Te, Ioseph

Let the hosts of angels sing your praises, Joseph. Let all the choirs of Christians make your name resound to honour you for your unique merits and for your union in chaste wedlock with the glorious Virgin.

Astonished at your wife being pregnant with her holy Child, with doubt and anxiety filling your soul, an angel told you that the Child was conceived by the breath of the heavenly Spirit.

You took the Lord in your arms at his birth and followed Him into exile in far-off Egypt: when He was lost, you searched Jerusalem; finding Him, your tears of sorrow became tears of joy.

After death the blessed souls enjoy the presence of God, and glory is the welcome of those who win the palm of victory: during your life, however, you enjoyed God’s presence on a par with those in heaven, yet even more blessed by this privilege.

Mighty God, three in one, spare us, your suppliants. Grant through Joseph’s merits that we enter heaven where we may then unceasingly sing in your honour our hymns of joy and gratitude. Amen.