Prayer to Saint Joseph by Pope St. Pius X

 

O Glorious Saint Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance for the expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations; to work with thankfulness and joy, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, never shrinking from weariness and trials; to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, keeping unceasingly before my eyes death and the account that I must give of time lost, talents unused, good omitted, and vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God.

    All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch, Saint Joseph. Such shall be my watch-word in life and in death. Amen.

The 14 Holy Helpers or Auxiliary Saints.

 

   St. Christopher and St. Giles against the plague.
   St. Denis against headache.
   St. Blaise against ills of the throat.
   St. Catherine against the ills of the tongue.
   St. Erasmus against the ills of the abdomen.
   St. Barbara against fever.
   St. Vitus against epilepsy.
   St. Pantaleon is the patron of physicians.
   St. Cyriac is powerful in protection against temptations, especially those at the hour of death.
   St. Acacius is invoked in death’s agony.
   St. Margaret is invoked during pregnancy, labor, and childbirth.
  Sts. Christopher, Barbara, and Catherine were appealed to for protection against a sudden and unprovided death.
   St. Giles is prayed to for the graces to make a good confession.

“How to deal with intrusive thoughts” by Fr. Michael Rennier.

 You can read the original text here.

 

 

 

 published on 03/15/26

 

Here are four simple points for how to react when weird, horrible, unwanted thoughts come into our minds. And why we shouldn't be surprised.

Once, while standing on top of the white cliffs of Dover, I had a sudden, very strong mental picture of what it would be like to throw myself off. Now, to be very clear, I am not suicidal and never have been. That’s why the unwanted thought of doing so was so startling. It really bothered me. I wondered what had gone wrong in my brain. Why had the impulse come on so suddenly? Was something secretly wrong with me? I think, if I were scrupulous, I would have been additionally anxious to know if the impulse was sinful, perhaps even a mortal sin.

Intrusive thoughts are not sinful, but the thought that made its way into my brain that day without my consent played all sorts of mental havoc. I’ve since learned that the cliff-jumping phenomenon is widespread. L’appel du vide, or “the call of the void” is common and harmless. An estimated half of the population has experienced it, so it wasn’t a sign that something was deeply wrong with me but, still, the haunting feeling was hard to shake.

Intrusive thoughts seem to arrive at the worst possible times -- on top of a cliff, during prayer, on spiritual retreat, during Holy Mass. I’ve had the strangest thoughts during distribution of Communion at church. My mind has wandered to my grocery list while praying a psalm. It’s embarrassing to admit to much of what flits through my mind. It makes me wonder if my love for God is defective. Why can’t I just focus and pay attention? Why do evil, strange ideas have free reign in my mind?

Highly disturbing but quite common - Again, these unbidden thoughts are highly disturbing but are quite common. People often come to me seeking advice for this exact problem. They cannot get away from intrusive thoughts, which can range from simple distraction to absolutely horrible, gut-wrenching mental images and temptations. They can be so bad that people worry something is wrong, as if their thoughts spring up from a secret reservoir of evil within. For some, intrusive thoughts derail them entirely, convincing them they have a mental illness or deep-rooted sinfulness impossible to overcome. The thoughts keep coming and they are powerless to stop them.

The good news is that intrusive thoughts affect all of us and they aren’t a sign of entrenched evil. For instance, many of the saints complain about this exact battle. St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Ignatius of Loyola described it as a life-long struggle. St. Ambrose wrote a prayer to use before Holy Mass in which he asks God to protect the priest from “unguarded thoughts,” indicating that priests (and I can confirm this from personal experience) are often tempted in the middle of Holy Mass. There’s no escaping these experiences, no matter how far we remove ourselves from exterior temptations. St. Anthony of the Desert experienced them while in prayer after he’d been a hermit for many years. This tells me that we should always be prepared to battle unbidden thoughts.

St. Alphonsus Liguori speaks about this issue at great length, teaching that it’s an error to label each and every thought as sinful. The only sin we commit is if we consent to the thought and dwell on it with what he calls “the malice of the sin.” St. Augustine agrees, writing that where there is no consent there can be no sin. St. Bernard says the same, writing, “Ubi non est consensus.”

Based on the fact the saints experience intense, unbidden thoughts, I think we can even theorize that mental temptations actually increase when we’re in a state of grace. The reason is because, if a person is already in mortal sin, already lukewarm, or fallen away, Satan has no reason to increase the temptations. We’re already exactly where he wants us. It’s only when our faith is strong and our spiritual disciplines are consistent that he gets desperate and tries to get us off track. Knowing this, we should expect temptations to increase when we’re doing well. St. Ignatius teaches this principle in his Exercises and St. Alphonsus concurs, writing, “The devil labors harder to make the saints fall than to make the wicked sin.”

