MY GIFT TO YOU ON ST JOSEPH'S FEAST DAY

Happy Feast of St Joseph to you!  In honor of this fantastic feast, I have written a brief guide on how you may gain all the Plenary Indulgences which are on offer in this Year of St Joseph. The special decree from the Vatican hailed as a "gift" the 15 modes of obtaining a Plenary Indulgence. 

A Plenary Indulgence removes from your soul all temporal punishment due to forgiven sin and you may apply it to your soul or to the soul of a loved one perhaps a son or daughter of yours, or to a soul who you feel called to cleanse and honor. You will need to fulfill "the three usual conditions" which are confess, receive the Holy Eucharist and offer prayers in union with the Holy Father's intentions.

On this day March 19th, you may offer "any prayer legitimately approved" to St Joseph, or make an act of piety to St Joseph. Special mention was made by the Vatican of this venerable prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII: 

O blessed Joseph, do we come 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 graciously 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, too, 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.

You may recite the above prayer - or any approved prayer in honor of St Joseph - on the 19th of every month. You may like to mark the 19th of every month on your calendar or put a reminder on your cell phone. Print out the above prayer, often just called the O blessed Joseph prayer and keep a copy in your wallet and a copy on your bedside table. 

You may recite the O blessed Joseph prayer every Wednesday and receive the Plenary Indulgence every time.

You may get two Plenary Indulgences on Wednesday, May 19th, one for the occasion of Wednesday and second for the occasion of it being the 19th. The number 19 is very much associated with St Joseph, and this warrants further study. 

On May 1st, the hallowed Feast of St Joseph the Worker, if you offer the O blessed Joseph or any approved prayer such as a novena or act of piety such as the Litany of St Joseph which you may find at the end of this post, you will gain the Plenary Indulgence. 

One of the 15 chances to gain a Plenary Indulgence may have passed us already. There was  a possibility of getting a Plenary Indulgence on the Feast of the Holy Family, December 27th 2020. The Year of St Joseph began on December 8th 2020 and is set to end on December 8th 2021. We will have to see if the Vatican extends the time limit for these indulgences 'til the very end of 2021, with the result that you may gain a Plenary Indulgence on the Feast of the Holy Family on December 26th if you offer a prayer to St Joseph. 

In the Byzantine Tradition, the Sunday after Christmas is "St Joseph Sunday", and if you pray an approved prayer to St Joseph on this day- you may gain a Plenary Indulgence - but this will depend on whether the Vatican extends the opportunity to gain such an indulgence through to December 31st 2021. 

Place your daily work and everything you do under the protection of St Joseph. We know from at least one person who came from Heaven that Joseph guides those who don't know their destiny.

Ask St Joseph's help for job-seekers, those who do not have enough work to sustain themselves, or those who have no work at all, that they may find rewarding work. 

Take part in a spiritual retreat for a minimum of one day that entails an opportunity for you to meditate on St Joseph. 

Offer the Litany of St Joseph for persecuted Christians. See the end of this post for the Litany. Those of you who are doing the Consecration to St Joseph are reciting this litany throughout the 33 days, and I suggest making a copy of this litany and placing it in your car, so that you have it to hand during those moments when you are parked and waiting. There are many waiting periods when one is doing errands in the car, and the exact amount of time usually allows for the recitation of the Litany. 

Make St Joseph your model when you do a corporal work of mercy such as feeding the hungry. The hungry may be nearer to you than you think; you may like to make dinner for a family who are nursing a sick member and who are finding the chore of cooking to be particularly exhausting or even impossible. 

You may perform a spiritual work of mercy, such as forgiving injuries. It may be good to keep in mind that Mary forgave Joseph for wanting to leave her when he suspected she had been unfaithful to her, during the time he did not know how she came to be pregnant. 

The Vatican decree holds that, "St Joseph invites us to rediscover our filial relationship with the Father, to renew fidelity to prayer, to listen and correspond with profound discernment to God's will", and with this in mind you are invited to meditate for a minimum of 30 on the Lord's Prayer in the hope of gaining a Plenary Indulgence. 

Gather your family together and pray the Rosary. This may involve you doing a spiritual work of mercy - which may net you an additional Plenary Indulgence - if you are instructing the ignorant as to why we say the Rosary and showing them the passages from Sacred Scripture which inform our understanding of the Mysteries of the Rosary. 

Engaged or "betrothed" couples may pray the Rosary together. Note the Vatican's use of language when they speak of "betrothed couples", this very much harks back to Mary and Joseph who had a betrothal ceremony and were thus betrothed.  If you are not engaged, you may tell a couple who are engaged that they may gain a Plenary Indulgence by offering the Rosary together. 

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The Litany to St Joseph 

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us .
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious son of David, pray for us.
Light of the patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Chaste guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster-father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Watchful defender of Christ, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most valiant, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of workmen , pray for us.
Glory of domestic life, pray for us.
Guardian of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Solace of the afflicted, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us. 

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. He made him the lord of His household,
R. And prince over all His possessions.

Let Us Pray.

O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence didst choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most Holy Mother, grant that as we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to have him as our intercessor in Heaven, Thou Who livest and reignest forever and ever. R. Amen.