Ita Ad Joseph

Happy Feast of St. Joseph!

This is the famous prayer to St. Joseph that I recite frequently. There is no standardized English version, but this is the one I was first exposed to and have memorized:

Unto thee, O blessed Joseph, do we fly in our tribulations, and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we now also confidently seek thy protection. By that affection which united thee to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and through the fatherly love with which thou embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee to look down with compassion upon the inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased with his Blood, and in our need to help us by thy powerful intercession.

Do thou, O prudent guardian of the Holy Family, watch over the chosen people of Jesus Christ; keep us, O loving father, safe from all error and corruption; O great protector, from thy place in heaven, graciously help us in our contest against the powers of darkness; and, as of old thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the dangers of death, so now defend God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; extend to each one of us thy continual protection, that, led on by thine example, strengthened by thine aid, we may live and die in holiness, and obtain everlasting happiness in heaven. Amen.

And here it is in Latin, as promulgated by Pope Leo XIII:

Ad te beate Ioseph, in tribulatione nostra confugimus, atque, implorato Sponsae tuae sanctissimae auxilio, patrocinium quoque tuum fidenter exposcimus. Per eam, quaesumus quae te cum immaculata Virgine Dei Genetrice coniunxit, caritatem, perque paternum, quo Puerum Iesum amplexus es, amorem, supplices deprecamur, ut ad hereditatem, quam Iesus Christus acquisivit Sanguine suo, benignus respicias, ac necessitatibus nostris tua virtute et ope succurras.

Tuere, o Custos providentissime divinae Familiae, Iesu Christi subolem electam; prohibe a nobis, amantissime Pater, omnem errorum ac corruptelarum luem; propitius nobis, sospitator noster fortissime, in hoc cum potestate tenebrarum certamine e caelo adesto; et sicut olim Puerum Iesum e summo eripuisti vitae discrimine, ita nunc Ecclesiam sanctam Dei ab hostilibus insidiis atque ab omni adversitate defende: nosque singulos perpetuo tege patrocinio, ut ad tui exemplar et ope tua suffulti, sancte vivere, pie emori, sempiternamque in caelis beatitudinem assequi possimus. Amen.

Also, please pray for my sister who is receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation today, taking as her patroness St. Sophia of Thrace, born at Ainos, the "mother of orphans." All the more interesting because this is an Eastern Saint from right around the time of the schism. Byzantine Catholics do seem to venerate her, though, and I'm all for it. (I'm not really sure why that Orthodox website has two separate articles on her like that...)