Happy Feast of St. Joseph!

Wednesdays are always set aside for St Joseph, but today is the official feast day of our dear St. Joseph.  How could we possibly honor him too much?  The sweet spouse of Our Lady, foster father of our Saviour.

Ways to celebrate the feast day:

* St. Joseph Altars  and other special celebrations of the day can be found at Fish Eaters.

* We made these cool little faux St. Joseph Altars in art class yesterday with all the school children.  You can find the pdf download here -- and lots more great stuff at Evann's site  -- including coloring pages --dedicated to our great saint!

* Catholic Cuisine, of course, has scads of recipes and ideas for celebrating the feast -- epicurean style.  I love the lily lolipop idea, for instance -- and am definitely ordering the mold for next year!

* Oh!  And make sure and check out St. Joseph's Moon tonight.  For scientific reasons I wouldn't even try to relate here (you can find it at the link, though, if you're interested), the full moon will appear larger than usual during this phase. How cool is that, it's reaching fullness on the feast of St. Joseph?  (No accidents in the universe, ya know!) Anyway,  here's praying to St. Joseph that the skies will be clear so we can all have a look.

 The moon has long been associated with the Blessed Mother -- as the sun represents God and she reflects His light.  Knowing that St. Joseph would love nothing better than for us to honor Mary as we honor him, we plan to take the children out tonight and tell them this about the moon and the holy Virgin whom St. Joseph guarded and protected through his life.

H/T for the moon factoid: Awesome Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight

Prayer to St. Joseph

To thee, O Blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our tribulations, and while imploring the aid of thy most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that love which united thee to the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, and by the fatherly affection with which thou didst embrace the Infant Jesus, we humbly beseech thee graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased with His Blood and to help us in our necessities, by thy powerful intercession.

Protect, O most provident Guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen children of Jesus Christ; ward off from us, O most loving Father, all taint of error and corruption; graciously assist us from Heaven, O most power protector, in our struggle with the powers of darkness; and as thou didst once rescue the Child Jesus from imminent peril to His life, so now defend the Holy Church of God from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.

Shield each one of us with thy unceasing patronage that, imitating thy example and sported by thy aid, we may be enabled to live a good life, die a holy death, and secure everlasting happiness in Heaven. Amen.

** This prayer was written by Leo XIII and attached to his encyclical, Quamquam Pluries. It is to be included at the end of the Rosary, especially during the month of October.

Good St. Joseph, pray for us!