Novena to Saint Joseph for Labor Day

Saint Joseph in an unmissable figure when we think about Jesus life and work. Even though he was probably already dead when Jesus began his mission, it is true that his role of Mary’s husband and foster father of our Savior places him among the most important saints that are adored by the Catholic church. His popularity arises for a number of reasons. First, he was a just man. That is how he is described also in Matthew’s Gospel. Just, because he did not want to repudiate and publicly deny Mary when he found out about her miraculous pregnancy. Even if hurt and grieved for what was for him, at least at the beginning, a proof of adultery, he did not want to ruin the girl he had married; when the angel appeared to him, exhorting him to take care of her and the baby in her womb as if he were his child, Joseph humbly and dedicated accepted his fate and role. He loved and respected Mary as the most devoted husband would do, protecting her from dangers, watching over her, always attentive and present, and at the same way he raised Jesus as a son, trying to convey him all his knowledge, making him feel part of a loving and close family. A special man, Joseph was, maybe just for his simplicity. The fortune that his cult had since the ancient times probably lies in the fact that he was a common man, with whom anyone could easily identify. A big role in being a common man was undoubtedly played by the fact that he was a hard worker.

St. Joseph and the link with the Workers’ Day

Gospels tell us that Joseph was a téktón, Greek word with many interpretations. If the popular culture chose to see Joseph as a humble carpenter, it is likely that his job was much more complex and articulated, connected to the construction industry. Scholars debated long about that, proposing various theories. Our real concern here is to underline that Joseph worked, a lot, and that he taught his Job to Jesus, as that was the tradition of those times. Therefore Saint Joseph, besides being the protector of family fathers, carpenters, ebony carpenters and dying people, is also recognized as the protector of all workers. Saint Joseph is not only celebrated on March 19th, according to the tradition, but also on May 1st, Labor Day. Pope Pius XII established this

liturgic memory in 1955, associating the figure of the Saint with the concept of work dignity itself, which in this context becomes almost an extension, a fulfillment of God’s work. During the Vatican Council II we can read of how in the figure of Saint Joseph, humble, devoted and faithful “we can recognize the dignity of human labor, as duty and perfection on men, beneficial exercise of his domination over the creation, community service, extension of the work of the Creator, contribution to the salvation plan” (see Conc. Vat. II, Gaudium et spes, 34).

The gratitude of the Popes

He was very dear to Pope John Paul II, and even more to Pope Francis, who underlined the importance of labor in a men and women lives during the celebration of the morning Sermon to Saint Martha on May 1^st, 2013. He spoke in particular about the concept of ‘dignity’ that is part of labor itself, that dignity that is too often denied to those who would like to work but cannot: “Those who work are worthy, have a special dignity, a dignity as a person: men and women that work are worthy […] (Many people want to work but cannot. […] (This) is a burden for our conscience, because when the society is organized in such way. […] Not everyone has the chance to work, to be “oiled” by the dignity of labor, that society is not good: it is not just! It goes against God himself, who wanted our dignity to begin from here“.

So that is how all those men and women who want to have a job more than anything, but are not able to find one, turn to Saint Joseph. People that are bent by necessity, and even more by the sense of incompleteness and indignity, even though that does not depend on their will, and feel doomed because of this lack. Praying to Saint Joseph becomes then a way to find the strength everyday to get over the discomfort, to renovate one’s commitment in the search, relying on the benevolence of this so humble and working saint, this simple but dignified man, who made himself instrument of God’s will going against his own pride and his understandable doubts, in the name of a mysterious plan, of a love that goes beyond any human conception.

We already talked in other articles about the Novena in Catholic church. It is a form of Christian devotion that entails saying a particular prayer or Rosary for nine consecutive days.

The Novena is usually practiced when approaching a holiday or a solemn celebration, and in general, it represents a mean of devotion for the believer asking for a grace. We remember for example the Christmas Novena, that is said starting on December 16th until Christmas Eve, and that recalls Mary’s pregnancy; or the Novena to Mary undoer of knots, with which the devotees ask for Mary’s help to untie any knot causing them pain.

Saint Joseph has his own Novena as well, dedicated to those who work, those who would like to find a job, those suffering from their job, and in general to those who see the fulfillment of themselves as individuals and members of the society in their job activities. The Novena to Saint Joseph is usually prayed from April 22nd to 30th, but can be said anytime, if someone is looking for a job, or suffers for not working, or if someone’s relatives or friends are suffering for a condition of unemployment they didn’t look nor wish for. It is usually said with a rosary, called Rosary to Saint Joseph, and expresses all the devotion to the Saint, invoking his benevolence, his comfort and his protection. In this case, as it often happens with Mary, it is Joseph that works as mediator between the devotee and God, to get him the grace he has been invoking and that is job related, even if that is never openly stated in the prayer, as instrument for awareness and individual dignity.

Prayer to Saint Joseph

Oh Saint Joseph, my patron and my advocate, to you do I have recourse that you may obtain for me that grace for which I humbly pray.  It may well be that the disappointments and the bitterness in my life may be the just punishment for my sins.  But even If I should have to recognize my own guilt, need I lose hope in obtaining the help of the Lord?  “Oh! No!’ would be the answer of your devoted client, Saint Theresa, ‘indeed, nor all you poor sinners.

No matter how great your needs, turn to the powerful help of Saint Joseph. Go to Saint Joseph with sincere confidence and rest assured that your pleas will be heard”. Therefore, I present myself before your glorious throne, 0 Holy Saint Joseph. And beg for your powerful intercession in my present tribulations.  And grant that having obtained the favorable answer to my petition, I may return to your altar and there fulfill my devotion of praise and thanksgiving for your Intercession.

 Our Father – Holy Mary – Glory.

 Remember O most merciful Saint Joseph, that no one who has ever had recourse to you was left unaided. Countless are the graces and favors which you have obtained in answer to the prayers addressed to you. The sick, the oppressed, those who suffer injustice, the betrayed, the abandoned, in short, all who have had recourse to your protection were aided in their afflictions. Deh! o Holy Saint Joseph, do not leave me to be the only one to be deprived of your help. Show yourself kindly and generously even to me, so that my prayers of thanksgiving for your mercy may rebound for the greater glory of God.

 Our Father – Holy Mary – Glory.

 O Saint Joseph, head of the Holy Family, I venerate you from the profoundest depth of my heart. To the afflicted who have appealed to you before me, you have granted comfort and peace. Console even my own poor afflicted soul. You know all my needs, Saint Joseph, even before I set them before you in prayers. You know how important this petition is for me. No human heart can comfort me; I hope you can bring comfort to me, o glorious Saint. Grant me the answer to the favor for which I so desperately pray and I pledge myself to spread your devotion everywhere and to support, within the limits of my abilities, those charities which, in your name, aid the afflicted and the dying throughout the world. O. S. Joseph, consoler of the afflicted, have mercy on my Sorrow!

 Our Father – Holy Mary – Glory.