in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of death. Amen.
FOR A HAPPY DEATH.
O BLESSED Joseph! who didst die in the arms of Jesus and Mary, obtain for me, I beseech thee, the grace of a happy death. Defend me from the attacks of my infernal enemy in that hour of dread and anguish, to which I now invite thee, that thou mayest assist me by thy presence and protect me by thy power. Obtain of thy divine Son that I may breathe out my soul in praise, saying in spirit, if I can not utter the words: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH FOR THE OCTOBER DEVOTIONS.
Ordered by Pope Leo XIII. to be said as part of the devotions for the month of October.
TO thee, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our afflictions, and, after imploring the help of thy most holy spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that affection which united thee to the immaculate virgin Mother of God, and by the fatherly love with which thou didst embrace the Infant Jesus, look down, we beseech thee, with gracious eyes on the precious inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and help us in our necessities by thy power and aid. Protect, O most provident guardian of the Holy Family, the elect children of Jesus Christ; ward off from us, O most loving father, all plagues of errors and depravity; be propitious to us from heaven, O most powerful protector, in this our struggle with the powers pf darkness; and as thou didst once rescue the Child Jesus from the greatest peril to His life, so now defend God's holy Church from the snares of the enemy and all adversity. Finally, shield every one of us with thy patronage, that, imitating thy example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting happiness in heaven. Amen.
An indulgence of 300 days, applicable to the souls in purgatory; seven years and seven quarantines for each public recital during the month of October.— Leo XIII., Sept. 21, 1889.
