The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has released the prayer for the Act of Consecration to St. Joseph.
CBCP New posted a copy of the prayer on their Facebook page Friday, March 19.
The Act of Consecration to St. Joseph approved by the CBCP Permanent Council on the Year of St. Joseph is as follows:
Hail, St. Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. God our Father entrusted to you His Only Son.
In you, Mary placed her trust; With you Christ Jesus became man. One with Our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Mother
We honor you with sincere love and veneration. We choose you this day to be our father. Our guardian and our protector.
God our Father has allowed us to celebrate this year dedicated to your honor and also the joyful 500th anniversary of Christianity in our land.
With grateful hearts we recognize you as a great gift of God to us to be our companion, teacher, model and protector in this Jubilee year. We come to you to consecrate our people, the Church of the Philippines, our dioceses, parishes and families. With fatherly love and care you provided and built the life of the Holy Family at Nazareth.
We humbly beg you to bless all our undertakings and help us to build the church, the body of Jesus Christ, in obedient faith, steadfast love and unwavering hope in our loving Father.
You were always ready to listen and obey the Father's will and protected Jesus from all dangers.
Deliver us from all dangers that destroy the Gospel values and teachings in our land.
Protect us all as we battle against all moral and physical illnesses in our society.
We entrust to you all our longings and desires that lead us to salvation.
We entrust to you all our families and all fathers that they may be true to their vocation as mirrors of the love of our Father in heaven.
We entrust to you all our works to help our brothers and sisters in their sufferings To you, St. Joseph, after Jesus and Mary, we consecrate our body and soul, with all that we are and have.
St. Joseph to us too, show yourself a father. Guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.
Catholic prelates will consecrate the nation to St. Joseph, the patron of many things including workers, fathers and families, on May 1, his feast day.
The Act of Consecration will be done at the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Cebu City to be headed by the president of the CBCP at 9 a.m. and will be preceded by the rosary.
The Mass in the National Shrine will be at 10 a.m. to be presided over by Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma.
Other activities for the celebration is the consecration of the families on December 8, 2021 as the concluding event of the Year of St. Joseph among others.
Pope Francis has declared the special year in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint as patron of the Universal Church.