Dear Brother Knights,

The month of May dedicated to our Lady, Pope Francis prayed to entrust in the hands of our Holy Mother all of humanity, strongly tried in this period of pandemic:

“In the present dramatic situation, full of suffering and anxieties that grip the whole world, we turn to you, Mother of God and our Mother, and we seek refuge under your protection.” Amen.

This month May 2021, the church celebrates the 199^th anniversary of the birth of the society for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) and 99^th anniversary of its pontifical designation. On this joyous occasion, notwithstanding the challenges that we face during the pandemic, I would like to extend my very best wishes to you for your generous and precious service to the mission entrusted to us and the universal Church by Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

We are called to evangelize the whole world.  Evangelization then is the totality of those activities by which people (we) are brought to participate in the mystery of Christ. This reminds us that the objective of Evangelization is personal encounter with the person of Christ, and a participation in his paschal mystery.

Personal encounter with Christ implies discipleship, and discipleship implies belonging to that community of disciples which is the church. God wants this participation to be fully human: realized with awareness, freedom, responsibility, and heartfelt joy with others in the society.

On the 150^th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as patron of the Universal Church, the Holy Father, Pope Francis published the Apostolic letter Patris Corde, with the aim to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal. In this light, it appeared opportune to update the litany in honor of St. Joseph, approved by the Apostolic See in 1909, by integrating seven new invocations drawn from the interventions of the popes who have reflected on aspects of the figure of the Patron of the Universal Church.

Our Debt to St. Joseph

The new invocations of St Joseph are:

• Guardian of the Redeemer
• Servant of Christ
• Minister of Salvation
• Support in Difficulties
• Patron of Refugees
• Patron of the Afflicted
• Patron of the Poor

What is Litany?

A Litany is a type of repetitive, petitionary prayer, often invoking the intercession of the Saints or the Virgin Mary under different titles approved by the Church.

I pray that St. Joseph, patron of the afflicted will intercedes for us during time of Pandemic.

Litany of St. Joseph

Fraternally in the Spirit,

Fr. Alex Osei, C.S.Sp.

Featured image of Oratoire St. Joseph by Sandra Cohen Rose. Used with creative commons license.