Living Catholicism: Prayers to St. Joseph the Worker

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May 01, 2006

Prayers to St. Joseph the Worker

Today is the Feast Day of St. Joseph the worker - imagine trying to parent the Divine Child and keep down a day job! St. Joseph died when Christ was a child, yet had time to teach Him carpentry. That alone is enough to inspire us to work more diligently. This is the traditional prayer to St. Joseph the Worker:

Dear Patron of God's Church,
you are honored by her as the Worker,
the humble carpenter of Nazareth.
According to St. Theresa of Avila,
you are universal in your intercessions.
Inspire workers of all kinds
to walk ever in your footsteps as faithful servants
coupling charity with justice
and becoming true followers of Jesus.

However, I have another prayer to St. Joseph the Worker that I find particularly inspiring:

Prayer for the Spirit of Work
Glorious St. Joseph,
model of all who pass their life in labor,
obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance
to atone for my many sins;
to work conscientiously,
putting the call of duty above my own inclinations;
to work with gratitude and joy,
considering it an honor to use and develop by my labor
the gifts I have received from God;
to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience,
without ever recoiling before weariness or difficulties.
Help me to work, above all, with purity of intention
and with detachment from self,
having always before my eyes the hour of death
and the accounting which I must render
of time lost, talents wasted, good omitted,
and vain complacency in success,
which is so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus,
all for Mary,
all after your example,
O Patriarch Joseph!
This shall be my watchword in life and in death.