February a Month Dedicated to the Holy Family - Jesus, Mary and Joseph with Special Consecration Prayer!

 

The special devotion which proposes the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as the model of virtue of all Christian households began in the 17th century.   It started almost in France – the Association of the Holy Family was founded  by the Daughters of the Holy Family in Paris in 1674.

Consecration Prayer to the Holy Family

Lord Jesus, Your hidden years with Your Blessed Mother and St. Joseph at Nazareth showed us the beauty of the community of life and love that the family is meant to be. You taught us the value of selfless love, humble obedience, and silent sacrifice. You showed us how to sanctify the daily give-and-take of family life. Today, we, the members of the ____________ family, publicly acknowledge You as the true Head of our family and the King of our home. We pledge ourselves to model our family after the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph of Nazareth. We consecrate to You, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Your Mother, in union with St. Joseph, our work, our play, our sorrows, and our joys, along with our interior and exterior possessions, including the value of our good actions—past, present, and future. This is the covenant we make with You, Lord. In return, Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless and protect us, keeping us ever faithful to this covenant, and helping us to sanctify our lives by faithfully fulfilling the responsibility of each present moment only for Your glory. Jesus, King of Families, come and reign over our family! Mary, Queen of Families, take possession of our hearts! St. Joseph, Protector of Families, help us to be absorbed in and reflect the love of the Holy Family! Amen.

This devotion soon spread and in 1893 Pope Leo XIII expressed his approval of a feast under this title and himself composed part of the Office.   On account of the flight into Egypt this feast has been observed by the Copts from early times.

The feast was welcomed by succeeding Pontiffs as an efficacious means for bringing home to the Christian people the example of the Holy Family at Nazareth and by the restoration of the true spirit of family life, stemming, in some measure, the evils of present-day society.

In the words of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, “Nothing truly can be more salutary or efficacious for Christian families to meditate upon than the example of this Holy Family, which embraces the perfection and completeness of all domestic virtues.”

Sources: https://stpetercelestine.ca/ and https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/01/monthly-catholic-devotions-february-is-the-month-of-the-holy-family-2/ Prayer source: https://afc.org/family-consecration/