March 19, 2007

Feast of St. Joseph

I spent a lot of time trying to come up with the confirmation name/saint who would be just right. I thought about Justin Martyr because I was a philosophy student at the time. I thought about Francis because he was already beginning to make a critical impression on me. In the end I settled on St. Joseph--I was fascinated by the way he lived an extraordinary discipleship in a quiet, hidden way.

For whatever reason that I've long since forgot, I've always prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph for safe travel and for "the grace of working" as the Rule puts it. I don't know if I got this prayer from somewhere or if I made it up or if it's a little of both. I say it whenever I go somewhere, adding the part in brackets if I'm going to work:

St. Joseph, by your diligent care you safely brought the Holy Family back and forth to Egypt and saved the child Jesus from the danger which threatened his life. By your prayers to God today, bring me safely on this journey. [And pray for me, St. Joseph, that I may work honestly and diligently, in imitation of you.] Pray for me St. Joseph, my patron, for safe travel [and for honest work] in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:36 AM

    Good for people to know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown1:55 PM

    I never thought of praying to St. Joseph before driving. I usually ask Jesus and my Guardian Angel to watch over me and to get me to where I am going safely and without incident. I will add St. Joseph. We here in Jersey can use all the help on the roads we can get :)
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Warren1:42 PM

    I was reading the Later Rule (the one with papal seal) and the Earlier Rule, and I notice that Franciscans may not ride on horses. Since cars did not exist when Francis wrote his rule, do you think he would have intended for Friars to drive in cars, or that they not do so?

    I've always wondered that.

    W

    ReplyDelete

Faithful, or even just thoughtful criticisms are always welcome. Uninformed rudeness to other posters or to the Lord and His Church is not.

I also reserve the right to reject comments promoting things like private revelations and fringe points of view, if it seems to me like they are being presented in a misleading way.

If you raise a disagreement with something I say but I do not respond, please do not feel slighted or insulted, or imagine that this automatically means I disagree or agree with you. It's just that I don't find the comment box to be a constructive medium for certain forms of debate.