Friday 15 October 2021

Saint Joseph the Protector - Father Mark Goring - A nine-day preparation for entrustment to St. Joseph

St. Joseph the Protector: 
A nine-day preparation for entrustment to St. Joseph
ISBN 9781508450801


I loved working through this book. It is one of many on Saint Joseph that I have read prior to and during the Year of Saint Joseph. But this book sat beside my desk for several weeks, a couple of months because I tend not to get around to reading physical books, mainly because of my dyslexia. I made the commitment and read this and A Novena to St Columba by Fr Ross Crichton SJ by putting them on my desk on top of my tablet and prayed the novena’s first thing in the morning before beginning my workday. I loved praying this book. I plan to work through this again next year leading up to Saint Joseph’s feast day.

This was the first book I have read by Father Goring, and I hope it will not be the last. I have watched a few of his videos when friends have shared them on social media. I am also familiar with the Companions of the Cross that Father Mark is a member of. I find his writing in this volume engaging and approachable. The description of the book is:

“A nine-day preparation for entrustment to St. Joseph. After the Blessed Virgin Mary, there is no saint in the Catholic Church who is more highly honoured than St. Joseph. Devotion to St. Joseph is meant to complement devotion to Our Lady. This little book will help readers learn more about the foster father of Jesus. It is also a guide for preparing readers to entrust themselves to St. Joseph. When we entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, we are imitating Jesus and Mary who entrusted themselves to this just man.”

The Chapters in this book are:

Introduction
Day 1 Man of Silence
Day 2 Foster Father of Jesus
Day 3 Joseph’s Trial and Annunciation
Day 4 Patron of Contemplatives
Day 5 St. Joseph and the Patriarch Joseph
Day 6 Glory of Home Life
Day 7 Diligent Protector of Christ
Day 8 Patron of a Happy Death
Day 9 Universal Patron
Entrustment prayer
Feasts of St. Joseph
Litany of Saint Joseph
Other Prayers to St. Joseph
     Prayer for Purity
     Protection Prayer

This volume received the Nihil obstat from Rev. Richard Jaworski, CC and the Imprimatur from the Most Rev. Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Archbishop of Ottawa September 8th 2014. This book came out several years before the Year of Saint Joseph, but I only ran across it during that yeah from December 2020 to December 2021. I highlighted several passages while praying through this booklet, some of them are:

“After the Blessed Virgin Mary, there is no saint in the Catholic Church who is more highly honored than St. Joseph. As Catholics, we love St. Joseph. We have a great devotion to him. The Church celebrates a number of feasts in his honour.”

“He is the Silent Man, and this silence should catch our attention.”

“The Blessed Virgin Mary was visited by an angel and invited to say “yes” to God’s plan. This was Our Lady’s Annunciation. Likewise, St. Joseph was visited by an angel and asked for his assent to be the foster father of Jesus and the husband to Mary.”

“Work is also an essential part of a contemplative’s life. St. Joseph’s days were spent working as a carpenter. God could have chosen a wealthy man with many servants to be His Son’s earthly father, but instead He chose a humble tradesman who had calluses on his hands. A contemplative’s day is filled with work. We are meant to enjoy leisure but not to be idle. Our time should be spent purposely even resting or relaxing.”

“The patriarch Joseph in many ways prefigures St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. It is not likely a coincidence that these two men share the same name. In this chapter (5) we will look at the story of the patriarch Joseph and highlight some of the parallels between these two great men.”

“Today, on the last day of our preparation for entrustment, we look to St. Joseph as universal patron. The Church invites all people to have a devotion to the foster father of Jesus. St. Joseph is for everyone. We can all find something St. Joseph models that inspires us.”

In the first chapter there is also a wonderful list of 10 things Saint Joseph knew. But to find out what they were you will need to read this book. The section on the Feasts of St. Joseph list three feasts and what day to start the novena on to finish on the feast. But the book can be used at any time. 

I loved this book and appreciated the devotion. I just wish this and the other books by Father Mark Goring were available electronically. Especially with my dual form of dyslexia, eBooks are far more accessible, as the page color, font, and even font spacing can be changed to make reading easier. However even thought it took me a while to pick up the physical book, I was greatly blessed once I did and really appreciate this novena to Saint Joseph.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan


Books by Father Mark Goring:
Disciple Notebook: Discipleship. Living in the Spirit. Evangelization 2018
Disciple Notebook: Discipleship. Living in the Spirit. Evangelization 2019

Non-English Editions:
San Jose el Protector: Una Preparacion de Nueve Dias para Consagrarse a San Jose
Duc Thanh Giuse Dang Bao Tro: Chin Ngay Chuan Bi de Dang Minh Cho Duc Thanh Giuse


Other reviews and articles about Saint Joseph:
Consecration to St. Joseph - Fr. Donald Calloway
Favorite Prayers to St. Joseph Compiled from Traditional Sources- TAN Books
Prayer to Saint Joseph Prayer of the Day
Joseph of Nazareth - Federico Suarez
Devotion to St. Joseph - F. Declaux
Go to St. Joseph: Do Whatever He Tells You - Brian Kiczek
Saint Joseph: Help for Life's Emergencies - Kathryn J. Hermes
Feast of Saint Joseph 2018 Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary Principal Patron of Canada
Companion to Saint Joseph - J.B. Midgley - CTS Companions Series
Saints of the Roman Canon - Julien Chilcott-Monk - CTS Living the Liturgy Series
Seven Saints for Seven Virtues - Jean M. Heimann







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