Our Patron Saints

w JozefSaint Joseph

Husband of the Virgin Mother of God, guardian of Jesus and Mary in the Holy Family, patron of the universal Church.

 

Prayer to St. Joseph

O glorious St. Joseph, you were chosen by God to be the foster father of Jesus, the most pure spouse of Mary ever Virgin, and the head of the holy family. You have been chosen by Christ's Vicar as the heavenly patron and protector of the Church founded by Christ. Therefore it is with great confidence that I implore your powerful assistance for the whole Church on earth. Protect in a special manner, with true fatherly love, the Pope and all bishops and priests in communion with the See of Peter. Be the protector of all who labor for souls amid the trials and tribulations of this life, and grant that all peoples of the world may follow Christ and the Church He founded.

Dear St. Joseph, accept the offering of myself which I now make to you. I dedicate myself to your service, that you may ever be my father, my protector, and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me great purity of heart and a fervent love for the spiritual life. May all my actions, after your example, be directed to the greater glory of God, in union with the divine Heart of Jesus, the immaculate heart of Mary, and your own paternal heart. 

Finally, pray for me that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death.


 

San GaetanoSt. Cajetan

The Saint of Divine Providence, in particular patron of the unemployed and of all those seeking work. 

Cajetan was of Venetian nobility. He Was born in October, 1480. He studied law in Padua and was offered posts in the government, but turned them down for a religious vocation. Ordained at age 36, in 1522 Cajetan founded a hospital in Venice for victims of incurable illness. Cajetan was aware of the need of reformation in the Church and felt called to enter a religous community to serve the sick and poor. On May 3, 1524, with three others, including John Peter Caraffa who later became Pope Paul IV, he formed the Congregation of Clerks Regular at Rome (Theatines), with the mission of fostering the Church's mission and reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. He founded a bank to help the poor and to offer an alternative to usurers (loan sharks); it later became the Bank of Naples. He was known for a gentle game he played with parishioners where he would bet prayers, rosaries or devotional candles on whether he would perform some service for them; he always did, and they always had to "pay" by saying the prayers. He died in 1547 in Naples and was canonized by Clement X in 1671.

Prayer to St. Cajetan

Good Father, we thank you for placing our Community under the protection of St. Cajetan, the Saint of Divine Providence.

May he who lived the Gospel of Christ with humility and charity help us to be authentic witnesses of the beauty of his Face. May he who was always led by the power of the Holy Spirit to the encounter with Christ in the Eucharist be for us an example of how to place Jesus as the center of our lives, and may he inspire our hearts with the desire to form true community among us. 

May he who let himself be guided by your voice sow the seed of openness and generosity in the hearts of the young, and so help them to be ready to offer their own lives by following you; and may he sustain by his protection the pastors and consecrated in the life of the Church.  

May he who embraced the tenderness and sweetness of the child Jesus watch over all of our families, our young people, the elderly and the sick, and may he open our eyes to the needs of all.

Give us the grace, O Father of all creation, to abandon ourselves into your hands like the birds of the air and to be clothed by you like the flowers of the field, that we might serve you and be thus joyfully bathed in the warmth of the rays of your Love.  Amen.