St. Joseph Novena: 9 Days with the Guardian of the Redeemer

On March 19 the Church keeps the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. The Gospels never record a single word he said. They tell instead what he did: he took Mary into his home, gave the child his name, carried him into Egypt by night, searched for him for three days, and taught him his trade at Nazareth. The Church has made him the patron of fathers, of workers and of families, of the dying and, since 1870, of the whole Church.

This page gives the complete St. Joseph novena, prayed from March 10 to March 18, with the daily prayer to St. Joseph, the full Litany of Saint Joseph and a free printable booklet of the same nine days. Each day follows one moment of his life in a great painting, from Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin to Goya’s Death of Saint Joseph.

The cover of the booklet is Guido Reni’s Saint Joseph and the Christ Child, painted around 1640 and now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: an old carpenter holding a newborn child, who reaches up toward his face. More of Reni’s work is gathered in our article on Guido Reni paintings.

How to Pray the St. Joseph Novena

A novena is nine days of the same asking: not nine different prayers, but one request carried patiently, in imitation of the nine days the apostles prayed with Mary before Pentecost. How to pray it: each day, read the verse and the short reading of the day, then say the St. Joseph novena prayer below, naming your intention. You may add the Litany of Saint Joseph, or one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be.

Many people pray this novena at other times of the year too: before a move or a new job, for a family, for a good death, or whenever they need a father’s help. Begin whenever you need him. If you begin late, begin anyway: nine days that end after the feast are still nine days.

The St. Joseph Novena Prayer (Every Day)

O God, who in thy unspeakable providence didst choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of thy most holy Mother: grant that we who honour him as our protector on earth may deserve to have him for our intercessor in heaven.

Saint Joseph, guardian of the Redeemer, who didst hold the Child Jesus in thy arms and keep him safe on every road, take into thy care the thing I now name before thee: (here make your request).

Saint Joseph, most just and most faithful, pray for us. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.

The first paragraph is the ancient collect of the feast of the Patronage of Saint Joseph, which also closes his litany, in our own English translation from the Latin. The last line, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul, is a traditional short prayer to the Holy Family.

The Nine Days of the Novena

Day 1: The Betrothal

Saint Joseph, spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 1:18

Joseph was a carpenter of Nazareth, of the house of King David, betrothed to a young woman named Mary. In Israel a betrothal was already a marriage in all but the wedding feast. An old story, told long after the Gospels, says that each suitor laid a rod in the Temple and that Joseph’s alone burst into flower. Raphael painted the wedding in 1504: Joseph slips the ring on Mary’s finger, holding his flowering rod, while a disappointed suitor breaks his own over his knee.

Ask Saint Joseph today to bless the marriages you know, and to help you keep the promises you have made.

Day 2: A Just Man

Saint Joseph, most just, pray for us.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Matthew 1:19

Then Mary was found with child, and Joseph knew it was not his. The law allowed him to accuse her in public; the Gospel says only that he was a just man, and resolved to send her away quietly. Then an angel came to him in a dream: Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. When he woke, he did as the angel had told him. Philippe de Champaigne shows him asleep in his chair, his tools at his feet, while the angel points to heaven and to Mary.

Joseph never says a word in the Gospels: he listens, and he acts. Ask him for the grace to obey promptly when God makes his will plain.

Day 3: The Road to Bethlehem

Saint Joseph, illustrious son of David, pray for us.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.
Micah 5:2

Caesar Augustus ordered a census of the whole empire, and every man went to be enrolled in his own city. Joseph was of the house of David, so he went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem, about ninety miles, with Mary, who was great with child, and there was no room for them in the inn. Pieter Bruegel set the scene in a Flemish village in the snow: among the villagers crowding to be counted, a man with a carpenter’s saw on his shoulder leads a donkey, and on it rides a woman wrapped in a heavy cloak.

Ask Saint Joseph today for patience with the delays and the closed doors on your own road.

Day 4: The Manger

Saint Joseph, foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2:16

That night shepherds came running from the hills and found Mary, and Joseph, and the child lying in a manger. Joseph was not the child’s father, and no one knew it better than he, yet God gave him a father’s part: to find shelter, to keep watch, and to give the child his name, Jesus, as the angel had told him. Giorgione painted him around 1505 kneeling beside Mary at the mouth of a cave, an old man in a golden cloak, while two shepherds come forward to adore.

Ask him today to watch over the children in your care, and over every child who has no home.

Day 5: Two Turtledoves

Saint Joseph, lover of poverty, pray for us.

