PRO MILITIA

AD S. IOSEPH, EXEMPLAR PATRVM

To St. Joseph, Model of Fathers

From the Raccolta (1910), this prayer to St. Joseph the Worker asks for grace to labor with the spirit of penance, conscientiousness, gratitude, and purity of intention. Pope Pius XII established the feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1, 1955) as a Christian answer to the Communist May Day. The prayer's watchword 'All for Jesus, all through Mary, all in imitation of thee, O Patriarch Joseph' summarizes the sanctification of work.

LATINE
O gloriose Sancte Ioseph, exemplar omnium laborantium:
impetra mihi gratiam laborandi in spiritu poenitentiae
pro expiatione multorum peccatorum meorum;
Laborandi conscientiose, officii vocationem inclinationibus naturalibus praeferendo;
Laborandi cum gratitudine et gaudio,
reputans honorem esse dona a Deo accepta per laborem exercere et perficere;
Laborandi cum ordine, pace, moderatione et patientia,
numquam lassitudines et tribulationes refugiendo;
Laborandi praesertim cum puritate intentionis et sui abnegatione,
mortem semper prae oculis habendo
et rationem reddendam de tempore perdito, talentis non usurpatis,
bono omisso, et vana complacentia in successu, tam fatali operi Dei.
Omnia pro Iesu, omnia per Mariam,
omnia in imitatione tui, O Patriarcha Ioseph!
Haec sit tessera mea in vita et in morte. Amen.
ENGLISH
O glorious St. Joseph, model of all who labor:
obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance
for the expiation of my many sins;
To work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations;
To work with gratitude and joy,
considering it an honor to employ and develop by my labor the gifts received from God;
To work with order, peace, moderation, and patience,
never shrinking from weariness and trials;
To work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self,
keeping death always before my eyes
and the account that I must give of time lost, talents unused,
good omitted, and vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary,
all in imitation of thee, O Patriarch Joseph!
Such shall be my watchword in life and in death. Amen.
NOTA
FONS
Raccolta (1910), Preces ad S. Ioseph Opificem
USUS
Before work, feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1)
CONTEXT
Pope Pius XII established the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, 1955, as a Christian counterpart to the Communist May Day. Joseph is patron of workers and fathers.