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Day Eight
Friend in Suffering
Saint Joseph, your share of suffering
was very great because of
your close union with the Divine Savior.
All the mysteries of His life
were more or less mysteries of suffering.
Poverty pressed upon you,
and the cross of labor followed you everywhere.
Nor were you spared domestic crosses,
owing to misunderstandings in regard
to the holiest and most cherished of all beings,
Jesus and Mary, who were all to you.
Keen must have been the suffering caused
by the uncertainty regarding Mary's virginity;
by the bestowal of the name of Jesus,
which pointed to future misfortune.
Deeply painful must have been
the prophecy of Simeon,
the flight into Egypt,
the disappearance of Jesus at the Paschal feast.
To these sufferings were surely added
interior sorrow at the sight of the sins
of your own people.
You bore all this suffering
in a truly Christ-like manner,
and in this you are our example.
No sound of complaint or
impatience escaped you
you were, indeed, the silent saint!
You submitted to all in the spirit of
faith, humility, confidence, and love.
You cheerfully bore all in union
with and for the Savior and His Mother,
knowing well that true love is a crucified love.
But God never forsook you in your trials.
The trials, too, disappeared
and were changed at last
into consolation and joy.
It seems that God had purposely
intended your life to be filled with suffering
as well as consolation to keep before my eyes
the truth that my life on earth is
but a succession of joys and sorrows,
and that I must gratefully accept whatever God sends me,
and during the time of consolation
prepare for suffering.
Teach me to bear my cross
in the spirit of faith, of confidence,
and of gratitude toward God.
In a happy eternity,
I shall thank God fervently
for the sufferings which He deigned
to send me during my pilgrimage on earth,
and which after your example
I endured with patience and heartfelt love
for Jesus and Mary.
You were truly the martyr of the hidden life.
This was God's Will,
for the holier a person is,
the more he is tried for the love and glory of God.
If suffering is the flowering of God's grace
in a soul and the triumph of the soul's love for God,
being the greatest of saints after Mary,
you suffered more than any of the martyrs.
Because you have experienced the sufferings
of this valley of tears,
you are most kind and sympathetic toward those in need.
Down through the ages
souls have turned to you in distress
and have always found you a faithful friend in suffering.
You have graciously heard their prayers
in their needs even though it demanded a miracle.
Having been so intimately united
with Jesus and Mary in life,
your intercession with Them is most powerful.
Saint Joseph, I thank God
for your privilege of being able to suffer
for Jesus and Mary.
As a token of your own gratitude to God,
obtain for me the grace to
bear my suffering patiently
for love of Jesus and Mary.
Grant that I may unite the sufferings,
works and disappointments of life
with the sacrifice of Jesus in the Mass,
and share like you
in Mary's spirit of sacrifice.
Novena Prayer
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day's devotion)
Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you.
You are the faithful protector
and intercessor of all
who love and venerate you.
You know that I have special confidence
in you and that, after Jesus and Mary,
I place all my hope of salvation in you,
for you are especially powerful with God
and will never abandon your faithful servants.
Therefore I humbly invoke you
and commend myself,
with all who are dear to me
and all that belong to me,
to your intercession.
I beg of you,
by your love for Jesus and Mary,
not to abandon me during life
and to assist me at the hour of my death.
Glorious Saint Joseph,
spouse of the Immaculate Virgin,
obtain for me a pure, humble,
charitable mind, and perfect resignation
to the divine Will.
Be my guide, my father,
and my model through life that
I may merit to die as you did
in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
Loving Saint Joseph,
faithful follower of Jesus Christ,
I raise my heart to you
to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus
all the graces necessary for my spiritual
and temporal welfare,
particularly the grace of a happy death,
and the special grace I now implore:
(Mention your request)
Guardian of the Word Incarnate,
I feel confident that your prayers in my behalf
will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
Amen.
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