The Solemnity of St. Joseph

Below are some prayers and ideas for celebrating the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19:

Go to Mass to honor this great and humble saint.

EWTN provides the following devotion, www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/stjoe2.htm

Mary Reed Newland’s The Year and Our Children shares this prayer:

“O glorious St. Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble and charitable mind, and perfect resignation in the Divine Will. Be my guide, father and model through life that I may merit to die as thou didst, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Amen.”

This recipe is taken from Evelyn Birge Vitz’s A Continual Feast:

St. Joseph’s Ceam Puffs (Sfinge de San Giuseppe)

1 cup water
1/3 cup sweet butter
1 Tablespoon sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
pinch of salt
1 cup sifted flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla

FILLING:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons finely chopped pistachios

Optional:
1 Tablespoon candied orange peel or other candied fruit peel
Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling on top

For the cream puffs: Place the water, butter, granulated sugar, lemon rind, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and as soon as the butter has melted, remove the pan from heat. Add the flour all at once, stirring constantly and vigorously.

Return the pan to the heat, and stir constantly until the mixture forms a ball and comes away from the sides of the pan. Continue to cook a little longer, until you hear a slight crackling or frying sound. Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly.

Add the eggs, one at a time. Be sure that each egg is thoroughly blended into the mixture before you add the next. Keep stirring until the dough is smooth and thoroughly blended. Add the vanilla. Cover the dough and let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls on a buttered cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between the Sfinge. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool. So the cream puffs will be crisp, fill just before serving if possible.

For the filling: Mix the ricotta, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, pistachios, and peel, if using it. Cut each cream puff horizontally partway through the middle and fill with the mixture.
Just before serving sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Keep refrigerated, if not serving immediately.

Say and listen to the Litany to St. Joseph.

Say this prayer to Saint Joseph.

Read Good Saint Joseph.

Color the picture of St. Joseph found in Fenestrae Fidei.

May God bless all fathers on the Solemnity of St. Joseph!