NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH
Third Day
MAN CHOSEN BY THE BLESSED TRINITY
Saint Joseph, you were the man chosen by God the Father.
He selected you to be His representative on earth,
hence He granted you all the graces
and blessings you needed to be His worthy representative.
You were the man chosen by God the Son.
Desirous of a worthy foster-father,
He added His own riches and gifts, and above all, His love.
The true measure of your sanctity
is to be judged by your imitation of Jesus.
You were entirely consecrated to Jesus,
working always near Him, offering Him your virtues,
your work, your sufferings, your very life.
Jesus lived in you perfectly so that you were transformed into Him.
In this lies your special glory,
and the keynote of your sanctity.
Hence, after Mary, you are the holiest of the saints.
You were chosen by the Holy Spirit.
He is the mutual Love of the Father and the Son -the heart of the Holy Trinity.
In His wisdom He draws forth all creatures from nothing,
guides them to their end in showing them their destiny
and giving them the means to reach it.
Every vocation and every fulfillment of a vocation
proceeds from the Holy Spirit.
As a foster-father of Jesus and head of the Holy Family,
you had an exalted and most responsible vocation –
to open the way for the redemption of the world
and to prepare for it by the education
and guidance of the youth of the God-Man.
In this work you cooperated as the instrument of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was the guide;
you obeyed and carried out the works.
How perfectly you obeyed the guidance of the God of Love!
The words of the Old Testament which Pharaoh spoke
concerning Joseph of Egypt can well be applied to you:
“Can we find such another man,
that is full of the spirit of God,
or a wise man like to him?” [Gen. 41:38].
No less is your share in the divine work of God
than was that of Egypt.
You now reign with your foster-Son
and see reflected in the mirror of God’s Wisdom
the Divine Will and what is of benefit to our souls.
Saint Joseph,
I thank God for having made you the man specially chosen by Him.
As a token of your own gratitude to God,
obtain for me the grace to imitate your virtues
so that I too may be pleasing to the Heart of God.
Help me to give myself entirely to His service
and to the accomplishment of His Holy Will,
that one day I may reach heaven
and be eternally united to God as you are.
Here, recite the “Novena Prayer.