St. Joseph Consecration

Placing your life under the protection of the man God trusted with His own Son.

What It Is and What It Does

St. Joseph consecration is the act of entrusting your entire life to the foster father of Jesus, the husband of Mary, the protector of the Holy Family, and the patron of the universal Church.

Joseph is the quiet saint. He never speaks a single recorded word in Scripture. But everything he does speaks louder than words ever could. He obeys immediately. He protects fiercely. He provides faithfully. He carries the weight of the most important mission in human history on his shoulders, and he does it without asking for credit, without hesitation, and without complaint.

When you consecrate yourself to St. Joseph, you are placing yourself under the care of the man God the Father chose to be the earthly father of His Son. If God trusted Joseph with Jesus, you can trust Joseph with your life, your family, your work, your fears, and your future.

Pope Francis wrote in Patris Corde (2020), "Each of us can discover in Joseph the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence, an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble."

He declared the Year of St. Joseph (December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021), and the consecration movement that had been growing through Fr. Donald Calloway's book exploded across the world.

St. Teresa of Ávila, one of the greatest mystics in Church history, said, "I took as my advocate and lord the glorious St. Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him. I cannot recall that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant."

What changes when you consecrate yourself to Joseph? You discover a father. Not an abstract concept of fatherhood, but a real, present, powerful intercessor who steps into the spaces in your life where protection, provision, and guidance are needed. He is the patron of fathers, of workers, of the dying, of the universal Church, and of the interior life. He covers every dimension of human need because he lived every dimension of human faithfulness.

How To

The most widely used method is Fr. Donald Calloway's Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, which follows a thirty-three-day preparation similar in structure to the Marian consecration.

Preparation: 33 Days 

The preparation period lasts thirty-three days and is designed to end on a feast day associated with St. Joseph or the Holy Family.

Common feast days include:

St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (March 19) St. Joseph the Worker (May 1) The Holy Family (Sunday within the Octave of Christmas)

Count back thirty-three days from your chosen feast day to determine your start date.

During the 33 Days

Each day includes a short reading on a title, virtue, or aspect of St. Joseph's life and mission, followed by a prayer. The book covers Joseph as chosen by God, just, chaste, obedient, faithful, patient, protector of virgins, pillar of families, solace of the afflicted, hope of the sick, patron of the dying, and terror of demons, among many other titles drawn from the Litany of St. Joseph.

The daily commitment is about fifteen to twenty minutes. The tone is personal, warm, and deeply devotional.

Consecration Day

On your chosen feast day, go to Mass and receive Holy Communion. After Communion, pray the Act of Consecration to St. Joseph. Fr. Calloway's book includes the full prayer. Many people do this in front of an image of St. Joseph or at a parish altar dedicated to him.

After Consecration

Pray to St. Joseph daily. A simple prayer each morning is enough:

"St. Joseph, I consecrate myself to you. Protect me, guide me, and lead me to Jesus through the heart of Mary."

Pray the Litany of St. Joseph regularly. Ask for his intercession in the specific areas of your life where you need a father's protection: your family, your work, your struggles, your death.

Prayers

Act of Consecration to St. Joseph (Fr. Donald Calloway):

O Dearest St. Joseph, I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, that you may always be my father, my protector, and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a greater purity of heart and a fervent love of the interior life. After your example, may I do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And do thou, O Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.

Daily Prayer to St. Joseph:

Glorious St. Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, and 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. Amen.

The Memorare to St. Joseph:

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession were left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power, I fly unto you, and beg your protection. Despise not, O foster father of the Redeemer, my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

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Further Reading

• Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father · Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC (book)

• Patris Corde · Pope Francis (2020) — Available free on vatican.va

• The Life & Glories of Saint Joseph · Edward Healy Thompson (book)

• The Life of St. Joseph · Maria Cecilia Baij (book)

• St. Joseph Consecration · Official Site (Fr. Calloway)

• Litany of St. Joseph · EWTN