March - Month of St. Joseph PDF Print E-mail

“The virtues of St. Joseph have been the object of ecclesial reflection down through the centuries,…Among those virtues the following stand out: faith, with which he fully accepted God’s salvific plan; prompt and silent obedience to the will of God; love for and fulfilment of the law, true piety, fortitude in time of trial; chaste love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, a dutiful exercise of his parental authority, and fruitful reticence.”
(Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 219)

St. Joseph The month of March is traditionally dedicated to St. Joseph. Liturgical veneration of the saint became especially popular from the fifteenth century. St. Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus Christ. Although descended from the royal house of David, St. Joseph was himself a manual labourer. He was probably born in Bethlehem and died in Nazareth. Sacred Scripture refers to him as a “just man” (Mt 1:19).

God assigned to St. Joseph the important mission of legally inserting Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom the Messiah would be born. St. Joseph exemplified virtuous living by guarding the child Jesus and caring for his spouse Mary. He has been invoked as patron of many causes. In 1870 Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph patron and protector of the universal Church. He is also patron of the dying, of fathers and of workers. Two days in the Church’s liturgical calendar are particularly associated with St. Joseph. His solemnity falls in March while his feast as patron of workers is on 1st May.


Links

Quamquam Pluries (‘On Devotion to St. Joseph’)
Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on 15th August 1889

Prayer to St. Joseph
Composed by Pope St. Pius X

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain complacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch St. Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity.

St. Joseph Prayer for protection

Ad te Beate Ioseph – To thee, O blessed Joseph
Prayer written by Pope Leo XIII

Litany of St. Joseph