, forced to live in the midst of so many enemies, grappling with the spirits of darkness and my evil passions, in continual danger of losing the grace of God. Ah, by the happiness you have had in enjoying the company of Jesus and Mary here on earth without interruption, obtain for me the grace to spend the rest of my life always united to God, resisting all the assaults of hell, and to die in the love of Jesus and Mary, so that one day I can go and enjoy Their company with you in the Kingdom of the Blessed. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

to obtain an ardent Charity

O Seraphim of Love, glorious Saint Joseph, in all virtues you are great, but in the love of Jesus Christ you are incomparable. Always see Jesus, always think of Jesus, always work for Jesus, always talk about Jesus or with Jesus! Oh, what ardour, what transports of love, must the conversation of this adorable Son have ignited in your soul? Blessed Joseph, we share your happiness, but, alas, we do not share your love. Is it not this same Jesus, this Jesus who is so good, so loving, who comes to unite Himself, heart to heart, with us in the Sacrament of His Love? And yet our hearts feel nothing, say nothing to Him; so much love inspires us neither transport, nor zeal, nor fervour. O Joseph, whom Mary alone surpasses in love, make such a sinister prodigy cease. Jesus can refuse nothing to your tenderness; therefore, ask Him for us, not good health, not the earthly goods, but only His Love and His purest Love. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

to obtain a great Faith

Great Saint Joseph, heir of the faith of all the Patriarchs, obtain for us that beautiful virtue which is the basis of all holiness, the foundation of the other virtues, and without which it is impossible to please God; obtain for us that faith which is alive, active, ablaze with the fire of divine love, which does not allow itself to be shaken by any attack, which remains faithful in all trials. Let us follow your example and live by faith in this world, so that we may share in the rewards prepared for it in Heaven. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

to obtain the grace of a firm Hope

O faithful Joseph, man after God’s own heart, you have pushed abandonment to the most heroic degree. Obtain for me that firm hope which nothing can shake, that victorious hope which overcomes all obstacles and temptations; that loving hope which triumphs over God Himself and forces Him, so to speak, to come to our aid; that hope which, after having sustained us during life, will be our sweetest consolation at the hour of death, and will open for us the doors of the blessed Eternity. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

to obtain the grace of devotion to Jesus Crucified

O Holy Patriarch, by the tears you shed while contemplating beforehand the Passion of your Jesus, obtain for me a continual and tender remembrance of the sufferings of my Redeemer, and by the holy flames of love which those contemplations kindled in your heart, obtain for my soul a spark, which through its sins contributed so much to the sufferings of Jesus. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

to obtain a Love of compuntion for the Child Jesus

O holy Patriarch! By the sorrow you have felt, seeing the divine Word, born in a stable in the midst of such great poverty, without fire, without clothes, and hearing Him weeping in cold, I beg you to obtain for me a true sorrow of my sins, by which I was the cause of Jesus’ tears; and, by the consolation you then had in considering the Child Jesus in the manger, so beautiful and charming, so that your heart began to burn with a more ardent love for such a lovable and loving God, obtain for me the grace to love Him also with a great love on earth, so that one day I may possess Him in Heaven. Amen.

To Saint Joseph

for a special Grace

Glorious Saint Joseph, my Protector and Father, I turn to you with confidence. By the affection which united you to the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, by the fatherly love with which you surrounded the Infant Jesus, I beg you to obtain for me, with the love of Jesus and Mary, the imitation of your virtues and especially the grace of … (Expose here the object of your prayer.) Remove from me all that would be an obstacle to my salvation and be my Guardian, my Guide, my Protector and my assured Refuge at every moment of my life, but especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

Consecration to Saint Joseph

Mighty Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I, N…, choose you for my very special Patron, and as God has appointed you the Head of His Holy Family on earth, favour me with your protection in Her, and obtain for me constant love of Jesus and Mary. Assist me at the moment of death. Teach me to venerate Mary as a Queen, and to cherish Her as my mother. Teach me to imitate Jesus through patience in sorrow and resignation to the divine will, so that at the end of this life I may go with you to enjoy Their presence forever. Amen.

Consecration of a Child to Saint Joseph

Great Saint Joseph, who served as Father to our divine Saviour, we offer and consecrate this child to you. Deign to be his Protector and Father, preserve for him the precious treasure of innocence, preserve him from all danger to soul and body, and inspire in him, from his earliest years, a tender love for you, for Mary your Immaculate Bride, and for Jesus His adorable Son. May your holy protection accompany him throughout his life. Watch over his every step, guide him in all his undertakings, lead him always in the way of the Lord’s precepts, and deign to bring him, at the moment of his death, into the heavenly Jerusalem, to sing there eternally the divine mercies and your paternal goodness. Amen.

To Saint Joseph, Protector of Families

Noble head of the Holy Family, protector and model of Christian families, I implore you to be the father and protector of mine. Let the spirit of faith and religion reign in it, holy fidelity to the commandments of the Lord and His Church, peace and union of the children of God, detachment from the deceitful goods of the world and love of the only true goods. Watch over all our interests; may the Lord deign, through you, to bless our home. Above all, obtain for each member of our family the grace to live and die in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

To Saint Joseph the Worker

to ask for his assistance at work

and in caring for the family

Glorious Saint Joseph, model of all those who are dedicated to work, obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penitence for the expiation of my many sins; to work in conscience, putting the respect of duty above my inclinations; to work with gratitude and joy, considering it an honor to use and develop through work the gifts received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever backing down in the face of weariness and difficulties; to work above all with purity of intention and with detachment from myself, having constantly before my eyes death and the account I will have to render of the time lost, of the talents unused, of the good omitted and of the vain complacency in success, so disastrous to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all in imitation of you, Patriarch Saint Joseph! This will be my motto in life and in death. Amen.