Our Patron is St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Guardian of Jesus Christ. What better patron can a Church have? In fact on December 8, 1870, Blessed Pope Pius IX declared Joseph to be the Patron or Protector of the Universal Church. So we take him as our protector. As He protected Jesus Christ with his life so he protects us with his powerful prayers since we are the Body of Christ.

After Mary, he is the holiest of Saints and he was given special graces to be the earthly father of Jesus. Imagine. This man got to be an image of the Father to Jesus.  Jesus saw in Him the face of His Father. He taught Jesus to work. Imagine the beautiful moments he shared with Jesus in the workshop and in the home. He and Jesus must have found joy in their times with Mary. Joseph worked to make sure He and Mary had food on the table.

He was a man who loved God above all things. He was pure of heart and his heart loved Mary and got to be the chaste spouse and guardian of the Virgin. Imagine how excited Joseph was that He in Mary would get to care for and nourish the Messiah, the longed for of Israel! Joseph truly protected Jesus and Mary taking them to Egypt when Herod sought to kill the Christ child. Not one word of Joseph is recorded in the Gospels. But he acted. He did what the Angel Gabriel commanded him. He was obedient.

_{This prayer to Saint Joseph was composed by Pope Leo XIII in his 1889 encyclical, Quamquam pluries. He asked that it be added to the end of the Rosary. The prayer is enriched with a partial indulgence (Handbook of Indulgences, conc. 19)}

Prayer

To you, O blessed Joseph,
do we come in our tribulation,
and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse,
we confidently invoke your patronage also.

Through that charity which bound you
to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God
and through the paternal love
with which you embraced the Child Jesus,
we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance
which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood,
and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family,
defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ;
O most loving father, ward off from us
every contagion of error and corrupting influence;
O our most mighty protector, be kind to us
and from heaven assist us in our struggle
with the power of darkness.

As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril,
so now protect God's Holy Church
from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity;
shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection,
so that, supported by your example and your aid,
we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness,
and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven.

Amen.