January 9, 2022: HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH

January 9, 2022: THE MOST HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH

Rank: Greater Double.

“Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.”
(Ps, lxxxiii. 5)

“The father of the just rejoiceth greatly,… shall have joy in him. Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.”
(Prov, xxiii. 24, 25)

“And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth: and was subject to them.”
(St. Luke, ii. 51)

Prayer (Collect).

O Lord Jesus Christ, by subjecting Yourself to Mary and Joseph, You consecrated family life with wonderful virtues; grant that, by their joint assistance, we may fashion our lives after the example of You Holy Family, and obtain everlasting fellowship with it. Who liveth, and reigneth, world without end. Amen.

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.”
(Ps, xxvi. 4; lxxxiii. 5)

The holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, presents to us the most perfect model of heavenly conversation on earth. How did those two seraphims, Mary and Joseph, live in their poor cottage! They always enjoyed the presence of Jesus, always burning with the most ardent love for him, inviolably attached to his sacred person, always employed and living only for him. What were their transports in beholding him, their devotion in listening to him, and their joy in possessing him! O heavenly life! O anticipation of the heavenly bliss! O divine conversation! We may imitate them, and share some degree of this advantage, by conversing often with Jesus, and by the contemplation of his most amiable goodness, kindling the fire of his holy love in our breasts. The effects of this love, if it be sincere, will necessarily appear in our putting on his spirit, and imitating his example and virtues; and in our studying to walk continually in the divine presence, finding God everywhere, and esteeming all the time lost which we do not spend with God, or for his honor.

Invocation of the Holy Family.

[An Indulgence of 300 days every time the three following ejaculatory prayers are said, to obtain a happy death. For saying any one of them, 100 days Indulgence]

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
I give you my heart, my soul, and, my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
assist me in my last agony.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
may I die in peace in your blessed company.

Responsory Prayers.
(3 years Indulgence, The Raccolta, Imprimatur 1943)

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving Holy Church, as we are bound to do, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing forth our love by the witness of our deeds.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of openly professing, as we are bound to do, with courage and without human respect, the faith that we received of Thy gift in holy Baptism.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of sharing, as we are bound to do, in the defense and the propagation of the Faith, when duty calls, weather by word or by the sacrifice of our fortunes and our lives.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving one another in mutual charity, as we are bound to do, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will and action, under the rule and guidance of our holy Pastors.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of conforming our lives fully, as we are bound to do, to the commandments of God’s law and that of His holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

Litany of the Holy Family.

Lord hare mercy on us; Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us; Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us; Lord have mercy on us.

Christ hear us; Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us; Christ graciously hear us.

God the Father, of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the of the World, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity one God, have mercy on us.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, have pity on us.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, worthy objects of our reverence and love, have pity on us.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, by the voice of all ages called the Holy Family, have pity on us.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, names forever blessed, of the Father, the Mother, and the Child, who compose the Holy Family, have pity on us.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, image on earth of the august Trinity, have pity on us.

Holy Family, tried by the greatest contradictions, have pity on us.
Holy Family, afflicted in your journey to Bethlehem, have pity on us.
Holy Family, rejected by all, and obliged to take refuge in a stable, have pity on us.
Holy Family, saluted by the Concerts of the Angels, have pity on us.
Holy Family, visited by the poor Shepherds, have pity on us.
Holy Family, venerated by the Wise Men, have pity on us.
Holy Family, persecuted and exiled in a strange country, have pity on us.
Holy Family, hidden and unknown at Nazareth, have pity on us.
Holy Family, model of Christian families, have pity on us.
Holy Family, living in peace and charity, have pity on us.
Holy Family, whose Head is a model of paternal vigilance, have pity on us.
Holy Family, whose Spouse is a model of maternal care, have pity on us.
Holy Family, whose Child is a model of obedience and filial piety, have pity on us.
Holy Family, who led a poor laborious, and penitent life, have pity on us.
Holy Family, poor in the goods of the world, but rich in the goods of Heaven, have pity on us.
Holy Family, despised by the world, but great before God, have pity on us.
Holy Family, our support in life, our hope in death, have pity on us.
Holy Family, our patrons and protectors, have pity on us.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, have pity on us.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Christ hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

Prayer.

O Lord Jesus Christ, by subjecting Yourself to Mary and Joseph, You consecrated family life with wonderful virtues; grant that, by their joint assistance, we may fashion our lives after the example of You Holy Family, and obtain everlasting fellowship with it. Who liveth, and reigneth, world without end. Amen.

An Act of Consecration to the Most Holy Family.

O Jesus, Mary, Joseph! (here each one pronounces his own name in a low tone), in the presence of all the court of heaven choose you on this day for my patrons and protectors. I offer you and solemnly consecrate to you… my body, my soul, all that I have, and all that I am. I promise you to live as a good Christian that I may die the death of the elect. What a happiness for me to pass one day from the arms of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in this world into the arms of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost in Heaven and that for all eternity: such is my hope. Amen.

Taken from: The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Vol. I, 1903;
Saint Joseph Daily Missal, Imprimatur 1957;
A Catholic’s Vade Mecum, Edition 1851;
The Raccolta, Imprimatur 1943; and
Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family, 1875.

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.”
(Ps, xxvi. 4; lxxxiii. 5)

“O glorious Triad on earth, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, how dear a family to the glorious Trinity in heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Nothing is on earth so great, so good, so excellent.”

Most holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, protect us.