St. Joseph
St. Joseph is a patron saint revered in Hoodoo and in the Catholic tradition. St. Joseph is foster father of Jesus and husband of the Virgin Mary. Christian stories depict St. Joseph as a model father, loving and supporting husband, hard worker, and stresses his acts of patience, perseverance, and persistence as admirable qualities. With these exceptional qualities, he is a much loved and honored patron saint for many believers and hoodoo workers. His image is set up on altars adorned with cakes, beans, water, lilies, and yellow candles. His color associations are green, yellow, white, and brown. Although St. Joseph is a simple hard working man, he doesn’t require much in offerings, so he could do well with yellow candle, water, and a lily. Prayers to St. Joseph vary depending on intentions. As part of the Holy Family the following prayer is ideal when needing to bring in peace,patience, love, and devotion in your home:
O God, Heavenly Father, it was part of Thine eternal decree that Thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, should form a holy family with Mary, His blessed mother, and His foster father, Saint Joseph. In Nazareth, home life was sanctified, and a perfect example was given to every Christian family. Grant, we beseech Thee, that we may fully comprehend and faithfully imitate the virtues of the Holy Family so that we may be united with them one day in their heavenly glory. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. Joseph is a patron saint for seeking employment, jobs, careers, pay raises, or to keep work flowing in. This particular side of St. Joseph is the worker. His image shows a strong man with his tools of his trade, historically he was a carpenter, a man of skills who worked with his hands to build and craft, whether it was shelter, or other necessities. St. Joseph was believed to have taught his son the secrets of his trade. On Wednesdays you can set his image upon a small altar or table, give him his offerings, and use this prayer or any other suitable prayer to St. Joseph the Worker:
O Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch, St. Joseph. Such shall be my watch-word in life and in death.
Amen
Once St. Joseph has helped you in either manner publish his name in gratitude either in a local newspaper or on an internet forum.
Other fun facts about St. Joseph: His feast date is March 19th every year. He is patron of real estate, home selling and buying, carpenters, workers, engineers, craftsman, fathers, unborn children, and a “happy death”. According to the Roman Catholic Church his figure St. Joseph the Worker has a feast date as May 1st. When trying to sell a home bury a St. Joseph statue upside down in the yard on the property to be sold, use a 9 day novena to pray to the saint, after the sale of the home, dig up the statue and put in your new house on display to pay homage to his intercession.