Novena to Saint Joseph

Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer to Saint Joseph over 1900 Years Old

Say this prayer for nine consecutive mornings

for anything you may desire.

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Amen

O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for us. (Mention your intention)

The following information regarding the St. Joseph Prayer is published in The Pieta Prayer Book by the Miraculous Lady of the Roses, Hickory Corners, Michigan:

The prayer was found in the 50th year of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the 1500's it was sent by the Pope to Emperor Charles when he was going into battle. It is said that whoever shall read this prayer or take it with them, shall never die a sudden death or be drowned, nor shall poison take effect on them; neither shall they fall into the hands of the enemy, or shall be burned in any fire or shall be overpowered in battle.

Make this prayer known everywhere.

Imprimatur
Most Rev. George W. Ahr
Bishop of Trenton

The above intercessory prayer to St. Joseph can be found on Catholic Websites.  For additional prayers, please visit the following link: Devotional Prayers

The statue of St. Joseph holding the infant Jesus can be seen outside of St. Mary's Church, located on Myers Avenue in Denville, NJ, USA.

Photograph Copyright 2010 Loci B. Lenar
Christian-Miracles.com 

Vision by Artist Inspired Purcellville Cross

The following excerpt and photograph is from The Washington Post regarding Tomás José Fernández, an artist who said he had a vision from Our Lord about creating a cross which now stands in Purcellville, VA.

Artist says vision inspired Purcellville cross

By Eugene Scheel

The Washington Post - The Piedmont's most visible celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, "Crux Gloria," stands aside Route 7, the Harry Byrd Highway in Purcellville. Tomás José Fernández sculpted the 33-foot-high steel "Glorious Cross" in 1990. Within the cross is the shape of Jesus; it almost appears to have been cut out by scissors. The ethereal body frames trees, the Blue Ridge and the sky.

By dusk, the outline of Jesus is delicately lighted. At dawn, the glow is extinguished.

Recently, I asked Fernández, 55, about the history of "Crux Gloria." In a letter, he wrote: "In 1988, I was awakened from a sound sleep when an overwhelming presence of light came into my room. Immediately, I was aware that it was the Lord. I acknowledged His presence by saying, 'Oh Lord, it's you. . . .'

"He began to show me something within this ray of light that had entered my room. Then He asked me to make a special cross, for he explained, 'My Cross is a Cross of Light. Get up and draw it down.' I complied instantly, and, as I did, I felt God withdraw."

Fernández awoke at first light and translated the vision, first to a drawing and then to a three-foot-high steel model. A few months later, at his church, the small 1921 brick St. Francis de Sales Church on Main Street in Purcellville, he showed the model to parishioners and said, "Let's put the cross up before we put the building up," referring to a new church being planned.

Fernández said any resistance to the project ended when, while he was still talking and looking at the model, he noticed his audience looking the other way. Late afternoon sunlight, streaming through a window, had projected a shadow of the cut-out Jesus on the wall.

Ted Welti, a Leesburg structural engineer, computed engineering specifications, and Fernández bought the steel at the old Union Iron shop in Herndon. With assists from cranes, sandblasters and heavy equipment, welders at the shop attached two steel sections into one 17,000-pound cross. Fernández recalls the total cost, including his labor, as $12,000.

On Nov. 21, 1990, on the Feast Day of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, a derrick raised the cross, anchored by welds and seven feet of steel encased in a massive block of concrete. The new St. Francis de Sales Church opened nearby in June 1992.

Fernández has since sculpted other crosses and spiritual statuary for several Virginia, North Carolina and D.C. churches and Christian retreats, including St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Leesburg, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Ashburn, Peace Lutheran in Annandale and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.

Fernández, a full-time professional sculptor in metal, said he is always seeking a "spontaneous spiritual expression of the Holy Spirit" before starting a project.

To read the entire article, please visit the WashingtonPost.com.