Before 19 March or 1 May

Nine days to the patron of workers, families and the dying.

St. Joseph is patron of the universal Church, of workers, of fathers, of a happy death, and — by long custom — of those who need a house. The novena is prayed in the nine days before 19 March, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, or before 1 May, St. Joseph the Worker.

Prayer for Each Day

O glorious St. Joseph,
chosen by God to be the guardian of Jesus,
the chaste spouse of Mary ever Virgin,
and the head of the Holy Family:

you were chosen by Christ's Vicar
as the heavenly patron and protector of the Church.

Protect the Sovereign Pontiff and all bishops and priests.
Be the defender of all who labour,
so that we may imitate you in our work
and in the practice of virtue.

Obtain for me, dear St. Joseph, the grace I ask in this novena [name it],
and above all the grace of a holy death
in the arms of Jesus and Mary,
as you yourself died. Amen.

The Thirty Days’ Prayer

Some pray instead the Thirty Days’ Prayer to St. Joseph, a longer devotion made daily for a month for a serious intention.

About This Novena

The Gospels record not one word spoken by Joseph. What they record is that he did what he was told, quickly and without argument, four separate times — take Mary as your wife, flee to Egypt, return, settle in Nazareth. He is invoked for practical, urgent, unglamorous things because that is what his own life consisted of.