::Catholic Mom:: why saint Joseph rocks and how to pray his novena

Today is the feast of Saint Luke and in honor I'm doing a catholic post (even though this post is about saint Joseph.) I also have another big reason for posting about this.

That reason being: my husband got a full time position at his job!! Okay, let me back track. When I was 7 months pregnant my husband flew to Colorado to visit his brother. I was so worried something would happen to him on the trip. I mean like couldn't even sleep or look at him without thinking the worst -worried. Right before he left we received a saint joseph holy card in the mail (totally random) with a novena prayer and a promise that no one who had ever prayed it had been denied their request. It also promised that anyone who kept this card on their person would not suffer an unexpected death. Wow, perfect. So I prayed the novena, and my husband still keeps the card in his wallet, and obviously he came home to me all in one piece. 

Since then I have been praying this novena pretty much everyday for one thing (or person) or another. One of the very first things I prayed it for was for my husband to get full time and this week he did. I pray the prayer straight from my phone everyday before I check email/Facebook/messengers etc. 

So here is what I do for those of you who have a smart phone. 

First, go to http://prayertostjoseph.org. It looks like this:

Then I saved it as a book mark to my home screen. I keep it in a folder with other saved prayers and my notes app. 

In my notes app I keep a note titled "novena." I lable Each thing or person I pray the novena for using an initial. You could also type out what your praying for, but I prefer not to in case someone were to see it. Then, as I pray the novena each day, I put the number of the day/prayer next to the initial to keep track of how many days I've done for each person or thing. This novena is nine consecutive days of reciting the saint Joseph prayer. 

So many of the things I have prayed for have already come to fruition. It's insane. (I pray for the conversions of loved ones more than anything.) And my devotion to saint Joseph and the holy family has grown so strong.. I believe praying this novena led to my eventual devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, hitch has changed my life. The fruits of this practice really are endless. Every morning when I reach for my phone I commit to opening this prayer before doing anything else. 

If you don't have a smart phone this discipline can be easily modified to fit your lifestyle, whether you save the prayer on your computer, or print it out or even write it down. However you do it, you won't regret it. Saint Joseph is amazing! Take advantage of his wonderful gift for us!

God bless and have a happy Lord's day!