And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
Luke 2:33

Forty days after the birth, Joseph and Mary carried the child to the Temple to present him to the Lord, with the offering the law allowed to those who could not afford a lamb: a pair of turtledoves. There old Simeon took the child in his arms and foretold that a sword would pierce his mother’s soul, and Joseph and his mother marvelled at what was said of him. Andrea Mantegna painted the scene close up around 1455: the swaddled child, his mother, old Simeon, and Joseph between them, silent, looking on.

Ask Saint Joseph for a heart content with little, and generous with the little it has.

Day 6: Into Egypt

Saint Joseph, patron of exiles, pray for us.

Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word.
Matthew 2:13

After the wise men had gone, the angel warned Joseph in a dream that Herod would seek the child to kill him. Joseph rose that same night, took the child and his mother, and set out for Egypt, to find work and lodging among strangers. They lived there as exiles until Herod died. Murillo shows him walking beside the donkey in a wide traveller’s hat, his eyes on the mother and the sleeping child.

Pray today for families who have had to leave their homes, and ask Saint Joseph to guide all who travel in fear.

Day 7: Three Days of Searching

Saint Joseph, mirror of patience, pray for us.

How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
Luke 2:49

Every year Joseph and Mary went up to Jerusalem for the Passover. When Jesus was twelve, he stayed behind without their knowing. They searched for three days and found him in the Temple among the teachers. Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing, said his mother. Then he went down with them to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. Holman Hunt painted the moment they found him: Mary drawing her son close, and Joseph behind them, his long search over.

Ask Saint Joseph today for patience when God seems far away, and for the grace to keep looking for him.

Day 8: The Carpenter of Nazareth

Saint Joseph, model of workers, pray for us.

Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Luke 2:52

Of the next eighteen years the Gospel says almost nothing: only that Jesus lived at Nazareth, subject to Joseph and Mary, and grew. When he began to preach, his neighbours asked, Is not this the carpenter’s son? Joseph had taught him his trade, and they had worked side by side. John Everett Millais imagined their workshop in 1850: the boy Jesus has cut his palm on a nail, his mother kneels to comfort him, and Joseph leans over the bench to look at the wound.

Offer your work to God today, whatever it is, through the hands of the carpenter of Nazareth.

Read more: Millais’ Christ in the House of His Parents, the painting the critics of 1850 could not forgive.

Day 9: A Holy Death

Saint Joseph, patron of the dying, pray for us.

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
Revelation 14:13

After the finding in the Temple, Joseph disappears from the Gospels. He never appears in the public life of Jesus, and from the Cross Jesus entrusted his mother to Saint John, so the Church has always believed that Joseph died before the Passion, with Jesus and Mary beside him. That is why he is the patron of a happy death. Goya painted it in 1787 for a convent in Valladolid: the old carpenter on his bed, Mary at his head, and Jesus at his side.

Tomorrow is his feast. Bring back the request you have carried for nine days, and ask Saint Joseph to be with you at the hour of your death.

The Litany of Saint Joseph

The Litany of Saint Joseph was approved for the whole Church by Pope Saint Pius X in 1909. On May 1, 2021, during the Year of Saint Joseph, Pope Francis added seven invocations, marked here with an asterisk, among them Guardian of the Redeemer and Patron of exiles. One voice leads and the others answer; alone, simply say both parts. The translation below is our own, from the Latin, and the litany is also printed on the last page of the booklet.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Illustrious son of David, pray for us.
Light of the patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Guardian of the Redeemer, * pray for us.
Chaste guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Watchful defender of Christ, pray for us.
Servant of Christ, * pray for us.
Minister of salvation, * pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most valiant, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of workers, pray for us.
Glory of family life, pray for us.
Guardian of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Support in difficulties, * pray for us.
Comfort of the sorrowing, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of exiles, * pray for us.
Patron of the afflicted, * pray for us.
Patron of the poor, * pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. He made him lord of his house,
R. And ruler of all his substance.

Let us pray. O God, who in thy unspeakable providence didst choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of thy most holy Mother: grant that we who honour him as our protector on earth may deserve to have him for our intercessor in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

More Prayers to St. Joseph

Prayer to Saint Joseph by Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII wrote this prayer in 1889, in his encyclical on devotion to Saint Joseph, Quamquam pluries, and asked that it be said after the rosary in the month of October. It remains the best known prayer to Saint Joseph. Our translation from the Latin:

