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Consecration to St. Joseph
What consecration to St. Joseph means, how the 33-day preparation works, and a consecration prayer to entrust yourself to the guardian of the Redeemer.
Part of the St. Joseph prayer collection.
In brief
What consecration to St. Joseph means, how the 33-day preparation works, and a consecration prayer to entrust yourself to the guardian of the Redeemer.
Prayer: Prayer of Consecration to St. Joseph
O glorious St. Joseph, guardian of the Redeemer and faithful spouse of the Virgin Mary, I choose you today to be my father, my protector and my guide in the way of holiness. I place into your hands all that I am and all that I have: my soul and body, my family and work, my worries and hopes, my past, present and future — forever. Watch over me as you watched over Jesus: teach me to work, to listen, to obey quickly and to love silently. Defend me in dangers of body and soul. Obtain for me a share in the peace of Nazareth now and a happy death in the arms of Jesus and Mary at the end. I will strive each day to imitate your hidden, faithful life. With your powerful intercession I shall never be lost. St. Joseph, my father, pray for me. Amen.
Source note: After the traditional form · Original adaptation
How to prepare (the 33-day path)
Fr. Donald Calloway's book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father (Marians of the Immaculate Conception, 2020) made the 33-day preparation famous — 33 days echoing the years Joseph spent with Jesus. Any sincere preparation works: daily prayer to St. Joseph, a growing habit of Wednesday devotion, and finally the act of consecration on one of his feast days (March 19 or May 1 are the favorites).
Is consecration a one-time act?
It's a wedding, not a handshake: made once, lived daily. Most consecrated renew the prayer yearly on March 19 — fathers, workers, the anxious and the dying all find something in this devotion that was long overdue.
Keep praying
The 30 Day Prayer — a month-long on-rampLitany of St. Joseph
- The Unfailing Prayer
A 33-day preparation for consecration to Saint Joseph
A consecration preparation is a sustained period of prayer and reflection that helps a person place daily life under Saint Joseph's care and imitate his virtues. If you follow a 33-day program, choose a feast or conclusion date, read the assigned material each day and finish with the consecration prayer; the point is conversion and faithful discipleship, not a spiritual shortcut.
Programs differ in length, readings and dates. This page names the program used here and separates the Church's recognition of Joseph from the particular method of preparation, so readers are not led to believe that one private schedule is mandatory for every Catholic.