SCRIPTURE
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3
READING
[T]he curtain was drawn back from the grilles and each Sister began to enter and approach the grille. I was kneeling. I considered myself unworthy to be on my feet in the presence of so many saints.
All the Sisters with their veils raised came to greet me with such affection that I was embarrassed. At first my emotion was so great I could scarcely speak, but then afterward we spoke with the greatest confidence. They showed a joy and at times a familiarity among themselves that enchanted me.
They asked me when I was coming. I told them in May. Then one went to look at the calendar to see whether the feast of Saint Joseph or the Holy Spirit came first. It turned out the seventh was the Feast of Saint Joseph, and they commended me to him.
Saint Teresa of the Andes
Her intimate spiritual diary
Nota bene: Father Michael Griffin, OCD, editor and scholar of the life and writings of St. Teresa of Andes, offers this important parenthetical explanation: “Until the institution of the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, there was a great celebration in Carmel on the feast of the Patronage of Saint Joseph on Wednesday of the second week of Easter, which in 1919 was on May 7.
NOVENA PRAYER
Holy Joseph,
Man according to the Heart of God
you whose heart was afire with ardent charity
and whose life was a constant prayer and continual contemplation,
direct us in the way of perfection.
Obtain for us the grace of which we stand in need,
(mention your request)
in order to arrive at the sanctity to which we are called
particularly, a spirit of prayer, humility,
and surrender to God’s will, of which you were the model.
Amen.
NOVENA HYMN
Griffin, M D & Teresa of the Andes, S 2021, God, The Joy of My Life: A Biography of Saint Teresa of the Andes With the Saint’s Spiritual Diary, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.
Let us unite in prayer
Carmelite Quotes 