We look to you because we know you will understand us!Pope St. John XXIII had a deep devotion to St. Joseph. Let us follow his lead to grow in devotion to this great saint.
Here are two prayers written by the pope:
Saint Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty. You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands.
Kindly protect those who trustingly come to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes. They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too knew trial, labor, and weariness.
But amid the worries of material life, your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God’s Son entrusted to you, and, with Mary, his tender Mother. Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone.
Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over him faithfully as you have done. Obtain for us that in every family, every office, every laboratory—wherever a Christian works—everything may be sanctified in charity, in patience, in justice, and in seeking to do good, so that the gifts of heavenly predilection may come down on us in abundance.
~ From his 1960 radio message on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
And:
O glorious Saint Joseph,
remind all who work
that they are not alone
in their labor, their joy
or their sufferings,
because Jesus is by our side,
with Mary, his mother and ours,
supporting them,
wiping sweat from their brow,
and setting a value on their toil.
Teach them to use their labor,
as you did, as a supreme means
of attaining holiness.
Amen.~ Part of a 1959 address to the Christian Associations of Italian Workers (A.C.L.I.)
Read more:
A lesson from Eden: We were made to work
Read more:
How half a dozen recent popes have called us to learn from St. Joseph
