Find a Spouse: Novena to St. Joseph
For all those desiring to answer the call of family life, join this novena to walk in confidence alongside St. Joseph and entrust him with your desire to find a husband or wife.
I do not remember that I have ever asked anything of St. Joseph which he has failed to grant. - St. Teresa of Avila
Some wounds are hard to talk about, because they were not inflicted instantaneously, but grew over time through a mysterious absence or a long, almost unending wait. However, these wounds can open the door to an incomparable spiritual journey - they are an invitation to cultivating abandonment and hope. Being single for those who are called to marriage is one such journey.
"It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis 2: 18). Why then does God make us wait so long to meet our future loved one? When God answers, He does so to manifest a great gift - not just to the one who receives it, but to the entire world. The wait that comes with being single can show us how much God wishes us all to enter into His covenant, by first establishing a privileged covenant with those who wait.
St. Joseph is well-known for interceding on the behalf of those who entrust him with their desire for married life. He is a model of hope, and he leads us to the spiritual journey God plans for us. He is also an exemplary husband, and prepares our hearts to love, as he himself loved the Virgin Mary. As a powerful protector and mediator, he takes care of us.
Each day of this novena, you leave your desire to meet your soulmate into the hands of St. Joseph. Follow the footsteps of Joseph for nine days, and learn to live in hope and expect everything from the Lord.
- Day 1 - Inhabit your desire - Joseph's immense love for Mary / God wants to fulfill our desires
- Day 2 - Living in solitude - Joseph and the Mystery of the Annunciation / An initiation to solitude
- Day 3 - Living in poverty - Joseph the "Anawim," a poor and lowly servant of God / Single life as a time to learn poverty of spirit
- Day 4 - Taking the time - Joseph follows the rhythm of God / Time, a gift from the Lord
- Day 5 - Walking with the Lord - Joseph, the one who listens to God / Walking hand in hand with God on the journey of celibacy
- Day 6 - Living in humility & healing from your wounds - The Annunciation to Joseph / Healing to love
- Day 7 - Trust - God grants to Joseph everything he needs to fulfill his mission / Providence in waiting
- Day 8 - Living in joy - The 7 joys of St. Joseph / Receiving the gift of God
- Day 9 - Uniting with everyone in hope - The action of St. Joseph in our lives
Claire de Saint Lager is an author, lecturer, and the founder of the French association Isha Formation. Her book "Comme des colonnes sculptées" ("Like graceful pillars") is the second text she has published, this time centred around the theme of single life as a path of hope. A long wait is a spiritual journey towards the covenant!
The novena contains illustrations by the artist Arcabas. Each meditation focuses on an episode of the life of St. Joseph, with an extract from the book Comme des colonnes sculptées ("Like graceful pillars").
Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. - Psalm 144: 12