March Devotion – St. Joseph

*** This post was originally published in 2010 & 2011.   It has been edited to add some activities that I found for this month and for readability. ***

The month of March is devoted to St. Joseph. Fathers, in particular, are encouraged to cultivate devotion to St. Joseph. St. Joesph is the patron saint of workers and fathers and his feast day is also this month — March 19.   So remember, once you’ve recovered from the St. Patrick’s Day reverie, it’s probably time to honor St. Joseph :).

Prayer

Consider adding a prayer to St. Joesph to your prayer routine this month:

Prayer for Fidelity to Work

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all 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, considering it an honor to employ and develop, by means of labor, the gifts received from God, disregarding difficulties and weariness; to work, above all, with purity of intention and with detachment from self, having always before my eyes death, and the account which 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 for Mary, all after your example, patriarch Joseph. This will be my watchword in life and in death. Amen.

There are also several more prayers for use this month available at About.com’s Catholicism section.

Activities

I also found some excellent resources for celebrating St. Joseph in your domestic church this month:

• St. Joseph novena with printable lily craft @ Catholic Icing
• Printable St. Joseph Matching Game @ Shower of Roses
• 3D Printable St Joseph Altar @ ThankEvann.com

Recipes

The Feast of St. Joseph is traditionally a big Italian holiday, so you couldn’t go wrong with any family favorite Italian recipe.  If you are looking for some inspiration, try these:

•  Papparedelle de San Guiseppe (hot sugared noodles) @ Catholic Cuisine
• St Joseph’s Day Bread
• St. Joseph Pinterest board with yummy recipes galore!

You can also find a lot more information about the activities, altar, feast and activities at FishEaters — including recipes for Cream Puffs and Minestrone.  Yum!