Saint Joseph-Foster Father of Jesus

St Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus, worked as a humble carpenter by trade. He was a very devout and ‘righteous’ man. His primary feast day in the Church is celebrated on March 19th. On May 1st each year there is also the great Feast of St Joseph the worker as he was a highly skilled carpenter by trade teaching Jesus himself and is patron of workers everywhere.

St Teresa of Avila was a great advocate of praying to St Joseph and she said that he frequently obtained for her from His Divine Son, Jesus, far greater favours than she had originally asked for. She urged everyone to pray to St Joseph in their necessities saying that she could not remember asking St Joseph for anything that he refused to her.

Here is a short prayer composed by St Clement Hofbauer to ask for St. Joseph’s intercession;

“St Joseph, my loving father, I place myself and (…) under your protection. Look on me as your child and keep me from all sin. I take refuge in your arms, so that you may lead me in the path of virtue and assist me in the following (problem) and at the hour of my death. Amen”