Key Of Heaven/St. Joseph
Thirty Days' Prayer to St. Joseph,
CHASTE SPOUSE OF THE EVER IMMACULATE AND BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, AND REPUTED FATHER OF JESUS CHRIST.
To Obtain a Happy Death and other Good Intentions.
EVER blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and indulgent Father, and compassionate friend of all in sorrow, through that bitter grief with which thy heart was saturated when thou didst behold the sufferings of the Infant Saviour, and in prophetic view didst contemplate His most ignominious passion and death; take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; council me in my doubts; and console me in all my anxieties. Thou art the good Father and protector of orphans, the advocate of the defenceless, the patron of those who are in need and desolation. Do not disregard the petition of thy poor child; my sins have drawn upon me the just displeasure of my God, and hence I am surrounded with sorrows. To thee, O amiable guardian of the poor neglected family of Nazareth, do I fly for shelter and protection. Listen, then, I entreat thee, with a father's solicitude, to the earnest prayer of thy poor supplicant, and obtain for me the objects of my petition. I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God; which induced Him to assume our nature, and be born in this world of sorrow. I ask it by the grief which filled thy heart, when ignorant of the mystery wrought in thy Immaculate Spouse, thou didst fear thou shouldst be separated from her.
I ASK it by that weariness, solicitude and suffering which thou didst endure when thou soughtest in vain at the inns of Bethlehem a shelter for the Sacred Virgin and birthplace for the Infant God, and, when being everywhere refused, thou wert obliged to consent that the Queen of Heaven should give birth to the world' s Redeemer in a wretched stable. I ask it by that most sad, painful duty imposed on thee, when the Divine Child being eight days old, thou wert obliged to inflict a deep wound on His tender body, and thus be the first to make flow that sacred blood which was to wash away the sins of the world. I ask it by the sweetness and power of that sacred name, Jesus, thou didst confer on the adorable Infant. I ask it by that mortal anguish inflicted on thee by the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the child Jesus and His holy Mother, the future victims of their love and our sins. I ask it through that sorrow and anguish which filled thy soul when the angel declared to thee that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies, from whose impious designs thou wert obliged to fly with Him and His blessed Mother into Egypt. I ask it by ill the pains, fatigues and toils of that long and perilous pilgrimage. I ask it by all the sorrows thou didst endure, when in Egypt thou wert not able even by the sweat of thy brow, to procure poor food and clothing for thy most poor family. I ask it by all the grief thou didst feel each time the Divine Child asked for a morsel of bread, and thou hadst it not to give Him. I ask it by all the solicitude to preserve the Sacred Child and the Immaculate Mary during thy second journey when thou wert ordered to return to thy native country. I ask it by thy peaceful dwelling in Nazareth, in which so many joys and sorrows were mingled. I ask it by thy extreme affliction, in being three days deprived of the company of the adorable Child. I ask it by the joy at finding Him in the temple and by the ineffable consolation imparted to thee in the cottage of Nazareth, with the society of the little Jesus. I ask it by that wonderful condescension by which He subjected Himself to thy will. I ask it through that dolorous view, continually in thy mind, of all thy Jesus was to suffer. I ask it by that painful contemplation, which made thee foresee the divine little hands and feet, now so active in serving thee, one day to be pierced with cruel nails; that head, which rested gently on thy bosom, crowned with sharp thorns; that delicate body, which thou didst tenderly fold in thy mantle and press to thy heart, stripped and extended on a cross. I ask it by that heroic sacrifice of thy will and best affections, by which thou didst offer up to the Eternal Father the last awful moment, when the Man God was to expire for our salvation. I ask it by that perfect love and conformity with which thou didst receive the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by that exceeding great joy which filled thy soul when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His Kingdom, and conducted thee also into it with especial honors. I ask it through Mary's glorious assumption, and through that interminable bliss, which with her, thou wilt eternally derive from the presence of God. O, good Father, I beseech thee, by all thy sufferings, sorrows and joys, to hear me, and to obtain the grant of my earnest petitions. — (Here name them or reflect on them). — Obtain for all those who have asked thy prayers all that is useful to them in the designs of God. And finally, my dear protector, be thou with me and all who are dear to me, in our last moments, that we may eternally chant the praises of
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Amen.
Ave Maria.