Welcome to St. Joseph

Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the gift of our priests.

Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments.

Help our priests to be strong in their vocation.

Set their souls on fire with love for your people.

Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.

Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel.

Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.

Help them to become instruments of your divine grace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest.

Amen.

Glorious Mother of God and powerful patron of all human endeavors, protect the city of Boston and all who dwell in it.

Intercede with your Divine Son to bless it’s blue bay and rising hills; to bless its ancient streets and historic monuments; to bless its newest arteries an ever-changing face.

Within its boundaries ask him to sanctify those who live and labor here; cause their works to prosper and bring happiness to those whom they love.Ask him to give guidance to all who are called to provide leadership in this community and grant them an honest intelligence and far seeing wisdom.

For our city, O Holy Mary, be a Morning Star lighting the daybreak; a Tower of Ivory guiding those who wander; House of God giving shelter to all who are troubled.

As we pass through our fair city and elsewhere be for us a Refuge of Sinners and a Comforter of the Afflicted and then our last hours, O Mary, be the Gate of Heaventhrough which we may pass to eternal life.

Intercede with your Holy Son, our Redeemer, that his Providence may watch over Bostonand its people; let his grace strengthen, guide, defend and protect it’s every venture-oldand new; and finally in all our aspirations and actions, “as He was with our fathers, so may God be with us.”

Amen

Archbishop Richard J. Cushing

December 12, 1957                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Oh God of mercy, understanding, and peace

help our beloved countryand the city of Boston:

to grow in harmony, to reject all violence

to strive for understanding.

Let each of us realize our need for you,

and our need for one another.

Let there be peace on earth:

let there be peace in our hearts;

let there be peace in our city;

let this peace begin with me.

IN HONOR OF THE 30 YEARS HE SPENT WITH JESUS AND MARY

For Any Special Intention

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. 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.

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 asked by the loveliness and power of that sacred name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.

I ask it in 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 the 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 asked by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.

I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you show in accepting the Divine order to impart 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.

Oh good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I Ask. (Here name your petitions or think of them.)

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.

JESUS, Mary and Joseph

“A blameless life,

St.  Joseph,

May we lead ,

 by your patronage

 from danger freed"

(A prayer used before every session of the Second Vatican Council)

We come before you, Holy Spirit,

conscious of our sinfulness,

but aware that we gather in your name

Come to us, remain with us,

and enlighten our hearts.

Give us light and strength

to know your will,

to make it our own, and to live it in our lives.

Guide us by your wisdom,

support us by your power,

for you are God,

sharing the glory of Father and Son.

You desire justice for all:

enable us to uphold the rights of others;

do not allow us to be misled by ignorance

or corrupted by fear or favor

Unite us to yourself in the bond of love

and keep us faithful to all that is true.

As we gather in your name

we may be temper justice with love,

so that all our decisions

may be pleasing to you,

and earn the reward

promise to be good and faithful servant servants.

You live in reign with the Father and the Son,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen