Saint Joseph and Steady Work

As I’m sure we’re all noticing money is tight! Living in a town that is reliant on the tourist trade we’ve really noticed the cold keeping people away this week. The town has been empty but at the Botanica our cash flow has been steady, we have enough to pay the bills, buy in the stock we need and most importantly to feed ourselves and our spirits.

This is an opportunity for me to thank Saint Joseph for all the hard work he has put into the shop since we opened, so thank you Saint Joseph.

Saint Joseph the worker is called upon in Hoodoo to gain employment, to change jobs, for steady work and most famously for selling houses. Those wishing to sell a house will pray to Saint Joseph and bury a Statue of him upside down in the garden until the house has sold.

The feast day of Saint Joseph is March 19^th and it is on this day he is served. Most notably amongst the feast will be bowls of salted broad beans. One of the many names these beans are known by are Saint Joseph beans, receiving their name from the Sicilians who credit Saint Joseph with saving them from famine by granting them a huge crop of this special bean.

Saint Joseph altars are traditionally decorated with green and yellow cloths, candles and flowers. Offerings, being a carpenter, include carved wooden items, carpenters tools and of course small bags of broad beans.

If you’d like to find a new job, change your current job situation or alternatively if you’d like to bring steady work in to a home or business premises try making this oil lamp for Saint Joseph.  You’ll need a ceramic bowl, a length of wire, wick (thin cotton rope, cotton bandage, etc) a small handful of chamomile, gravel root, Irish moss, cinnamon and sugar. You’ll also need a lode stone some iron filings, a prayer card for Saint Joseph a bottle of sun flower oil, A bottle of steady work oil from a reputable brand, alternatively allspice and cinnamon oil and three Saint Joseph beans.

Begin by laying out all the items and saying the Lord’s Prayer over them. Place all the herbs and the sugar in the bowl and lay the lode stone on top of them, next add the beans. Say a prayer to Saint Joseph asking him to grant your request.  Pour the oils into the lamp and allow the wick to soak. Take the wire and twist it to make a bar that will hook over the sides of the bowl. Make sure that at the centre of this bar there is a hole to thread the wick through. Hook the bar over the bowl and thread the wick. Below is an example

Set the lamp on a green cloth along with the prayer card and a clean glass of water. Pray psalm 23 and light the lamp. Sprinkle the surface of the lamp with the iron filings. Each day pray the psalm and thank Saint Joseph by changing the water. Once a week sprinkle the surface of the lamp with the iron filings to keep the lodestone strong.

In Praise of Saint Joseph

Joseph, patron saint of workers,

blending skill with charity,

silent carpenter, we praise you!

Joining work with honesty,

you taught Christ with joy to labor,

sharing his nobility.

Joseph, close to Christ and Mary,

lived with them in poverty,

shared with them their home and labor,

worked with noble dignity.

May we seek God’s will as you did,

leader of his family!

Joseph, inspiration for workers,

man of faith and charity,

make us honest, humble, faithful,

strong with Christ’s true liberty,

Make our labor and our leisure

fruitful to eternity!
Amen