Click on the icon to go to a post about it at The Way of Beauty.
Sunday, tomorrow, begins the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph, a devotion that leads up to this great saint's feast day, which is March 19.
I am reminding you of this because you might be a bit busy, with your mind on the Superbowl or what have you, but I really encourage you to live this devotion in your family, however simply or elaborately.
First, because if you are not really used to making Sundays different, it will help. After all, it's a bit of an effort to remember to say a certain prayer together each Sunday, but gathering, lighting a candle, and praying will be good practice and get you into the habit of making this day different from a normal working day. And when you make your Sunday a day set apart, you call God's blessing on your family.
Second, because St. Joseph is a powerful intercessor. I know that each and every one of us has something pressing on our minds and some way our soul is suffering. “Go to Joseph” (Gen. 41:55) is an injunction that still ought to ring in our ears.
Third, because our world is hurting from a sore lack of fatherhood. St. Joseph, that silent, strong man, was chosen by God to keep the Holy Family safe. Even the Blessed Virgin entrusted herself to him entirely. Well, we have a lot to learn from him, men and women. I assure you that praying for his intercession for seven Sundays will make a difference in your family.
Fourth, because Lent is coming, and that season is also an opportunity to grow in our appreciation of Sundays, if only because we will be so happy for the respite from not eating ice cream during the week.
Somehow, praying the St. Joseph prayers really helps me with my Lent.
Okay, so the practical part.
Gather in a suitable place in your home. It is lovely to have a statue or picture of St. Joseph, or, if like me your statue broke irretrievably, a crucifix or icon. Light a candle and make sure everyone is included in the circle as well as you can. You can stand or kneel.
In past years we have said the Litany to this saint. I find it meditative and beautiful. Here you will find a Litany of St. Joseph. (I tried to be helpful and upload my copy as a Google Doc — I formatted it in two columns in a landscape style so that when you print it out you get two copies per page, but it won't load that way. Maybe you can do that part yourself for frugal copying out. Sorry.) It helps to say a litany if you treat it as a sort of chant. The father is the leader of the prayer and the mother is the leader of the responses, and the two of them make a good rhythm of it. Don't go too fast and don't go too slowly!
Here you will find the Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph. I think that tomorrow I will ask the Chief if we can first read the Sorrow and Joy of the day, and then say the Litany, but we will have many little children here, so that might be iffy! We'll see!
Do as little or as much as you like. If your children are very young, keep it simple, maybe making a short version of the litany or just reading the Sorrows and Joys without the long prayers, ending with an Our Father. You can always add more next year.
Here is last year's post, in which I lead you through the litany step by step!
Anne Marie says
Thank you for posting about this, Leila! We are big St. Joseph fans over here, but I guess this custom never came to my attention. I will definitely petition my husband to help get this under way at our house tomorrow. Thank you again!
mamabearjd says
I have been meaning to look for your post from last year about this, and I didn't, and I would have missed it if you had not posted today! We will be doing this with so many fathers in mind this year. Thanks.
Joanie says
Thanks so much for the wonderful reminder! I love your blog and only wish I was near such cool people! I keep recommending it to all the Catholic moms I meet out here in DC. Thanks again for all the lovely posts!
piano mom says
I have had a devotion to St. Joseph since my son was born (he will be 14 this March 19th 🙂 but was also not familiar with this custom of Seven Sundays–so delighted to learn about it and try to put it into effect in our home. Thank you. Also looking forward to sending this blogsite to my sisters and mother 🙂
Sonia says
Dear Leila, do you know the history of this habit? Why 7 Sundays? Is it a story behind this? Thank you. Sonia
_Leila says
Sonia, I do not know the history, other than that after the 16th century this type of devotion sprang up. Ever since I heard of it, though, it seemed fitting to me, and I love it.
Deanna says
Beautiful! I will be encouraging my family to pray this Litany for the coming seven Sundays! Thank you (=
Lisa G. says
I have to say that icons don't thrill me, for the most part. But, this one at the top of your post is so beautiful!!! Ah, the gold in the background makes a glow over it. Beautiful, beautiful! And with such a tender image. Thanks.
There are many Josephs in my mother's side of the family – I'd never heard of the Sundays before I found your blog – I've heard of the 30 days of prayer to him.
I like the idea!
LJ says
Thanks, Auntie Leila!
PNG says
This is great! Thanks for the heads up.:)
Rose says
I stumbled upon your blog a couple of months ago and have been reading it ever since because of posts like this. My oldest is five and my husband and I became Catholic shortly before he was born. Neither of us has any background in the faith and love the deep, traditional history of the Church. Thank you for helping us grow as a Catholic family by sharing what you know. We'll definitely be adding the liturgy to our Sunday routine.
Natalie says
Auntie Leila, how can I ever thank you enough? I've had several promptings this week (and especially today!) to ask St. Joseph to intercede for my husband as head of our family. Now I read this devotion for the first time on your blog. Thank you so much! St. Joseph is making it very clear that he wants me to ask him for his help. St. Joseph, pray for us!
monica says
My new favorite posts are these about the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph. I intended to begin a novena to prepare for Lent, but now I have a lovely new devotion and tradition to return to each year. Thank you so much for this blog that never fails to fill me up in areas I didn't even know were lacking and needed filling.
Jessica says
Thank you so much for posting this! I had not heard of it before, and definitely feel like I need some help from St. Joseph right now! This blog has been such an inspiration to me since I started reading it a couple of weeks ago – thank you!!
Cary says
Thank you! This could not have come at a better time.
Nancy says
I am particularly fond of Joseph because some of our children are adopted. He is such a profound example of faithfully raising a child not born to you biologically.
sarah says
So you know what I did, right? I made a little icon of St. Joseph Sunday, set a candle out on the table and then…….forgot to pray. *groan* St. Joseph pray for us scatterbrained moms!
Emily says
Oooh, thank you for posting this! I’ve been wondering how to increase my devotion to St. Joseph (“more prayers” Seemed sort of ephemeral) and I like this very much!