[powerpress]

O glorious Saint Joseph,
faithful follower of Jesus Christ,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the benign heart of Jesus
all the helps and graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare,
particularly for the grace of a happy death
and the special favor we now request…

(State your request here.)

O guardian of the Word Incarnate,
we feel animated with confidence that your prayers
in our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

O glorious St. Joseph,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ
and for the glory of His name,
hear our prayers
and obtain our petitions.

Amen.

DAY THREE

Blessed St. Joseph,
enkindle in our cold hearts a spark of your charity.
May God be always the first
and only object of our affections.
Keep our souls always in sanctifying grace and,
if we should be so unhappy as to lose it,
give us the strength to recover it immediately
by a sincere repentance.
Help us to such a love of our God
as will always keep us united to Him.

O glorious St. Joseph,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ
and for the glory of His name,
hear our prayers
and obtain our petitions.

(State your request here…)

Amen.

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

[powerpress]

O glorious Saint Joseph,
faithful follower of Jesus Christ,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the benign heart of Jesus
all the helps and graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare,
particularly for the grace of a happy death
and the special favor we now request…

(State your request here.)

O guardian of the Word Incarnate,
we feel animated with confidence that your prayers
in our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

O glorious St. Joseph,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ
and for the glory of His name,
hear our prayers
and obtain our petitions.

Amen.

DAY TWO

O blessed Saint Joseph,
tenderhearted father,
faithful guardian of Jesus,
chaste spouse of the Mother of God,
we pray and beseech you to offer to God the Father,
His divine son,
bathed in blood on the Cross for sinners,
and through the thrice holy name of Jesus
obtain for us of the eternal Father
the favor for which we implore your intercession…

(State your request here…)

Amid the splendors of eternity,
forget not the sorrows of those who pray,
those who weep;
stay the almighty arm which smites us,
that by your prayers and those of your most holy spouse,
the Heart of Jesus may be moved to pity and to pardon.

Amen

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

[powerpress]

O glorious Saint Joseph,
faithful follower of Jesus Christ,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the benign heart of Jesus
all the helps and graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare,
particularly for the grace of a happy death
and the special favor we now request…

(State your request here.)

O guardian of the Word Incarnate,
we feel animated with confidence that your prayers
in our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

O glorious St. Joseph,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ
and for the glory of His name,
hear our prayers
and obtain our petitions.

Amen.

DAY ONE

O great St. Joseph,
with feelings of unlimited confidence,
we beg you to bless this novena that we begin in your honor.
“You are never invoked in vain” says the seraphic St. Theresa of Jesus.
Be you then to me
what you have been to that spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and graciously hear me as you did her.

Amen.

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

On this date, in 1909, a remarkable woman died…Mother Mary MacKillop.  Her story is almost as wild as the outback she grew up in.  Born the oldest of 7 children, her parents sojourn to Australia alone would have been quite the tale.  Taken as a whole, the life of St. Mary MacKillop should have been the “Australia” movie made recently, instead of that Baz Lurhman never-ending epic thing.  Her life was filled with adventure, struggle, suffering, persecution (she was even excommunicated at one point, but later completely exonerated), joy, triumph, and, to be sure, a great deal of faith, hope and love.

She was foundress of the School Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (known affectionately as the Brown Joeys).  She and her community were dedicated to the education of the poor.  Think about that…Australia…late 1800’s…former criminal colony…poor…outback…wow, what a challenge (not to mention the big heavy brown habits).  And of course, throw Pope Leo XIII into the story as well (St. Katherine Drexel and St Therese the Little Flower can tell you about him); now HERE is the movie that should be made!  I wonder who could play her…maybe Emily Blunt.  Anyway…she is Australia’s ONLY saint (recognized as a saint October 2010).  Let’s pray for more…her homeland can use more right now.  Acutally, we all could use more heroes of virtue right now.   You can read more about her here.

It seems appropriate to honor her life with this production done by an Australian confirmation student.  It’s a little hard to read sometimes, but I think it would make St. Mary MacKillop smile.

(and I think she would have smiled at the use of Beyonce too…reclaiming the temporal order.  Way to go kid!)