JOSEPH’S VIRTUES
Spouse of the Virgin Mary, Pray for Us
Foster Father of Jesus, Pray for Us
The Blessed Virgin Mary was visited by an angel and invited to say “yes” to God’s plan. Likewise, St. Joseph was visited by an angel and asked to be the foster father of Jesus and the husband of Mary.
In parallel, while talking about Our Lady’s virtues, we must not forget the virtuous role St. Joseph played in the Holy Family.
Novena in Honor of the Incomparable St. Joseph
We encourage you to remain close to St. Joseph throughout the Impossible Novena. He was the closest to Jesus and Mary throughout his life, and he intervenes now from heaven as a powerful intercessor. He wants to help us become closer to them, as he knows the joy and peace that comes from walking with Our Lord and Our Lady, even in the most difficult trials and circumstances.
We feel blessed to offer a beautiful 9 day novena for you below. Its emphasis on St. Joseph’s “Virtues” complement our focus on Mary and her Virtues throughout the Impossible Novena.
Of course, you may choose any novena to St. Joseph at any time of the year to add into your prayer life, but we wanted to provide one that you can pray or reference if you desire. This Novena highlights the humble greatness of St. Joseph, and his role in salvation history.
*This particular Novena was taken from the original one published by the priests of Iglesia del Salvador de Toledo and translated by two daughters of Saint Joseph who wish to help spread devotion and love to the venerable Patriarch.
1) JOSEPH MOST JUST: Joseph was first and foremost just unto God, rendering to Him what was His due. Since all things are due to God, Joseph was perfectly religious in prayer, in labour, and in love giving to God, even as an infant, the energy of his whole life.
2) JOSEPH MOST CHASTE: Chaste love requires that one wills the good to another without taking the other to oneself as one’s own. To Joseph was entrusted the Divine Child and His fairest Mother. Chaste in body but also in heart, Joseph loved freely which created the interior tranquillity of order in the Holy Family.
3) JOSEPH MOST PRUDENT: Prudence is the mother of virtues which depends upon the practical wisdom gained by experience matched with an agile mind to make decisions in the here and now. Each time Joseph knew the will of God he acted decisively, swiftly, and accurately. He acted neither rashly nor timidly, but prudently.
4) JOSEPH MOST OBEDIENT & HEAD OF THE HOLY FAMILY: All authority is borrowed except for the Author himself. One can only be a just head of a family, be it natural or religious, if one is first obedient to the Word himself. Joseph’s perfect obedience rendered him the perfect Head of the Holy Family.
5) JOSEPH MOST FAITHFUL: Fidelity connotes steadfastness. In the vicissitudes of life, one needs steadfast love, that is, fidelity when encountering confusion, suffering, and failure. The image of Joseph finding a place in which the Child could be born was his movement in all of life. Failure simply meant one went on in fidelity and found by failure what God had intended for the fruitfulness of His will.
6) JOSEPH MOST VALIANT PROTECTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Joseph had the entire Church under his protection since the Holy Family was the Church. Our Lady is the Mother and Image of the Church, the Holy Spirit the soul of the Church and Christ the Church’s head. To St Joseph, this treasure was entrusted and by his wit, his obedience and his sacrifice he valiantly defended them.
7) JOSEPH, LOVER OF POVERTY: Joseph could count on nothing in this world to be his stay. Neither his trade nor property were employed in his first years as father of the Divine child. He had to abandon all that was his and provide for them in whatever way was possible as they were on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, to Egypt, and finally to Nazareth.
8) JOSEPH, MIRROR OF PATIENCE: Patience is the willingness to suffer. A patient is one who suffers a malady not by choice whereas a patient man is one who suffers volitionally rather than relinquishes the vocation given to him. Joseph was patient because of his love. He was willing to suffer anything, even the loss of Our Lady and the Divine Child by being the first to die.
9) JOSEPH, MODEL OF WORKERS: We must not simply intend love, we must labour to fulfill love’s demands. Beneficence, labouring for the good of another, in Joseph’s case was direct labour for God. Working in Adam’s curse by the sweat of his brow was replete with purpose as it was all done to feed, to clothe, to shelter God Himself.
10) JOSEPH, TERROR OF DEMONS: Demons hate humility, suckled as they are on the vice of pride. Joseph’s humility is what terrifies the demons. He is entrusted with power and authority not simply because of his internal strength but because of his complete reliance upon and fidelity to God.
11) JOSEPH, PATRON OF THE DYING & SOLACE OF THE AFFLICTED: What a blessed death to see God before you die and for God Himself to tell you to go. This was Joseph’s gift from his Son, who would hand his father over to His Father. Thus has Christ entrusted Joseph to have particular intercessory power for all those at the moment of death.
12) JOSEPH, CHASTE GUARDIAN OF VIRGINS & PILLAR OF FAMILIES: Due to his chastity and vocation, Joseph has further been entrusted to continue his mission of guarding the pure ones of God and of the integrity of the family. This power flows through him now as a reward for his perfect fidelity. All religious and families should have recourse to this most powerful intercessor.
St. Joseph Our Guide
Information about St. Joseph’s virtues found at www.stjosephourguide.org
There you’ll find an abundance of guidance for devotion to St. Joseph
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