A message from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

His Holiness Pope Francis has used the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary to declare the year ahead, beginning Dec. 8, the “Year of St. Joseph,” her blessed spouse and the foster-father of the Lord Jesus.  

In an apostolic letter released today entitled “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), marking the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as “Patron of the Universal Church” by Blessed Pope Pius IX, Pope Francis indicated that the “aim of this apostolic letter is to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtue and his zeal.”  
The Holy Father noted that “after Mary, the Mother of God, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magisterium than Joseph, her spouse.  My predecessors reflected on the message contained in the limited information handed down by the Gospels in order to appreciate his central role in the history of salvation.”

Commenting on the apostolic letter, the Vatican News Office explained that “The Holy Father wrote “Patris corde” against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble Saint Joseph, “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”

Throughout the document, the Holy Father describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.

The full text of the apostolic letter may be found here.

In a separate decree, Vatican Apostolic Penitentiary has announced that a plenary indulgence is attached to the faithful who commemorate St. Joseph throughout his special year “with prayer and good works.”

The plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions) to Christians who, with a spirit detached from any sin, participate in the Year of St. Joseph on these occasions and manners indicated by the

Apostolic Penitentiary:

• The plenary indulgence is granted to those who will meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Lord’s Prayer, or take part in a Spiritual Retreat of at least one day that includes a meditation on St. Joseph. “St. Joseph, an authentic man of faith, invites us”, the decree reads, “to rediscover our filial relationship with the Father, to renew fidelity to prayer, to listen and correspond with profound discernment to God’s will.”

• The indulgence can also be obtained by those who, following St. Joseph’s example, will perform a spiritual or corporal work of mercy. St. Joseph “encourages us to rediscover the value of silence, prudence and loyalty in carrying out our duties,” the decree notes.

• The recitation of the Holy Rosary in families and among engaged couples is another way of obtaining indulgences, in order that “all Christian families may be stimulated to recreate the same atmosphere of intimate communion, love and prayer that was in the Holy Family.”

• Everyone who entrusts their daily activity to the protection of St. Joseph, and every faithful who invokes the intercession of St. Joseph so that those seeking work can find dignifying work can also obtain the plenary indulgence. On 1 May 1955, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph “with the intent that the dignity of work be recognized by all, and that it inspires social life and laws, based on the fair distribution of rights and duties.” ​​​​​​​

• The plenary indulgence is also granted to the faithful who will recite the Litany to St. Joseph (for the Latin tradition), or the Akathistos to St. Joseph (for the Byzantine tradition), or any other prayer to St. Joseph proper to the other liturgical traditions, for the persecuted Church ad intra and ad extra, and for the relief of all Christians suffering all forms of persecution. Because, the decree notes, “the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt shows us that God is there where man is in danger, where man suffers, where he runs away, where he experiences rejection and abandonment.”

In addition to these, the Apostolic Penitentiary grants a plenary indulgence to the faithful who will recite any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honor of St. Joseph, for example, “To you, O blessed Joseph” especially on “19 March, on 1 May, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, on St. Joseph’s Sunday (according to the Byzantine tradition) on the 19th of each month and every Wednesday, a day dedicated to the memory of the saint according to the Latin tradition.”

Amid the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis, the gift of the plenary indulgence is also extended to the sick, the elderly, the dying and all those who for legitimate reasons are unable to leave their homes.

They, too, can obtain the plenary indulgences if they are detached from any sin and have the intention of fulfilling, as soon as possible, the three usual conditions and recite an act of piety in honor of St. Joseph, offering to God the pains and hardships of their lives.

The Diocese of Trenton will begin planning special opportunities to celebrate the universal patronage of St. Joseph throughout 2021.
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In his December 8, 2020 declaration of a “Year of St. Joseph” to mark the 150th anniversary of St. Joseph’s title as “Patron of the Universal Church,” Pope Francis has encouraged Catholics throughout the world to join him in praying this prayer:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, 
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
To you God entrusted his only Son; 
in you Mary placed her trust; 
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father 
and guide us in the path of life. 
Obtain for us grace, mercy,
and courage, 
and defend us from every evil.  Amen.

Other traditional prayers from the Church’s rich spiritual treasury are also recommended for our consideration:

 
Year of St. Joseph Prayer

To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, 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.

Daily Novena Prayer to St. Joseph

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. 

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. 

Consecration to St. Joseph 

O dearest St. Joseph, I consecrate myself to thy honor and give myself to thee, that thou mayest always be my father, my protector, and my guide in the way of salvation.

Obtain for me a great purity of heart and a fervent love of the interior life. After thine example, may I do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

And do thou, O Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me that I may share in the peace and joy of thy holy death Amen.

Prayer Before Eucharistic Adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle,
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. 
 

​​​​​​​Litany of St. Joseph

Let us pray:

God, in your ineffable providence you were pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother; grant, we beg you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector: You who live and reign forever and ever.  
 

St. Joseph, pray for us.