Intrusive thoughts are always going to be with us, so how do we handle them?

 

4 Points for how to react

1 Acknowledge but don’t over-react - Immediately acknowledge an intrusive thought, emphasizing clarity on the “intrusive” part. Note that Satan is tempting you, remind yourself you aren’t sinning, and move on.

2 Stop fighting the thought - Focusing on the thought and trying to battle it directly is a losing proposition. Doing this only makes the thought stronger and more distracting, which is exactly what Satan wants. Instead, rededicate yourself to what positive endeavor it was you were focusing on.

3 Re-frame the thought rationally - If the thought is a lie or a rehash of a past hurt and it’s prompting an emotional reaction, be sure to dismiss it with rationality. Sin is irrational and emotionalized, so when we remind ourselves of the truth it helps us move on.

4 Don’t dwell on the evil - Even if we know the thought comes from Satan and we dismiss it, a secondary temptation is to then focus on fighting against Satan directly. We don’t need to do that. Satan is already defeated, so we ought not fixate on him. He has no influence unless we allow it. Move on quickly from intrusive thoughts by turning to positive thoughts – the love of Christ, beauty, truth, virtue, and hope.

 

Above all be patient and prepared. If we know that intrusive thoughts are simply part of life, they won’t throw us so far off kilter. The bad news is that the thoughts are always with us. The good news is they have no power over us and, if we lift our minds to heaven, the victory is already within reach.

Saint Hermenegild, King and Martyr

 by Father Rohrbacher in 'The Lives of the Saints' (Volume VI, pp. 325-327).

You can read the original source (in Portuguese) here. 

 

Hermenegild was the son of Leovigild, king of the Visigoths in Spain, and of Theodosia, the king’s first wife. After the death of his wife, the Visigothic king married Goswinda, the widow of his brother Athanagild and mother of Brunehaut, wife of Sigebert, king of Austrasia. It was with a daughter of Sigebert and Brunehaut that Hermenegild married.

The wife of the future Martyr was called Ingund and she was Catholic. Now Goswinda, an Arian, harbored great hatred for Catholics and began to persecute her daughter-in-law. At first she used caresses and sweet words, trying to persuade Ingund to receive baptism in the Arian sect. Ingund, courageously and firmly, refused and began to receive the worst treatment from her mother-in-law.

One day, Leovigild, in order to put an end to the disputes between his wife and his daughter-in-law, decided to send Hermenegild and his young wife to Seville. From then on, Ingund sought by every means to lead her husband to the Catholic Faith. She began to catechize him, and Hermenegild, as soon as he understood the Truths that his good wife explained to him, seeing everything with great clarity, abandoned the errors he had embraced since birth and became Catholic.

When Leovigild learned of his son’s conversion, he furiously sought to kill him. The prince, in order to defend himself, allied himself with the Emperor of Byzantium, who was preparing to attack Spain.

One day, Hermenegild received messengers from his father, who said to him:

“Go and seek your father, for you both have matters in common to discuss.”

Hermenegild replied:

“I will not go. My father is my enemy, because I am Catholic.”

Faced with this answer, Leovigild marched against his son, who, calling upon the Greeks for help, advanced against his father. However, when the forces of the Saint encountered the army of the Visigothic king, they scattered and abandoned him. Without any hope, Hermenegild took refuge in a nearby church. There, praying to God, he said:

“May my father not come to attack me, for it is an impious crime for a father to be killed by a son, or a son by his father.”

Leovigild, encamped a short distance away, sent a deputy to him. Soon after, Recared, the young prince’s brother, spoke of the warm welcome their father wished to give him, and added:

“Come, kneel at our father’s feet, and he will forgive everything.”

Upon hearing this, Hermenegild went to meet the old king, who received him with a feigned embrace. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested. The Saint was taken to Seville and placed in a narrow prison. There, longing for Heaven, he prayed to God for strength to persevere to the end. The chains he bore, he carried with great resignation and immense sweetness, as if they were a hair shirt.

Firm in the Faith, Hermenegild was killed in the prison itself, on the orders of his wicked father, on the night of April 13, 586. Miracles were not lacking to manifest the glory of the king and Martyr.

The father, a heretic and parricide, recognized, with repentance, the Truth of the Catholic Faith, but, fearing the reaction of the nation, did not have the courage to embrace it [the end of the lukewarm is well known: they will be vomited out by God]. And Recared, after Leovigild’s death, did not follow his father’s example, but rather that of his martyr brother: he converted and became a good Catholic.

At the request of King Philip II, Pope Sixtus V authorized his cult throughout Spain, and Urban VIII extended the cult to the whole Church.

Saint Hermenegild is the patron saint of Seville.