To thee, O blessed Joseph, we fly in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we confidently ask thy patronage also. By that charity which bound thee to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by the fatherly love with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, we humbly beseech thee to look kindly upon the inheritance which Jesus Christ won by his Blood, and to help us in our needs by thy power and strength. O most watchful guardian of the divine Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ. O most loving father, keep from us every plague of error and corruption. O our most mighty protector, be with us from heaven in this struggle with the power of darkness; and as once thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now defend the holy Church of God from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity. Shield each one of us by thy constant protection, so that, following thy example and upheld by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a holy death, and obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

The Memorare to Saint Joseph

Modelled on the Memorare to the Virgin Mary, this short prayer asks Joseph’s help with complete confidence:

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, my loving protector, Saint Joseph, that never was it known that anyone who called upon thy protection and asked thy help was left without comfort. In this confidence I come before thee and commend myself to thee with all my heart. Despise not my prayer, O foster father of the Redeemer, but in thy goodness receive it and answer it. Amen.

When Is the Feast of St. Joseph?

The novena runs from March 10 to March 18, so that it ends on the eve of the solemnity of Saint Joseph on March 19. In 2027 it begins on Wednesday, March 10, in the fourth week of Lent, and ends on Thursday, March 18. The feast falls on Friday, March 19: because it is a solemnity, the Friday abstinence of Lent does not apply that day (Code of Canon Law, canon 1251). In our Lenten calendar of forty paintings, it is day thirty-three.

In Sicily and in many Italian American parishes, families set up a St. Joseph’s table on March 19, an altar of breads, pastries and fava beans shared with the poor, in thanks for his help in a famine long ago. A second feast, Saint Joseph the Worker, was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955 and is kept on May 1.

Georges de La Tour painted him at work by candlelight, around 1642: the boy Jesus holds the candle while Joseph bores into a beam, a quiet picture of the hidden years at Nazareth.

The Paintings of This Novena

Every day of the novena is a painting by a master, chosen because Saint Joseph can be seen in it, from the Renaissance to the Pre-Raphaelites. Where they hang today:

• Cover: Guido Reni, Saint Joseph and the Christ Child, about 1640 (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)
• Day 1: Raphael, The Marriage of the Virgin, 1504 (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)
• Day 2: Philippe de Champaigne, The Dream of Saint Joseph, about 1642 (National Gallery, London)
• Day 3: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Census at Bethlehem, 1566 (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels)
• Day 4: Giorgione, The Adoration of the Shepherds, about 1505 (National Gallery of Art, Washington)
• Day 5: Andrea Mantegna, The Presentation in the Temple, about 1455 (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin)
• Day 6: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Flight into Egypt, about 1650 (Palazzo Bianco, Genoa)
• Day 7: William Holman Hunt, The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple, 1854 to 1860 (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery)
• Day 8: John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents, 1849 to 1850 (Tate Britain, London)
• Day 9: Francisco de Goya, The Death of Saint Joseph, 1787 (Monastery of Santa Ana, Valladolid)

If you love novenas, you may also want our Our Lady of Lourdes novena for February, and the Saint Jude novena for causes that seem lost.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the St. Joseph novena start?

It starts on March 10 and ends on March 18, the eve of the solemnity of Saint Joseph on March 19. In 2027 it runs from Wednesday, March 10, to Thursday, March 18. It may also be prayed at any time of year.

What is the prayer to St. Joseph for the novena?

Each day, after the reading, the novena prayer asks God, in the words of the collect of the feast of the Patronage of Saint Joseph, to give us Joseph as our intercessor in heaven, then entrusts one personal intention to him. The full text is on this page and in the printable booklet.

What is the Litany of Saint Joseph?

A litany is a prayer of invocations, each followed by a response. The Litany of Saint Joseph lists his titles, from Illustrious son of David to Protector of Holy Church, each answered with pray for us. Pope Saint Pius X approved it in 1909, and Pope Francis added seven invocations in 2021, among them Guardian of the Redeemer and Patron of exiles.

Why is Saint Joseph called the Terror of Demons?

The title comes from his litany. Joseph protected the Child Jesus from Herod and kept the Holy Family safe through every danger, so the Church asks him to protect her children from the powers of evil as well. The prayer of Pope Leo XIII asks him to be with us in our struggle with the power of darkness.

What is Saint Joseph the patron saint of?

He is the patron of the universal Church, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1870, and of fathers, families, workers and carpenters, exiles and travellers, and of a happy death, since tradition holds that he died with Jesus and Mary beside him. He is also the patron saint of Canada.

Is there a printable St. Joseph novena?

Yes. The nine days on this page are also a free booklet of twelve illuminated pages, in US Letter and A4, with one great painting and one short reading for each day, the novena prayer with a line for your intention, and the Litany of Saint Joseph on the last page. The download links are at the top of this page.