Fifteen groups, joys and sorrows

A bead devotion to the guardian of the Holy Family.

The chaplet honours St. Joseph in fifteen groups of beads, each recalling one of the seven sorrows and seven joys of his life — the pattern of a man whose every recorded moment was either a crisis or its resolution.

How to Pray It

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles’ Creed.
2. For each of the fifteen groups: one Our Father and two Hail Marys.
3. Announce one of Joseph’s sorrows and its corresponding joy before each group.
4. Conclude with the prayer below.

The Seven Sorrows and Joys

• His doubt about Mary — and the angel’s assurance.
• The poverty of the birth of Jesus — and the angels’ song.
• The circumcision of the Child — and the giving of the name Jesus.
• Simeon’s prophecy of the sword — and the redemption of the world.
• The flight into Egypt — and the fall of the idols.
• The return in fear of Archelaus — and life with Jesus and Mary at Nazareth.
• The loss of the Child in Jerusalem — and finding Him in the Temple.

The Closing Prayer

O God, who in Your ineffable providence
chose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Your most holy Mother:
grant that we may be worthy to have him as our intercessor in heaven
whom on earth we venerate as our protector.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

About This Chaplet

The pairing of each sorrow with a joy is the devotion’s whole insight. Nothing in Joseph’s life resolved comfortably, and every crisis turned out to be the way something was accomplished — which is a consoling pattern for anyone living through the crisis part.