St Joseph The Worker
(Prayer For Employment)
St Joseph The Worker
Is St Joseph The Worker the same Joseph as earthly father of Jesus?
The short answer is yes and unlike Mary, he never speaks in Scripture, which is why he is also sometimes called the silent saint.
So how did he become the patron of the universal Church? And why did people end up saying a prayer to St Joseph for employment?
If you are currently looking for employment or vocation, you will find this guide useful and may you seek his intercession by saying the St Joseph The Worker today.
Story Of St Joseph The Worker
Very little is known about St Joseph, with some historians doubting his presence at all due to his never being mentioned in the Gospels of Mark or John. He was included in Matthew and Luke.
Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.
Who is St Joseph?
We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the sceptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55).
He wasn’t rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).
Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage.
Though Luke and Matthew disagree about some details of Joseph’s genealogy, they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38).
Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as “son of David,” a royal title used also for Jesus.
Betrothal to Mary
The Bible tells us that Joseph was betrothed to Mary, but the circumstances of their betrothal are unclear.
Mary was living at the Temple at the time, a blessed virgin of the Lord, but she was growing up – she was twelve or fourteen depending on the source – and was going to need a male protector. The priests decided then that a lot would be drawn between the twelve tribes of Israel to find the tribe of her future husband. The lot fell on the tribe of Judah. And so, word went out to all of the eligible men of the tribe of Judah. They were to come to the temple and bring a rod. Many bachelors came, and amongst them was Joseph, the elderly widower.
Joseph was at this time a ninety-year-old man, with children, and grandchildren. Not only did he see no good in himself marrying this child, when there were so many other eligible bachelors to choose from, he also feared what others might think when they saw him with his new, barely teenage, bride.
But the priest admonished Joseph and reminded him of what the Lord had done to Dathan, Abiram, and Korah, how the earth opened and swallowed them up. Out of fear of the Lord’s punishment, Joseph agreed to take Mary into his home.
The Birth of Jesus
When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God.
He knew women accused of adultery could be stoned to death, so he resolved to send her away quietly to not expose her to shame or cruelty.
However, when an angel came to Joseph in a dream.
Matthew 1:20-23
20: But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21: She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
22: All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
He did not realize she had actually been faithful to him and that the child was from God until an angel told him, and told him not to be afraid of the miraculous, unexplainable circumstance. He listened, and stayed with Mary.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. He did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Jesus.
Earthly Father Of Jesus
The angel returned to him in a dream and warned Joseph to flee with his family (due to Herod’s jealous decree to murder all new-borns after he heard a new king had been born), and he obeyed.
Though his family became refugees in Egypt, he must have continued to care for them until they could return. Joseph left everyone and everything he had ever known to take them there, risking their lives to escape and bringing probably little to nothing with them.
Upon returning, the family settled in Nazareth, and since the town was very small (perhaps a population of 400 at most), there were not many opportunities. Joseph made that sacrifice, working either as a local repairman and carpenter or walking to a larger nearby town each day for work, to protect his family’s safety. He also took his family to Jerusalem for Passover every year – which would certainly have been another large sacrifice for him.
Last Mention Of Joseph
The last mention of Joseph in writing is when Jesus, around age 12, disappears from his parents. They search for him for 3 days until they find him in the temple. Because only Mary is mentioned after this and because Joseph does not perform typical duties of a father after Jesus’s crucifixion, it is likely that he passed away before Jesus began his public ministry.
St Joseph Prayer For Employment
In 1955, Pope Pius XII introduced in its place the feast of St Joseph the Worker on 1 May in the General Roman Calendar as an ecclesiastical counterpart to the International Workers’ Day on the same day.
This reflects Saint Joseph’s status as patron of workers. Pius XII established the feast both to honour St Joseph as a model of such work, and to make people aware of the dignity of human work.
Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Saviour of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.”
Feast and Patron Of
- Feast: March 19th (and on May 1st)
- Patron of: fathers, workers, carpenters, travellers, immigrants, refugees, moving house
Seek this great Saint’s help through the following prayers in carrying the vexing and at times quite bitter cross of being out of work. Always remembering that you have great worth in God’s eyes no matter what your situation.
Prayer For Those Who Have Lost Their Jobs
Lord, I am coming to you today with a heavy heart
Filled with regret over the past, and anxiety for the future.
I am out of work, and my finances are in deep trouble.
I have made many mistakes. Help me to forgive myself, and
others, so that I may make amends with all concerned.
Grant me peace of mind,
so I can fill my life with your goodness and grace.
Guide me toward a good job where I may fulfill my needs
as a better and wiser person.
Thank you Lord, for listening to me and helping me today.
Life is not always easy, but I will strive to remember that You
are always there to help me
As you are right in this moment. Thank you!
Amen.
Prayer To Get A Job
God our Father and our Creator,
You bestow on us gifts and talents
to develop and use in accord with Your will.
Grant to me,
through the intercession of St Joseph the Worker,
As model and guide,
employment and work,
that I may with dignity,
provide for those who depend upon me for care and support.
Grant me the opportunities to use
my energy and my talents and abilities
for the good of all,
and the glory of Your name.
Amen
Prayer For A Steady Job
Lord, there are many people in our nation
who are in need of a steady job with sufficient wages
to care for themselves and their families.
Help these people remain diligent in their job search.
Give them the confidence they need
to succeed and the perseverance
to continue on when they become discouraged.
Teach me to encourage those seeking employment
and to offer them whatever assistance I can give.
For all the unemployed in our nation,
I offer my prayer that they might find
productive work that enables them
to use and develop their talents and skills
and to meet their economic needs.
Amen.
Prayer To Know One’s Vocation
O Great Saint Joseph,
you were completely obedient to
the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Obtain for me the grace to know
the state of life that God in his providence
has chosen for me.
Since my happiness on earth,
and perhaps even my final happiness in heaven,
depends on this choice,
let me not be deceived in making it.
Obtain for me the light to know God’s Will,
to carry it out faithfully,
and to choose the vocation
which will lead me to a happy eternity.
Amen.
Prayer For Workers
Glorious Saint Joseph,
You are the pattern of all who work.
Obtain for me, please,
the grace to work conscientiously
and to put devotion to duty
before my selfish inclinations.
Help me to labor in thankfulness and joy,
for it is an honour to employ
and to develop by my labour the gifts
I have received from almighty God.
Grant that I may work in orderliness,
peace, moderation and patience
without shrinking from weariness and difficulties.
I offer my fatigue and perplexities
as reparation for sin.
I shall work, above all,
with a pure intention
and with detachment from self,
having always before my eyes
the hour of death and the accounting
which I must then render of time ill-spent,
of talents unemployed,
of good undone,
and of empty pride in success,
which is so fatal to the work of God.
For Jesus through Mary, all in imitation of you,
good Saint Joseph.
This shall be my motto in life and in death.
Amen.
St Joseph The Worker (Prayer For Employment) Summary
St Joseph The Worker, foster father of Jesus, is but one example of the holiness of human labor. The life of a parent is seldom all roses or all thorns, and though we have no scriptural evidence to indicate that raising the Son of God is any different in that respect.
We know that Joseph was a humble man, a righteous and pious man, with great empathy, for this much are we told, but we also see it in how, when his betrothed was found pregnant, he sought not only to protect himself, but her as well.
Seek his intercession and may the prayer to St Joseph The Worker brings about new vocation and employment to you.
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