Novena to Saint Joseph for the Unborn

Today we begin Thirty Days of Prayer to Saint Joseph. This powerful Novena will conclude on Saint Joseph's Feast Day, March 19. Saint Joseph is Patron of Families, Fathers and the Universal Church. 

Let us pray for the next thirty days and ask Saint Joseph to intercede for the protection of the baby in the womb and the baby in the delivery room.

Thirty Days Novena Prayer to Saint Joseph
In honor of the 30 years he spent with Jesus and Mary

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.

Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.

I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.

I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.

I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.

I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.

I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.

I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.

I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.

I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.

I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask:

For the protection of the baby in the womb and the baby in the delivery room.

Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of: JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH. 

O Holy Family, pray for us and for the intentions of this novena.

A copy of the novena can be printed:
30 Day Novena to Saint Joseph

In praying for the protection of life, we pray for those wounded by abortion:
Kiss of Mercy Prayer Apostolate For Healing From Abortion

Reflection: Saint Valentine and Love

Saint Valentine’s Day is a day we celebrate romantic love. A great love, a romantic love, is good and it brings an abundance of blessings!

My lover speaks; he says to me,"Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!" For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,and come!" Song of Songs 2:10-13  

Let us pray for all marriages and for the return to the sanctity of Life and Marriage. This Scripture from Corinthians is often prayed at marriage ceremonies. May we always remember that "Love never fails."

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Romantic love, eros, has a purpose in God’s plan to draw man and woman toward marriage, family and ultimately toward God. The deep desire that man and woman have for each other is a sign of the desire of the human heart for deep union with God.

There is an even greater love, agape love. Agape love is loving God above ourselves, above all things and above all people. There is no greater example of agape love than that of the martyrs. They were willing to give up everything for Christ, paying the supreme price of love, the gift of their very own life.

Christian tradition recognizes the Roman priest Valentine who became a bishop. Bishop Valentine was a renowned healer. He was imprisoned for converting people to Christianity. An attempt was made to force him to sacrifice to pagan gods. When he refused, an attempt was made to club him to death. When that failed, he was beheaded in 273 AD for the crime of trying to convert a member of Emperor Claudius.

In the Reading from Genesis, God made woman out of man. Out of Adam, God made Eve.

So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, He took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that He had taken from the man. Genesis 2:21-22

Saint Valentine, Protector of Marriages, pray for marriages and for all those we pray for.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us and come to our assistance in the Spiritual Battle

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.  Ephesians 6:12  

How can you protect yourself and your loved ones from evil?

Daily Mass, Eucharist, Frequent Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, Prayer, Fasting, Mortifications, Sacrifices, Pray daily the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, The Angelus, The Lord's Prayer, The Hail Mary, The Memorare, Prayer to St. Michael, the Archangel, Guardian Angel Prayer, House Blessing, Crucifix, Holy Water, Blessed Salt, Scapular, Miraculous Medal

Prayer to Our Blessed Mother Mary for assistance in the Spiritual Battle  From a book of prayers titled, "The Lion Roars, Prayers for the Remnant" by Dave VanVickle

"O Mary, conceived without sin! O Woman clothed with the Sun! Come now and intercede for us in this battle against evil. You who are despised and feared by the father of lies, help us powerfully. You whose beauty is so bright, so pure that devils tremble in fear, help us powerfully. You who strike at the head of the old serpent, the devil, help us powerfully. O Mary whose name is so sweet, come and cover us with your protective mantle and protect us in this battle with evil. O humble Woman, vanquish the evil one. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."

I will put enmities between you (satan) and the woman, and your seed and her seed; she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel.  Genesis 3:15

O Mary, conceived without sin, our most powerful intercessor, bless and protect our families from evil and pray for us who have recourse to thee.