hail joseph!?????

[Paul_Infirdigno]

catholicdoors.com/misc/josephian.htm also take a look at the bottom where it says the “hail joseph”

This is Heresy! isnt it?

 

[bbentrup]

Hail Joseph:

Hail, Joseph, full of grace,
The Lord is with thou.
Blessed are you among all men,
And blessed is your foster Child, Jesus.

Holy Joseph, guardian of the Son of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

This is the first time I’ve heard of it, but I see no heresy on a textual level.

“Hail” is a greeting. “Full of grace” is an apt description of all saints in heaven (not “full of honor”). The Lord is with St. Joseph, he is blessed among men, and may arguably have preeminence in honor of all males (except Jesus). Jesus was the guardian of his foster child, Jesus. We can certainly ask Joseph to pray for us, as he gave a wonderful example of fatherhood and being a devoted husband.

If there’s a problem, then, it would appear to be on a supertextual level. I have some qualms about its comparisons to our Lady’s prayer, but thinking about it, that doesn’t make much sense. Mary certainly wants to give honor to her spouse, as does Jesus to his foster-father. Jesus himself honored Joseph, so we would be imitating Jesus and Mary, to an extent, by praying this. Some men may relate better to St. Joseph at this point in their spiritual journey. At any rate, with a loving heart, the Holy Spirit can even perfect a deficient prayer, so not much harm in the practice. Finally, it appears to have some Church support based on this “Hail Joseph” thread. I’d say, embrace it if it inspires you.

 

[The_Scott]

Prayers to St. Joseph are of course okay, and even recommended. My main problem is that it’s just lazy writing. It’s too similar to the Hail Mary, of course. At least TRY to make it different.

 

[gilbs72]

While we regard Mary very highly–higher than any human being who ever lived–we do not render unto her any praise or honor equal to God, nor do we worship her. In fact, this is something Protestants throw at us–thinking that we worship Mary as a god, when in fact we venerate her.

So, “Hail! Mary!” is a very high honor that may be given to a human being who truly deserves it.

Therefore, to give the same to Joseph, while putting her at the same level as Mary who most of us regard much highly than any human who ever existed, still doesn’t count as heresy as it doesn’t make him equal to God. As the most compassionate human being who ever lived, I am sure Mary wouldn’t mind.

 

[bbentrup]

Prayers to St. Joseph are of course okay, and even recommended. My main problem is that it’s just lazy writing. It’s too similar to the Hail Mary, of course. At least TRY to make it different.

Laziness is a serious charge. It could be inspirational, and regardless, needs to be shorter and easily memorized if you’re going to pray it often as in a rosary in places where you are not able to read (like driving a car). The link has a longer St. Joseph prayer to be said at the end of the Josephan rosary that may suit what you are looking for.
Prayer to St. Joseph:

Glorious Saint Joseph,
foster-father and protector of Jesus Christ,
to you I raise my heart and my hands
to implore your powerful intercession.
Please obtain for me from the kind Heart of Jesus
the help and the graces necessary
for my spiritual and temporal welfare.
I ask particularly for the grace of a happy death
and the special favor I now implore.

(Make your petition here…)

Guardian of the Word Incarnate,
I feel animated with confidence
that your prayers in my behalf
will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
O glorious Saint Joseph,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ,
and for the glory of His name,
hear my prayers
and obtain my petitions. Amen.

 

[Thankfulness]

From a definition viewpoint, we use it as a greeting to Mary, but of itself it isn’t a sacred word, but a greeting, if a rather old-fashioned one.

hail/hāl/
Verb:

Hail falls.
Call out to (someone).

Noun:

Pellets of frozen rain.
A shout or call used to attract attention.

Exclamation:
Expressing greeting or acclaim: “hail, Caesar!”.
Synonyms:
verb. call - greet - salute - welcome
noun. greeting - volley - salutation - salute

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
hail2
:arrow_forward:verb

1 call out to (someone) to attract attention.

■ signal for (a taxi).

2 acclaim enthusiastically as something: he has been hailed as the new James Dean. 

3 (hail from) have one's home or origins in.

:arrow_forward:exclamation archaic expressing greeting or acclaim. :arrow_forward:noun a call to attract attention.
– phrases
within hail dated within calling distance.
– derivatives
hailer noun.
– origin ME: from the obs. adj. hail ‘healthy’ (used in greetings and toasts), from ON heill, rel. to hale1 and whole.

‘hail’ also found in these entries:
angelus - Ave Maria - hail-fellow-well-met - Hail Mary - hailstone - pelt - precipitation - rosary - Salve Regina - Sieg Heil - supercell - thunderstorm - wassail - well - whole

 

[Paul_Infirdigno]

i just have a problem with it saying “Full of grace” but i guess its alright… its just full of grace makes me imagine Joseph without original sin, which isnt true.

i don’t know, i just don’t relate to this specific prayers… of course other Joseph prayers i love, this one is a little freaky for me.

EDIT: then again if someone could post a document on the vatican website explaining this prayer is alright, ill reconsider

 

[dis006]

i just have a problem with it saying “Full of grace” but i guess its alright… its just full of grace makes me imagine Joseph without original sin, which isnt true.

i don’t know, i just don’t relate to this specific prayers… of course other Joseph prayers i love, this one is a little freaky for me.

EDIT: then again if someone could post a document on the vatican website explaining this prayer is alright, ill reconsider

Well Acts 6:8 says ST.Stephen was “full of grace”. full of grace does not neccessarilly mean free from the stain of original sin but could also mean, as in ST.Stephen’s case, free from sin at the moment or at the hour of death. All the saints are “Full of grace” for now as they are in Heaven, they no longer sin.

 

[Moore11]

catholicdoors.com/misc/josephian.htm also take a look at the bottom where it says the “hail joseph”

This is Heresy! isn’t it?

I don’t like it, I would not pray it. But it is not Hersey. Lets not throw that charge around all the time. It seems quite theologically sound.

Why would you be upset about something that wanted to honor St Joseph? I’m sure Jesus and Mary would be quite alright about honoring the Patron Saint. Patron being the ultimate description…

 

[MilesVitae]

i just have a problem with it saying “Full of grace” but i guess its alright… its just full of grace makes me imagine Joseph without original sin, which isnt true.

I share the sentiment. There really is nothing wrong with calling Joseph full of grace, of course, since he was full of grace. The problem is more the parallel with those words as addressed to Mary, which indicates something qualitatively different from Joseph’s holiness…

 

[DaveBj]

Scripture does not use the phrase “full of grace” to describe Joseph, but it does describe him as a just (=righteous) man, which is interesting in the light of the claim in the Psalms, quoted by Paul in Romans, that there are none righteous.

This is just me, but I would feel wierd praying a “Hail Joseph” prayer.