On December 8th, Pope Francis declared a year of Saint Joseph. Our parish is officially inaugurating the year of Saint Joseph on Sunday, January 17. Fr. Brian Crawford, OSJ, will celebrate 11:00 AM Mass and preach in the parking lot (weather permitting). Fr. Brian is a member of the religious community of the Oblates of Saint Joseph that served our parish for 67 years. After Mass, parish representatives will plant a few decorative plants in front of the church. Parishioners or those who are named after Saint Joseph are welcome to donate $50 to purchase the plants. If you have any questions, please contact the priests or the deacons of our parish. Let us ask the intercession of Saint Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church, the protector of families, patron of happy death, etc.
Here is a prayer to St. Joseph that we will be using throughout this year:
O blessed Joseph,/ we come to you in our tribulation,/ and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse,/ we confidently invoke your patronage also.
Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God/ and through the paternal love/ with which you embraced the Child Jesus,/ we humbly beg you/ to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood,/ and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.
O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family/ defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ. O most loving father/ ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence./ O our most mighty protector/ be kind to us/ and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.
As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril,/ so now protect God's Holy Church/ from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield each one of us/ by your constant protection,/ so that, supported by your example and your aid,/ we may be able to live piously,/ to die in holiness,/ and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.
(This edited prayer to Saint Joseph—spouse of the Virgin Mary, foster father of Jesus, and patron saint of the universal Church—was composed by Pope Leo XIII in his 1889 encyclical, Quamquam pluries)