Seven Sundays of St. Joseph

Devotions

A preparatory devotion of seven consecutive Sundays before March 19, meditating on the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph, indulgenced by Gregory XVI in 1836.

The Seven Sundays of St. Joseph is a devotion of seven consecutive Sundays immediately preceding March 19, each one given over to meditating on one paired sorrow and joy from St. Joseph’s life. Pope Gregory XVI granted indulgences to this specific form on January 22, 1836, building on an existing sixteenth-century meditation tradition, and Pope Pius IX further encouraged the practice. It functions much like a novena stretched across seven weeks rather than nine days, preparing the one praying to keep the Solemnity of St. Joseph with a heart formed by reflection on his own life of trust through hardship.

Quick Facts

Category: St. Joseph — Devotions to St. Joseph
Origin: A devotion of seven consecutive Sundays preceding March 19, indulgenced by Pope Gregory XVI on January 22, 1836, building on an existing meditation on St. Joseph’s seven sorrows and joys
Feast: Begins on the seventh Sunday before March 19 each year; the exact starting Sunday shifts with the calendar
Church status: An established, historically indulgenced Catholic devotion, actively promoted today by various apostolates and parishes
Private revelation: Not dependent on private revelation

What Is This Devotion?

Over seven consecutive Sundays leading up to March 19, the one praying takes up a single paired sorrow and joy from St. Joseph’s life each week, moving in order through his doubt and the angel’s reassurance, the poverty of Bethlehem and the Savior’s birth, and on through the flight into Egypt to the finding of the boy Jesus in the Temple. The seventh and final meditation falls on or near the Solemnity itself, so the devotion functions as an extended preparation for the feast, not unlike how the Church uses Advent or a novena to ready the heart for a coming celebration.

Origin and History

Pope Gregory XVI granted indulgences on January 22, 1836, specifically to the Seven Sundays in honor of the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph, a meditation already circulating since Giovanni da Fano’s 1536 publication popularized the underlying seven-part structure among Franciscan and Capuchin circles. His successor, Pope Pius IX, further encouraged Catholics to invoke Joseph’s intercession during these seven weeks. Some devotional websites describe the Seven Sundays as historically promoted by the Servite order, but this could not be confirmed from the sources available for this page; the Servites are documented promoters of a related but separate Marian devotion, the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and readers should be cautious about assuming the two histories are the same.

Further indulgences followed under Pope Pius XI in the 1930s, according to the documented history kept by the Oblates of St. Joseph, though as with any older indulgence grant, Catholics wanting the precise current status should consult the present Enchiridion Indulgentiarum rather than assume an older figure still applies unchanged. Today the devotion continues to be actively promoted by apostolates including Opus Dei and by many individual parishes, which typically publish a short daily meditation for each of the seven weeks.

Catholic Theology

Stretching a preparation across seven full weeks, rather than compressing it into a shorter novena, mirrors the Church’s broader instinct that some graces are best approached slowly. Praying through Joseph’s own sorrows and joys in order, week by week, is meant to gradually reshape the heart of the one praying toward Joseph’s own trust, so that the Solemnity itself is kept not merely as a date on the calendar but as the fruit of seven weeks of real reflection.

How to Practice It

Begin on the seventh Sunday before March 19 each year; because the date shifts, consult a current liturgical calendar or parish bulletin for the exact starting Sunday.
Meditate on one sorrow-joy pair each Sunday, in order, concluding the seventh meditation on or near March 19 itself.
Attend Mass on each of the seven Sundays where possible, uniting the meditation to the day’s liturgy rather than treating it as a separate private exercise.
Distinguish this devotion from the Seven Wednesdays devotion to St. Joseph, a separate weekly practice tied to Wednesday rather than to the weeks immediately before March 19.

Associated Prayers

When It’s Observed

The devotion is timed backward from March 19, so its start date moves from year to year depending on which day of the week the Solemnity falls. It is not listed on the General Roman Calendar in its own right; it is a private and parish-level devotion rather than a universal liturgical observance.

Church Status

This is an established devotion with a documented nineteenth-century indulgence history under Popes Gregory XVI and Pius IX, and it remains actively promoted today. See this site’s explainer on indulgences for how the Church’s indulgence system works and why older figures like the 1836 grant should not automatically be assumed to describe the current indulgence available. It does not rest on private revelation.

Common Misconceptions

“The Seven Sundays devotion was founded and spread by the Servite Order.”

This attribution is not well supported by the sources available for this page. The Servites, formally the Servants of Mary, are historically associated with promoting devotion to Mary’s own Seven Sorrows, a distinct Marian devotion. The documented history of the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph instead points to Pope Gregory XVI’s 1836 indulgence and to the underlying meditation’s Franciscan and Capuchin roots. Readers who encounter the Servite claim online should treat it with caution absent a clearer primary source.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the Seven Sundays begin each year?

On the seventh Sunday before March 19. Because March 19 falls on a different day of the week each year, the exact starting date changes annually; checking a current liturgical calendar is the most reliable way to find it.

Is this the same as a novena?

Not technically — a novena is normally nine days, while this devotion runs seven weeks — but it functions the same way, as an extended period of preparatory prayer building toward a feast, in this case the Solemnity of St. Joseph.

What indulgence history does this devotion have?

Pope Gregory XVI granted indulgences to the Seven Sundays specifically on January 22, 1836, and further indulgences followed under Pope Pius XI in the 1930s. As with any older grant, Catholics wanting to know the current indulgence status should consult the present Enchiridion Indulgentiarum rather than assume these historical figures still apply exactly as issued.