Nine days. Thirty days. Every day. However long it takes.
A novena is nine consecutive days of prayer offered for a specific intention, rooted in the nine days the Apostles spent in prayer between the Ascension and Pentecost. The tradition of novenas to St. Joseph goes back centuries, and the saints who prayed them describe results that range from the practical to the miraculous.
St. Teresa of Ávila said she never asked him for anything he didn't grant. St. André Bessette built a basilica on the strength of prayers to St. Joseph. And countless ordinary Catholics, people with no titles and no audience, have turned to these novenas in desperation and found that the silent saint answers with extraordinary generosity.
Joseph Prays offers three novenas, each with a different rhythm and a different depth. Start with whichever one draws your heart. He is listening.
1
The Nine-Day Novena to St. Joseph
The traditional novena, nine days of focused prayer and meditation on the virtues and intercession of St. Joseph. Each day includes a reflection on one aspect of his life, a prayer, and a specific intention. This is the novena to begin with if you are new to praying to St. Joseph. It is simple, powerful, and direct.
2
The Thirty-Day Novena to St. Joseph
A longer, deeper commitment. The thirty-day novena, also called the "Never-Failing Novena," is traditionally attributed to the Ursuline nuns and has been prayed for centuries by those with urgent or seemingly impossible needs. It is prayed daily for thirty consecutive days, and tradition holds that if your request is just, it will be granted before the thirty days are finished, or you will receive the grace to accept God's will with peace.
3
The Holy Cloak Novena
The most encompassing of the three. The Holy Cloak Novena is a thirty-day devotion that wraps you in the protection of St. Joseph's mantle, meditating each day on one of his virtues, titles, or privileges. It draws its name from the tradition of his holy cloak, the garment of the man who carried the Son of God through the night. To pray the Holy Cloak is to ask Joseph to throw his cloak around you and your family, shielding you from everything that would harm your body, your soul, or your peace.