It has been almost six months since the Pennsylvania grand jury report on clerical abuse was released in August of 2018, exposing the longstanding, vile rot that had been buried from faithful members of our Catholic Church.
As a convert who chose to make many painful sacrifices to be received into the Church this revelation was not only shocking and physically nauseating, but served as a call to arms for spiritual battle. As a mother whose resources were limited, I knew I could not stand by and had to offer what little I did have to give. For the St. Michael's Lent that began two days later on August 16th, a small group of friends and I began offering the service of our maternal vocations, our prayers, and our small sacrifices for the healing of the victims and our Church.
And now friends, I feel that time to take up spiritual weaponry and fight has come again. I don’t know about y’all, but since this summer I have been disgusted, disappointed, and disheartened with the response of Catholic Church leadership in regard to this ongoing scandal. We need changes in our Church not merely in the form of procedures to prevent future abuse but to remove those who _for decades_ turned a blind eye to this evil and obstructed justice and healing. We need the intercession of St. Joseph's Most Chaste Heart desperately during this time in our Church. We need as many people as possible praying and making acts of sacrifice and reparation for these intentions.
As we approach the Worldwide Summit on Abuse Prevention this February 21st -24th, please join us for Seven Sundays of Sacrifice, a period of seven full weeks set aside for daily prayer, fasting, and reparation for the success of the bishops seeking tangible solutions to this church crisis as well as the healing of and justice for the still grieving victims. Following the example of Bl. Pope Pius IX, who proclaimed St. Joseph the Protector of the Universal Church, we will turn to St. Joseph for aid as he did during the Church struggles of his own time. This time of prayer, fasting, and reparation will coincide with the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph devotion and invoke the intercession of his Most Chaste Heart as the example for all our spiritual fathers, the Protector of the Universal Church, and Terror of Demons.
This year the Seven Sundays fall between the feasts of two courageous bishops in our church’s history, St. Blaise on February 3rd, and St. Patrick on March 17th. Our prayer is that the bishops attending the summit follow in the fearless footsteps of these three patrons and make the positive changes our Church needs after this Summer of Shame. For these seven weeks, all are encouraged to offer up their Masses, Seven Sunday devotions, rosaries, and any daily sacrifices they are able in line with their state and vocation. Let us unite our sorrows over this tribulation with those of St. Joseph and maintain our hope for triumph over it in his joys.
You can take part in this endeavor privately, but I would invite you to publicly show your support and solidarity with this campaign to help our group of participants grow. You can do this by commenting below, sharing this post and/or its images on social media, using the hashtag #sevensundaysofsacrifice, as well as making your own posts and graphics. Feel free to quote this post or speak from your heart. The choice is up to you! All the free to use images can be found at the end of this post.
Each Sunday I will share the prayers and scriptures for that week of the devotion on my social media accounts (Facebook & Instagram). I can also email you a copy of the complete devotion in the form of a free printable prayer booklet.
More on the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph
Tradition holds that following a shipwreck near Holland in the 15oos, two Franciscan monks survived on the sea for two days by drifting on a piece of the wreckage. Miraculously they were then rescued and transported safely to land by an aged man. When asked his identity, the man replied that he was St. Joseph and asked them to honor his seven sorrows by saying seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys daily. St. Joseph's seven joys were also including soon there after The original devotion, first mentioned by Fr. John da Fano in 1536, mirrored the popular devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows at the time.
The devotion of the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph has prayers and scripture passages penned by Bl. Gennaro Sarnelli in the 1700s. It was championed by several popes of the 19th and 20th century through the attachment of plenary indulgences to the devotion, including Popes Pius VII, Gregory XVI, and Pius IX.
The Seven Sundays are traditionally observed the seven Sundays before the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19th but may be practiced at any point throughout the year. Each Sunday the prayers and Scriptures recall one of St. Joseph's seven sorrows and joys during his life with Christ. To observe this devotion receive Holy Communion and pray the designated prayers in honor of St. Joseph for seven consecutive Sundays. The partially indulged Litany of St. Joseph may also be prayed at the end. Our family also sings the hymn, "Hail Holy Joseph Hail."
These past few months of inaction have been painful for us all. If you are a victim please speak out. I hope it is a small consolation to know that the faithful are standing up and praying with you. And although we may not always see the fruit of our sacrifices, we can have confidence that God sees them, that they are pleasing to Him, and they are still of benefit for the healing of the Church and our souls.
Pax,
Genie
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