St. Joseph, Pray for Us
March 19th is the Feast of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Head of the Holy Family, Confessor, and Patron of the Universal Church.
The Gospel of Saint Matthew tells us that Saint Joseph was "a just man." The New Testament records no words of Saint Joseph. The Foster Father of Our Savior instructs us and edifies us however, by his example---of profound Faith, humility and resignation, and of perfect obedience to the will of God.
In Quamquam Prulies, his 1889 Encyclical On Devotion To Saint Joseph, Pope Leo XIII reminds us that "...Joseph was the spouse of Mary and that he was reputed the Father of Jesus Christ. From these sources have sprung his dignity, his holiness, his glory."
The Holy Father emphasizes again that "Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men."
According to Pope Leo "Fathers of families find in Joseph the best personification of paternal solicitude and vigilance; spouses a perfect example of love, of peace, and of conjugal fidelity; virgins at the same time find in him the model and protector of virginal integrity."
Devotion to Saint Joseph bears a special significance to the contemporary struggle to protect the sanctity of innocent human life.
In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II commended the life of children not yet born to the protection of Saint Joseph.
Just as Saint Joseph, upon the instruction of an angel, carried the Christ Child, Innocence Himself, to Egypt to escape the murderous wrath of Herod, let us invoke the intercession of Saint Joseph, Patron of the Unborn, to deliver the innocent children of today from the modern day successors of Herod who pursue, with fiendish zeal, the Luciferian obseession to destroy human life in the womb.
Saint Joseph is the Patron Saint of Canada. Here in New England, the Virgin Spouse of the Virgin Mother of God is the Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Diocese of Manchester.
*******
The Feast of Saint Joseph is, in accordance with the Code of Canon Law, one of ten holy days of obligation in the Universal Church. It is not however, one of the only six days in the United States when attendance at Mass is required under pain of serious sin.
This is not because of any lack of esteem for the role of Saint Joseph in the economy of the Incarnation.
Rather, it relates to particular historical circumstances, specifically, the economic and cultural conditions faced by Catholic immigrants to this country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. America then was a laissez faire capitalist society where 72 hour work weeks — 12 hour days — were common.
Protestant employers moreover, were usually unsympathetic to Catholic religious practices, and would often dock or fire Catholic workers who showed up late for work on holydays.
As a consequence, Catholic workingmen, like this writer's grandfather, who emigrated from Galway to Boston in 1906, would, on holydays of obligation, have to rise before 4 a.m. so they could attend Mass at 5 a.m., thus ensuring that they would arrive at work on time at 6 a.m.
As a concession, taking into account this hardship, the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore decreed in 1884 that there would be only six holydays of obligation in the United States.
THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
Lord, have mercy on us
R. Christ, have mercy on us. Kyrie, eleison
R. Christe, eleison. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
R. Christ, graciously hear us. Kyrie, eleison. Christe, audi nos.
R. Christe, exaudi nos. God the Father of Heaven,
R. have mercy on us. Pater de cælis, Deus,
R. miserere nobis. God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
R. have mercy on us. Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus,
R. miserere nobis. God, the Holy Ghost,
R. have mercy on us. Spiritus Sancte, Deus,
R. miserere nobis. Holy Trinity, One God,
R. have mercy on us. Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus,
R. miserere nobis. Holy Mary,
R. pray for us. Sancta Maria,
R. ora pro nobis. Saint Joseph,
R. pray for us. Sancte Joseph,
R. ora pro nobis. Illustrious Scion of David,
R. pray for us. Proles David inclita,
R. ora pro nobis. Light of Patriarchs,
R. pray for us. Lumen Patriarcharum,
R. ora pro nobis. Spouse of the Mother of God,
R. pray for us. Dei Genetricis sponse,
R. ora pro nobis. Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
R. pray for us. Custos pudice Virginis,
R. ora pro nobis. Foster-father of the Son of God,
R. pray for us. Filii Dei nutricie,
R. ora pro nobis. Watchful defender of Christ,
R. pray for us. Christi defensor sedule,
R. ora pro nobis. Head of the Holy Family,
R. pray for us. Almæ Familiæ præses,
R. ora pro nobis. Joseph most just,
R. pray for us. Joseph justissime,
R. ora pro nobis. Joseph most chaste,
R. pray for us. Joseph castissime,
R. ora pro nobis. Joseph most prudent,
R. pray for us. Joseph prudentissime,
R. ora pro nobis. Joseph most valiant,
R. pray for us. Joseph fortissime,
R. ora pro nobis. Joseph most obedient,
R. pray for us. Joseph obeodientissime,
R. ora pro nobis. Joseph most faithful,
R. pray for us. Joseph fidelissime,
R. ora pro nobis. Mirror of patience,
R. pray for us. Speculum patientiæ,
R. ora pro nobis. Lover of poverty,
R. pray for us. Amator paupertatis,
R. ora pro nobis. Model of workmen,
R. pray for us. Exemplar opificum,
R. ora pro nobis. Glory of home life,
R. pray for us. Domesticæ vitæ decus,
R. ora pro nobis. Guardian of virgins,
R. pray for us. Custos virginum,
R. ora pro nobis. Pillar of families,
R. pray for us. Familiarum columen,
R. ora pro nobis. Solace of the afflicted,
R. pray for us. Solatium miserorum,
R. ora pro nobis. Hope of the sick,
R. pray for us. Spes ægrotantium,
R. ora pro nobis. Patron of the dying,
R. pray for us. Patrone morientium,
R. ora pro nobis. Terror of demons,
R. pray for us. Terror dæmonum,
R. ora pro nobis. Protector of Holy Church,
R. pray for us. Protector sanctæ Ecclesiæ,
R. ora pro nobis. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. spare us, O Lord. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. parce nobis, Domine. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. graciously hear us, O Lord. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. exaudi nobis, Domine. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. have mercy on us. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. miserere nobis. He made him lord over His house,
R. And the ruler of all His possessions. Constituit eum dominum domus suæ,
R. Et principem omnis possessionis suæ. Let us pray
THE MEMORARE OF SAINT JOSEPH
O God, who in Thine ineffable providence didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother: grant, we beseech Thee, that we may have him for an intercessor in heaven, whom we venerate as our protector on earth. Who livest and reignest world without end.
R. Amen.
Oremus
Deus, qui ineffabili providentia beatum Joseph sanctissimæ Gentricis tuæ sponsum eligere dignatus es: præsta, quæsumus; ut, quem protectorem veneramur in terris, intercessorem habere mereamur in cælis: Quis vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum.
R. Amen
THE MEMORARE OF SAINT JOSEPH
Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored thy help and sought thine intercession was left unaided. Full of confidence in thy power, I fly unto thee and beg of thee thy protection. Despise not my humble supplications, O foster-father of the Redeemer, but hear and answer me. Amen.
Reprinted with permission from Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
