This is another in the series of posts related to St. Joseph leading up to the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19.
A popular devotion is the Novena to St. Joseph starting on March 10. The complete text of the prayers for all nine days can be found at Pray More Novenas.
This is another in the series of posts leading up to the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19, during which altar flowers are permitted though it is Lent.
Pope Leo XIII in his 1889 encyclical Quamquam Pluries provided this prayer to St. Joseph, recommending that it be prayed at the end of the Rosary, particularly during October, the month of the Holy Rosary. In Latin, it is called Ad te, Beate Joseph, and in English, Prayer to St. Joseph in Time of Distress.
Foremost in the Holy Father's mind was apparently distress in the Church but the prayer also seems appropriate in times of international strife.
"We come to thee, O blessed Joseph, in our sore distress. Having sought the aid of thy most blessed spouse, we now confidently implore thy assistance also. We humbly beg that, mindful of the dutiful affection which bound thee to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and of the fatherly love with which thou didst cherish the Child Jesus, thou wilt lovingly watch over the heritage which Jesus Christ purchased with His blood, and by thy powerful intercession help us in our urgent need.Source: Prayerbook.com
"Most powerful guardian of the Holy Family, protect the chosen race of Jesus Christ; drive far from us, most loving father, every pest of error and corrupting sin. From thy place in heaven, most powerful protector, graciously come to our aid in this conflict with the power of darkness, and as of old thou didst deliver the Child Jesus from supreme peril of life, so now defend the holy Church of God from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.
"Have each of us always in thy keeping that, following thy example, and borne up by thy strength, we may be able to live holy, die happily, and so enter the everlasting bliss of heaven. Amen."
This is the next in a series on St.Joseph in anticipation of the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19.
The flower usually associated with St. Joseph is the white lily. This is because of the tradition that when St. Joseph was among Mary's many suitors, his staff blossomed, confirming that he was God's choice to be Mary's husband. This mirrored the Old Testament account of the flowering of Aaron's staff, which confirmed his priesthood. In iconography, the flowers are usually depicted as white lilies, symbolizing Joseph's purity.
An interesting variation on the theme of St Joseph and the lily, however, involves a blossom that is not actually a lily at all, but an amaryllis:
"Often any stalk of white flowers is called a St. Joseph’s Lily, but there is an actual plant with that name. Hippeastrum johnsonii is a hybrid amaryllis that, instead of being white, is dark red with white stripes on the petals. It is called St. Joseph’s Lily because it often blooms on or near his feast day of March 19,"
Read more here.
