Three Day Novena to St Joseph
Day One: Thursday, 17 March
St Joseph the Father
This sculpture shows playfulness, intimacy and love in a special relationship between father and son.
The link between the two is expressed by the infant Jesus touching Joseph’s beard in a child-like inquisitive way.
This is a statue that intrigues and delights. We are aware of the many people who sit reflecting on it during times of retreat in Drumalis.
This gentle touch reminds us of the love shown in families throughout the world. We pray for all children today especially in Eastern Europe whose families have been broken by the terror of war in Ukraine.
Let us take a moment in the quiet of our hearts to remember the many suffering families we have seen on our television screens.
Let us Pray
O Glorious Saint Joseph,
you who have power to render possible things that are for us impossible, come to our aid in our present troubles.
Take our important and difficult affairs under your particular protection that they may end happily.
O dear Saint Joseph, we place all our confidence in you.
Let it not be said that we would invoke you in vain, and since you are so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that your goodness equals your power.
Day Two – Friday, 18 March 2022
St Joseph – the Holy Family, the Refugee Family
Let us Pray
O Glorious Saint Joseph,
you who have power to render possible things that are for us impossible, come to our aid in our present troubles.
Take our important and difficult affairs under your particular protection that they may end happily.
O dear Saint Joseph, we place all our confidence in you.
Let it not be said that we would invoke you in vain, and since you are so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that your goodness equals your power.
When we see the Holy Family in flight into Egypt, we are reminded of "the anguish of persecution." It reminds us of the many graphic images we have seen on our television, unbearable sights of people fleeing from their persecutors today.
Pope Francis echoed this in 2018: "Little Jesus reminds us that half of today's refugees in the world are children, blameless victims of human injustice."
Drumalis too has served as place of refuge for those in need over the years. During the Troubles, it provided a safe place for many families, regardless of faith or background.
We remember today the suffering that continues throughout the world, for example, the thousands of homeless in war-torn Yemen and Iraq and pray for families and many suffering children there. We also pray for those who are risking their lives to seek refuge in other countries. This week we pray in particular for over three million people, displaced refugees because of the horrors of war in Ukraine.
Let us pray for ourselves and our families in these post pandemic days that we may respond generously to the challenges that face us.
Day Three – Saturday, 19 March 2022
Feast of St Joseph
Today, as we celebrate the Feast Day of St Joseph, we strongly invoke the protection of Joseph for the many suffering in our world today.
This final image of the saint may appear rather unusual given that we find him asleep rather than at work. However, in recent times, it has become a very popular image, thanks largely to the devotion of Pope Francis, who wrote in 2015, whilst in the Philippines:
“I would also like to tell you something very personal. I have a great love for St Joseph, because he is a man of silence and strength. On my table I have a statue of Saint Joseph sleeping. Even when he is asleep, he is taking care of the Church. Yes, we know that he can do that. So when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a little note and I put it underneath St Joseph so that he can dream about it. In other words, I tell him: “pray for this problem””
Pope Francis also said:
“Joseph’s rest revealed God’s will to him. In this moment of rest in the Lord, as we pause from our many daily obligations and activities, God is also speaking to us.
But like Saint Joseph, once we have heard God’s voice, we must rise from our slumber; we must get up and act.”
As we come to the end of this short Novena, we hope that it has been a time of quiet contemplation and reflection for you, a time of prayer and remembrance.
We pray that you have heard God’s voice speak to you during these days and that you are ready to take on the challenges which await you in your own life - and that we too, at Drumalis, are ready to take on the challenges which lie ahead as we prepare to re-open the doors to welcome you once more.
Let us pray and place all our intentions in these war-torn days
in the hands of St Joseph
Let us Pray
O Glorious Saint Joseph,
you who have power to render possible things that are for us impossible, come to our aid in our present troubles.
Take our important and difficult affairs under your particular protection that they may end happily.
O dear Saint Joseph, we place all our confidence in you.
Let it not be said that we would invoke you in vain, and since you are so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that your goodness equals your power.