✦ Sorrow
✦ Joy
Opening Prayers
V. O Glorious St. Joseph, through the love you do bear for Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His Holy Name,
R. Hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
Let Us Pray
Glorious St. Joseph, Spouse of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, obtain for me a pure, humble, and charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the Divine Will. Be my guide, spiritual father, and model through life, that I may merit to die as you did, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Amen.
St. Joseph, Friend of the Sacred Heart, Pray for Us!
Select a Sorrow & Joy
⊕ The Sorrow
☀ The Joy
✦ Prayer to St. Joseph
Concluding Prayers
Our Father · Hail Mary · Glory Be to the Father
Closing Prayers & Antiphon
Antiphon. And Jesus Himself was beginning about the age of thirty, being the Son of Joseph.
V. Pray for us, O holy Joseph,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray
O God, Who in Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant we beseech Thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in Heaven. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Seven Sundays Devotion
St. Teresa of Avila tells us that St. Joseph frequently obtained for her much greater favors than those
for which she had petitioned. The Seven Sundays devotion — receiving Holy Communion in honor of St.
Joseph on seven consecutive Sundays and reciting these prayers — may be practiced at any time of the
year, but especially on the seven Sundays preceding his solemnity on March 19th.
Origin of the Devotion
The Miracle at Sea
It is related that a ship containing a number of passengers was wrecked off the coast of Holland. Two Franciscan monks, who had clung to a plank for two days, were saved by a man of venerable appearance who miraculously brought them to shore. Upon their asking him who he was, he replied: "I am Joseph, and I desire you to honor my seven sorrows and seven joys." This was the origin of the devotion to the Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph.
St. Teresa of Ávila
St. Teresa of Ávila tells us that St. Joseph frequently obtained for her much greater favors than those for which she had petitioned, and she became one of the great promoters of devotion to this mighty Patriarch.
The Loretto Chapel & St. Joseph
A beloved legend connects St. Joseph to the miraculous spiral staircase of the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico — a masterwork of carpentry with no visible means of support, said to have been built by a mysterious carpenter who appeared, completed his work, and then vanished without payment. Many believe it was the answer to the Sisters' novena to St. Joseph.