PAPA NOVENA TO SAINT JOSEPH
DAY 04
OPENING PRAYER
O Saint Joseph dear,
Protector be near.
I devote myself
To your loving care.
Nothing do I have
As worthy a gift
But only myself:
I give you my life,
My eyes and my heart,
My ears and my lips,
My soul and my mind,
All I am and own.
From now on till death,
Take it for yourself.
O Holy Joseph,
You took the Virgin,
Mary and her Son,
the Unborn Jesus,
the Eternal Word,
Savior of the World,
Into your own home.
Take me in as well.
Let me stay and dwell
In your family
As your child and serf
To the Eucharist.
O Most Chaste Joseph,
You did guard, protect
The Sacred pur'ty
For our Blest Lady;
The Holy Silence
For Her Son, Jesus.
Do protect and guard
My soul in silence
My heart in stillness
My mind in meekness
My body in cleanness.
Make me so zealous
Loving inner life
Living pure and chaste
That I only gaze
His Most Holy Face
Your own Son, Jesus.
Dear Father Joseph,
Terror of Demons,
On hearing your name,
They tremble in shame,
Running to escape!
Save me from their traps
All their temptations,
All their wiles and tricks.
Let me not upset
Jesus, your own Son,
Mary, ever bless'd.
Help me to fulfill
The will of the Lord
In humble service.
In meekness, you did.
O Saint Joseph dear,
Protector be near
My hour of death,
Help me breathe my last
Calling out the Name
Jesus Christ, my Lord
My Savior, My God. Amen.
Teacher of the Word: Wisdom
"When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.” ~ (Luke 2:39)
Case in point: Joseph is a righteous Jews. The highest honor given to any man in the Biblical tradition is to call him Tzaddik, a righteous man. He is the most human of human beings.
By definition Joseph, Tzaddik, the righteous, must have loved and studied the Law, the Torah, and obeyed its Commandments. He carried out what the Law of the Lord prescribed. In a word, He embodied it; and it embodied him. Then he taught his wife, Mary and his Son, Jesus. Imagine that.
Literally, Joseph raised and taught "The Eternal Word"!
What does that mean to you?
Your reflection.
Stop! Stay still for six seconds. Take a deep breath... say slowly:
JE-SUS....
The Saints on St. Joseph
“When you invoke St. Joseph, you don’t have to speak much. You know your Father in heaven knows what you need; well, so does His friend St. Joseph. Tell him, ‘If you were in my place, St. Joseph, what would you do? Well, pray for this in my behalf.’” ~ St. André Bessette
“Saint Joseph, our father and lord, is a teacher of the interior life. Place yourself under his patronage and you’ll feel the effectiveness of his power.”
...
“In human life, Joseph was Jesus’ teacher in their daily contact, full of refined affection, glad to deny himself to take better care of Jesus. Isn’t that reason enough for us to consider this just man, this holy patriarch, in whom the faith of the Old Covenant comes to full fruition, as a master of interior life? Interior life is nothing but continual and direct conversation with Christ, so as to become one with him. And Joseph can tell us many things about Jesus. Therefore, never neglect devotion to him—Ite ad Ioseph: “Go to Joseph”—as Christian tradition puts it in the words of the Old Testament (Gen 41:55)” ~ St. Josemaría Escriva
Our Father...
St. Joseph: Teacher of the Word.
Show us Jesus (3x)
