New Children's Rosary Christmas Card for 2021!

 

We are very excited to unveil our new Children's Rosary Christmas card for 2021. In honor of the Year of St. Joseph we have a very special card with the Child Jesus and St. Joseph. Abigail, a member of the Children's Rosary, painted the cover image. She had an arm injury and although in pain made the beautiful sacrifice to complete the card. 

A portion of the proceeds of the cards help to support the work of the Children's Rosary. Cards can be purchased through EWTN Religious Catalogue by clicking HERE.

A Child's Devotion to St. Joseph

Our middle son, Konstantin, has a strong devotion to St. Joseph.  This began as a small child.  When we met him in an orphanage in Kazakhstan at the age of 4, he had the name Konstantin which is the Russian form of Constantine.  We decided we would keep his birth name but chose a middle name for him.  The name my husband and I chose was Joseph (husband of Mary).  His sister who we also adopted we gave the middle name of Marie after the Blessed Mother.  

From a young age we shared with Konstantin the life of St. Joseph.  As early as we can remember he has always loved St. Joseph.  He even asked recently if when he is older could he choose St. Joseph as his Confirmation name even though his middle name is already Joseph.  Like St. Joseph, Konstantin has a love of working with his hands especially with wood.  He very much wanted to learn the skill of carpentry.  We hoped and prayed that we might meet someone to help mentor Konstantin with such a skill.  Last year something beautiful happened. We met a wonderful man who was a carpenter.  He providentially came to our home to meet the family of a priest that was visiting.  At the end of the lunch Konstantin looked at me and said he thought this was the man who might help him learn carpentry.  Indeed the match seemed Divinely ordained.  A wonderful friendship began and on the first day of the carpentry lesson we happened to be by the car of Konstantin's friend and mentor. His license plate read: St. Joe.  We were all surprised by such a signal grace.  One of the projects the two of them made together was a wooden tool box.  Today with the wonderful snow that fell this week Konstantin made a St. Joseph statue out of snow.  He even put his new tool belt on him.  March 19th is the Feast of St. Joseph.  Tonight I asked Konstantin why he likes St. Joseph so much. He said, "I like St Joseph because he protected the holy family and because I want to become a carpenter and he is the patron saint of carpenters." Seeing Konstantin leaning against his St. Joseph, one can see the beauty of a child's devotion to a Saint that has been asked to protect not only children but also families and even the Church.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
"What Do You Think About When You Say the Rosary?"
Resources to Start a Children's Rosary

Saint Joseph the Worker

Today we honor Saint Joseph the worker.  In the Wednesday Catechesis with the Pope Francis, Our Holy Father had some wonderful reflections on the role of work in our lives.

"Jesus comes into our history is among us, born of Mary by the power of God, but with the presence of  Saint Joseph, the legal father who cares for him and also teaches him his work. Jesus is born and lives in a family, in the Holy Family, learning the craft of carpenter from Saint Joseph in his workshop in Nazareth, sharing with him the commitment, effort, satisfaction and also the difficulties of every day.

This reminds us of the dignity and importance of work. The book of Genesis tells us that God created man and woman entrusting them with the task of filling the earth and subduing it, which does not mean exploiting it, but nurturing and protecting it, caring for it through their work (cf. Gen 1:28; 2 15). Work is part of God's loving plan, we are called to cultivate and care for all the goods of creation and in this way participate in the work of creation! Work is fundamental to the dignity of a person."

Other posts you may like:

Prayer to St. Joseph for Success in Work

Litany to St. Joseph

Memorare to Saint Joseph

Remember,

O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary,

that never has it been known that 

anyone who asked for your help

and sought your intercession

was left unaided.

Full of confidence in your power,

I hasten to you,

and beg your protection.

Listen,

O foster father of the Redeemer,

to my humble prayer,

and in your goodness

hear and answer me.

Amen

Prayer to St. Joseph by Brother Andre

Litany to St. Joseph

Litany to St. Joseph

Litany of Saint Joseph

Lord, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

Christ, have mercy

Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

God our Father in 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

Noble son of the House of David

pray for us

Light of patriarchs

pray for us

Husband of the Mother of God

pray for us

Guardian of the Virgin

pray for us

Foster father of the Son of God

pray for us

Faithful guardian of Christ

pray for us

Head of the holy family

pray for us

Joseph, chaste and just

pray for us

Joseph, prudent and brave

pray for us

Joseph, obedient and loyal

pray for us

Pattern of patience

pray for us

Lover of poverty

pray for us

Model of workers

pray for us

Example of parents

pray for us

Guardian of virgins

pray for us

Pillar of family life

pray for us

Comfort of the troubled

pray for us

Hope of the sick

pray for us

Patron of the dying

pray for us

Terror of evil spirits

pray for us

Protector of the Church

pray for us

Lamb of God, you take away 

the sins of the world

have mercy on us

Lamb of God, you take away

the sins of the world

have mercy on us

Lamb of God, you take away 

the sins of the world

have mercy on us

V. God made him master of his household

R. And put him in charge of all that he owned.

Let us pray.

Almighty God,

in your infinite wisdom and love 

you chose Joseph to be the husband of Mary,

the mother of your Son.

As we enjoy his protection on earth

may we have the help of his prayers in heaven.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen

Prayer to St. Joseph For Success in Work

Composed by His Holiness Pope Pius X Nov 23, 1906

O Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain compacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O Patriarch St. Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity. Amen

My son Kostin found this prayer in the back of St. Brigid Church in West Hartford CT USA on Saturday.  The prayer card was old and the paper yellow from time and a bit tattered.  The image on the card is different from that displayed above.  After reading the prayer I decided to keep it and read it over several times. The thought entered my mind to put it on the blog.  Yesterdary, I was all set to write a post on Our Lady of Knock as I have a book on it.  However, as the day seemed to slip by I found I only had a short time to put something up.  Next to the computer lay the prayer to St. Joseph. I picked it up and typed it up for a post.  Last night I headed off to a healing Mass.  As soon as the Mass began the priest mentioned the it was the Feast of Pope Pius X.  As soon as I heard this I remembered the prayer to St. Joseph which I had just posted which was written by Pope Pius X.  St. Pius X has already been asked through a nine day novena to pray for the members of the children's rosary and help to renew family prayer.  I found it a sweet gesture for him to bring his own prayer to our attention on his feast.  Truly these happy coincidences are just a few of the signs that these holy Saints are active in our lives.