Novena to St Joseph the Worker – Day Six – 27 April
“Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. There you have your daily encounter with Christ. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind. “
St Josemaria Escriva – Conversations, 113
Let us Pray:
DAY SIX
O Glorious St. Joseph,
model of all those who are devoted to labour,
obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously,
putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations,
to work with gratitude and joy,
in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins,
considering it an honour to employ and develop
by means of labour the gifts received from God,
to work with order, peace, moderation and patience,
without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties,
to work above all with purity of intention
and detachment from self, having always death
before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost,
of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success,
so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary,
all after thine example, O Patriarch, St. Joseph.
Such shall be my watchword in life and in death.
Humbly we ask of you dear St Joseph,
to intercede for all workers, in the difficulties
of their daily lives especially for the unemployed,
in their anxieties for tomorrow,
so that through the guidance of God,
the great Architect and Builder, they all
may use their strength and talents
to make visible God’s new creation,
to offer a concrete service to society
and to earn wages worthy of their efforts.
With confidence and trust
we make our intention
(make your intention)
I pray to you, dear St Joseph, through our Lord,
Jesus Christ, your dearly beloved foster Son,
in union with the Father and the Holy ,
one God for ever and ever.
Amen
AnaStpaul 