St. Joseph, the Worker

+JMJ+
In 1955, Pope Pius XII decreed May 1 to be the feastday of Saint Joseph, the Worker. This was in response to the Communist labor day and their sectarial views that people worked for the state, and that employers did not have to provide benefits to their employees. Pope Pius XII stated that human work came from God and it was for our own benefit; therefore, the state cannot manipulate people to work against their own dignity. The following is a novena prayer in honor of St. Joseph the Worker.

GLORIOUS ST. JOSEPH,
Model of all who are devoted to toil,
Obtain for me the grace to toil
In the spirit of penance,
In order thereby to atone
For my many sins;

To toil conscientiously,
Putting devotion to duty
Before my own inclinations;
To labor with thankfulness and joy,
Deeming it an honor
To employ and to develop by my labor
The gifts I have received from Almighty God;

To work with order,
Peace, moderation and patience,
Without ever shrinking
From weariness and difficulties;

To work, above all,
With a pure intention
And with detachment from ourselves,
Having always before my eyes
The hour of death
And the accounting
Which I must then render
Of time ill-spent,
Of talents unemployed,
Of good undone
And of empty pride in success,
Which is so fatal to the work of God.

All for Jesus,
All through Mary,
All in imitation of you,
O Patriarch Joseph!

This shall be my motto
In life and in death.

Amen.