Our Lady of Guadalupe

Date: March, 19

After the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph is the greatest of the saints. He is the one “into whose custody God entrusted his most precious treasures,” Jesus and Mary.

We know Joseph was a compassionate man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God.

He knew women accused of adultery could be stoned to death, so he resolved to send her away quietly to not expose her to shame or cruelty. However, when an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him, 

• “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins,” he did as the angel told him and took Mary as his wife. (Matthew 1:19-25).

The Church therefore honors St. Joseph for his faithfulness to God and to his vocation as Custodian of the Redeemer.

St. Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church, unborn babies, families, fathers, immigrants, social justice, carpenters, those seeking employment, realtors, and a happy death.

PRAYER: 

Saint Joseph, you were obedient to the will of the Father in Heaven as it was revealed to you by an angel. You took Mary as your wife and Jesus as your Son. You raised Him, protected Him, and exercised a fatherly authority over Him.

Please exercise that same fatherly authority, given to you by the Father in Heaven, over my life. I entrust myself to your intercession and authority and pray that you protect me always, guiding me to your Son in Heaven. Saint Joseph, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.