Prayer to St. Joseph
Ad te, beate Ioseph
Pope Leo XIII wrote it in 1889 and attached it to his encyclical Quamquam pluries, asking that it be added to the Rosary throughout October. It is the prayer of a Church under pressure, calling on Joseph as the man who once carried the child Jesus to safety and asking him to do the same for the Church now. The last lines ask for three things in order: a holy life, a happy death, and heaven.
Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam pluries (1889)
To you, O blessed Joseph,
we have recourse in our affliction,
and having implored the help of your thrice-holy Spouse,
we now, with hearts filled with confidence,
earnestly beg you also to take us under your protection.
By that charity wherewith you were united
to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God,
and by that fatherly love with which you embraced the Child Jesus,
we beseech you and we humbly pray
that you will look down with gracious eye
upon that inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by his blood,
and will succor us in our need by your power and strength.
Defend, O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family,
the chosen offspring of Jesus Christ.
Keep from us, O most loving father, all blight of error and corruption.
Aid us from on high, most valiant defender,
in this conflict with the powers of darkness;
and even as of old you rescued the Child Jesus from the peril of his life,
so now defend God’s holy Church
from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity.
Shield us ever under your patronage,
that, following your example and strengthened by your help,
we may live a holy life, die a happy death,
and attain to everlasting bliss in heaven.
Amen.