Chaplets and Devotions

Prayer to St Joseph

Composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1889 in his encyclical Quamquam Pluries, which asked that it be added to the Rosary in October. Pray it for your family, your work, and the Church, especially on Wednesdays, the day traditionally given to St Joseph.

The Coronation of the Virgin, a painting by Diego Velazquez
The Coronation of the Virgin, Diego Velazquez, 1635-1636

The prayer

To thee, O blessed Joseph, do we have recourse in our tribulation; and having implored the help of thy thrice-holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also.

Through that charity which bound thee to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and through the paternal love with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ hath purchased by His Blood, and with thy 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 propitious to us, and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.

And as once thou didst rescue 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 thy constant protection, so that, supported by thy example and thy aid, we may be able to live piously, to die holily, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

In Latin

Ad te, beate Ioseph, in tribulatione nostra confugimus, atque, implorato Sponsae tuae sanctissimae auxilio, patrocinium quoque tuum fidenter exposcimus.

Pray it this week

Pray it this Wednesday for your family and for one person who is looking for work.

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