Devotion to St Joseph? Will it help to overcome anger?

[newprestonpete]

I have an anger problem. Or should I say, how I deal with and handle anger. In the past I have flown off the handle said hurtful things to people including my wife. I knew it was wrong the second I did it. I realize that it is a capital sin and very serious as it leads to other sins.

I am dealing with this situation before our children (4,2 and in utero) get any older and start imitating my unacceptable behavior.

I have been praying to St Joseph (especially the Litany) for the past two weeks. I have noticed an increase in my patience level.

I guess I was looking advice for Saints or devotions to assist in overcoming Anger.
Any help would be appreciated

 

[nordskoven]

Count me in! Ambition, our timing instead of God’s, is the cognitive reason for anger; doubting God’s providence and refusing to act–even waiting patiently as an act–in His will. Physically, sugar highs, sleep lows, food and environmental toxins and allergies contribute. When we withdraw willfully feeding anger, we are not self-poisoning with cortisol and other stress hormones or causing other harmful metabolic reactions. This is especially important around children as stress can shrink various areas of their brains, especially the hippocampus. ADD frustration can lead to anger temptation and for that I need prayer as do others in this widespread syndrome so that it doesn’t turn into a sin-drome. Thanks for leading this call to St. Joseph.

My policy is to never discipline in anger unless it is theatrical anger only for effect. Why? It helps communicate what trips people’s triggers as feedback. Those who refuse to show a palate of emotion in reward and discipline, including delight, and crushed disappointment, can sometimes escalate unwittingly offensive behavior that can turn into really bad habits (eye-rolling, calling yo mama fat etc.); or raise attention-getting behavior into the realm of the truly horrible. One human mama that never flinched at bad lingo cultivated the most foul-mouthed snark I’ve ever heard. That’s not doing that child any favors and says, “Hey! You are easy to ignore.”

One dolphin researcher noted a young dolphin getting ready to poke a diver with their shark-piercing nose and mama stepped in to body check the young dolphin. Even dolphins discipline their kids. But it’s not with self-indulgent anger. Love is, first of all, patient. In patience we possess our souls. For the miracle of infinite, divinely-granted patience and understanding we pray giving thanks:

**O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, we place in you all our interests and desires. **

O Saint Joseph, do assist us by your powerful intercession and obtain for us from thy Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, our Lord; so that having obtained here below your heavenly power may offer you our thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.

**O Saint Joseph we never weary contemplating you and Jesus Christ asleep in your arms. We dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Hug Him in our name and kiss His fine head for us and ask Him to return the kiss when we draw our dying breath.
**
O Saint Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us. AMEN

 

[Nelka]

I used to have this a lot but now it has 99% vanished.

I pray the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart and it is wonderful.

 

[Daim3]

If you have tried to control anger but haven’t been as successful as you would like, try cultivating meekness. Try to live all the time more like someone who is meek - what would someone who is meek do, how would a meek person handle this, what would a meek person say (and then do those things) - and eventually when you’re in a situation where your temper flares, hopefully the meekness you’ve been cultivating will kick in and help you temper the anger.

The virtue opposite of wrath is hope. If hope is the trust in God’s promises, how exactly does this help? Well, things like anger and impatience arise out of self-love. They are all about how we are feeling at this very moment and nothing else matters - certainly not how we affect others or even what God might think about our behavior. Cultivating hope can help take us out of the present moment by keeping us in touch with the importance of the bigger picture and what really matters (pleasing God, our salvation and the salvation of others).

Also, when you feel your fuse getting shorter, ask yourself how would you react if Jesus were standing right next to (because, you know what, he kinda is).

Of course, prayer is the key to all of this. And it’s completely natural that St. Joseph would be so helpful (can anyone imagine him going off with Our Lord and the Virgin Mary in the house?). As you know from the litany, he is the mirror of patience. He is a powerful saint to ask to intercede on our behalf. Definitely keep praying to him.

I used to have this a lot but now it has 99% vanished.

I pray the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart and it is wonderful.

I say a lot of novenas but this one is always at the very top of the list. In my book, nothing is more fruitful or important than a devotion to the Scared Heart of Jesus. Along with this novena, I add the Litany of the Sacred Heart, an Act of Reparation and the Consecration of the Human Race to the Scared Heart of Jesus.

I hope this helps. Your heart is in the right place and you are trying. It doesn’t happen overnight. Keep at it and I have no doubt you will be given the grace to make this better.

 

[newprestonpete]

Thanks for the help & guidance.