Prayer to Saint Joseph

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus, husband of Mary, faithful guardian of the Holy Family, I come to you tonight with the trust of a child to a strong and silent father. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter one, tells us that you were a righteous man. When you discovered Mary was pregnant before you were married, you did not want to expose her to public disgrace. You decided to divorce her quietly. But an angel appeared to you in a dream. Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. You did not say a single recorded word in all of Scripture. You just obeyed. You took Mary as your wife. You named the Child Jesus. You protected them from Herod by fleeing to Egypt. You taught Jesus the carpenter's trade. You provided. You watched over. You loved. Saint Joseph, teach me your silent strength. The world is loud with men who talk too much and do too little. You did the opposite. Help me be a man, or to honor the men in my life, who do the work without needing the credit. Saint Joseph, protect my family the way you protected the Holy Family. From every evil that would harm us. Cover us with your mantle. Saint Joseph, patron of fathers, intercede for fathers everywhere. The ones doing well. The ones struggling. The ones absent. The ones being torn apart by divorce. The ones who never knew their own fathers and are trying to build something new. Saint Joseph, patron of workers, intercede for everyone whose work is hard tonight. The ones whose hands ache from manual labor. The ones whose minds are exhausted from intellectual work. The ones unemployed and longing for purposeful labor. The ones overworked and longing for rest. Saint Joseph, patron of a happy death, you who died in the arms of Jesus and Mary, intercede for me when my time comes. May I die in their arms too. May the last face I see be the face of Christ. I pray now the prayer to Saint Joseph that has been prayed for centuries. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, 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. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Joseph, protect us. Saint Joseph, teach us your silent fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.