Prayer for a Happy Death

He died in the arms of Jesus and Mary. We can ask him to be with us when it's our time.

TLDR

St. Joseph is the patron of the dying because tradition holds that he died with Jesus on one side and Mary on the other. There is no better death. This prayer asks Joseph to obtain for you the grace of a holy death, with the sacraments of the Church, the name of Jesus on your lips, and his protection at the final hour.

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When to Pray

Daily, if you can. The saints prayed for a happy death every day of their lives because they understood that the way you die matters as much as the way you live. Adding this prayer to your evening routine places your last breath in the hands of the man who had the holiest death in history.

Let's Pray

O Glorious St. Joseph, I choose you today for my special patron in life and at the hour of my death. Preserve and increase in me the spirit of prayer and fervor in the service of God.

Remove far from me every kind of sin; obtain for me that my death may not come upon me unawares, but that I may have time to confess my sins sacramentally and to bewail them with a most perfect understanding and a most sincere and perfect contrition, in order that I may breathe forth my soul into the hands of Jesus and Mary. Amen.