Prayer Library

St. Joseph Prayer

To thee, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction and, after imploring the help of thy most holy spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that affection which united thee to the immaculate virgin Mother of God, and by the fatherly love with which thou didst embrace the infant Jesus, look down, we beseech thee, with gracious eyes on the precious inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and help us in our necessities by thy powerful intercession.

Protect, O most provident guardian of the Holy Family, the elect children of Jesus Christ; ward off from us, O most loving father, every contagion of error and corrupting influence; be propitious to us from heaven, O most powerful protector, in this our struggle with the powers of darkness; and as thou didst once rescue the child Jesus from the greatest peril to His life, so now defend God's holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity.

Finally, shield every one of us with thy patronage, that, imitating thy example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting happiness in heaven. Amen.


About this prayer

To thee, O blessed Joseph · With God (1911)

This historical English prayer invokes St. Joseph’s intercession for the Church and those praying. It is the October-devotions version printed in With God (1911), intended here after the Rosary. The book instructs readers to omit “and, after imploring the help of thy most holy spouse,” when praying it separately. This is a different prayer from the nine-day version linked below.

When praying this October prayer separately from the Rosary, the 1911 book directs readers to omit “and, after imploring the help of thy most holy spouse,”. The complete source text is retained below.

Should I change anything when praying it on its own?

The 1911 book directs readers to omit “and, after imploring the help of thy most holy spouse,” when using this October prayer separately. The complete source text is retained above.

Is this the same text as the St. Joseph novena?

No. The novena page uses a separate prayer which the same book labels “Prayer for a Novena to St. Joseph.” The two versions are identified independently.

Text & sources

To thee, O blessed Joseph · With God (1911)

F. X. Lasance, With God (1911): Devotions to St. Joseph
October prayer, pp. 745–746; Prayer for a Novena, pp. 748–749
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With God (F. X. Lasance, Benziger Brothers, 1911) — original printed edition scan
Title and copyright leaves 13–14; printed pp. 151, 213–214, 745–746, 748–749, 777
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Historical English wording from F. X. Lasance, With God (Benziger Brothers, 1911). Public-domain evidence is recorded for the United States only. No worldwide licence or ownership of traditional prayers is claimed.

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