From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 1st - St. Joseph the Worker   
      
   On May 1, 1955, Pope Pius XII granted a public audience to the Catholic   
   Association of Italian Workers, whose members had gathered in Saint Peter's   
   Square to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their society. They were   
   solemnly renewing, in common, their promise of loyalty to the social   
   doctrine of the Church, and it was on that day that the Pope instituted the   
   liturgical feast of May 1st, in honor of Saint Joseph the Worker. He assured   
   his audience and the working people of the world: "You have beside you a   
   shepherd, a defender and a father" in Saint Joseph, the carpenter whom God   
   in His providence chose to be the virginal father of Jesus and the head of   
   the Holy Family. He is silent but has excellent hearing, and his   
   intercession is very powerful over the Heart of the Saviour.   
      
   We can conclude from the role for which Saint Joseph was chosen and named by   
   Heaven that he was a man of tried virtue and consummate holiness. No other   
   mortal man would ever hold a higher office. Saint Joseph surpassed all the   
   Saints of the Old Law in sanctity; in him the virtue of his ancestors   
   reached its culmination and perfection. Like Abraham, he was a man of faith   
   and obedience; like Isaac, one of prayer and vision; like Jacob, he was   
   patient and self-sacrificing; like Joseph of Egypt, his chastity was   
   inviolable. And like David, of whom he is the direct descendant, he is a   
   royal intercessor according to the heart of God. Ite ad Joseph - Go to   
   Joseph; to Joseph of Egypt, the pharaoh told the needy to go for assistance   
   to receive the grain that would save their lives. To the new Joseph, the   
   just man to whom the Son of God Himself was subject as to a father, all   
   Christians can go with confidence, and he will see to their spiritual and   
   temporal needs with paternal goodness.   
      
   Source: Heavenly Friends: a Saint for each Day, by Rosalie Marie Levy,   
   (Saint Paul Editions: Boston, 1958).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and   
   protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary,   
   Joseph's wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at   
   last God called him, saying 'Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy   
   of your Lord.'   
   -Saint Bernardine of Siena   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    If seven times in the day your brother sins against you, and seven times in   
   the day turns back to you, saying, "I repent," forgive him. St. Luke 17:4   
      
      
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   This is the prayer to Saint Joseph, Patron of Workers   
      
   O glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, humble and just craftsman   
   of Nazareth, you gave to all Christians, but particularly to us,   
   an example of a perfect life of assiduous work and of   
   admirable unity with Mary and Jesus. Help us in our daily   
   work so that we might find in it an effective means of   
   glorifying our Lord, of sanctifying ourselves and of being   
   useful to the society in which we live. Obtain for us from our   
   Lord, O beloved protector, humility and simplicity of heart,   
   attachment to work, benevolence towards those who work   
   with us, compliance with the divine will in the difficulties of this   
   life and joy in bearing them, consciousness of our specific   
   social mission and the sense of our social responsibility, a   
   spirit of discipline and prayer, docility and respect for our   
   superiors, fraternity towards our equals, support in times of   
   stress, charity and indulgence for our dependents. Help us to   
   follow your example and to keep our sight fixed on Mary, our   
   Mother, your gentle wife, who wove silently in a corner of your   
   humble shop, smiling sweetly. May we never avert our eyes   
   from Jesus, who worked with you at your carpenter's bench,   
   so that we may in like manner lead peaceful and holy lives on   
   earth, the prelude to the eternally happy one which awaits us   
   in heaven for ever more. Amen.   
      
      
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   Prayer For the Spread of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration   
      
   Heavenly Father, increase our faith in the Real Presence of Your Son, Jesus   
   Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We are obliged to adore Him, to give Him   
   thanks and to make reparation for sins. We need Your peace in our hearts and   
   among nations. We need conversion from our sins and the mercy of Your   
   forgiveness. May we obtain this through prayer and our union with the   
   Eucharistic Lord. Please send down the Holy Spirit upon all peoples to give   
   them the love, courage, strength and willingness to respond to the   
   invitation to Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.   
      
   We beseech You to spread perpetual exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament   
   in parishes around the world.   
      
   We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.   
      
   Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament help us to spread the glory of Your   
   Son through perpetual exposition of the Holy Eucharist.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)