As we come once more to the Christmas mystery, we can appreciate St. Joseph more deeply through the Year of Joseph now concluding. The Apostolic Letter Patris Corde (The Heart of a Father) concludes with a prayer we fittingly make our own in this holy season:
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.
And we might adapt a familiar Marian prayer as well: “Pray for us, O carpenter father of Nazareth, patron of the Church, and faithful guide of your family, that we might be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”
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