A private devotion, one of many that grew up as devotion to St. Joseph spread in the Latin Church and that gathered strength after Blessed Pius IX declared him patron of the universal Church in 1870. The chaplet is strung as fifteen groups of four beads, one white and three purple: the white bead recalls St. Joseph's purity, the purple beads his piety. It has no place in the liturgy; it is a domestic and personal prayer.

Begin with the Sign of the Cross. Move through the fifteen groups of beads in turn. On each white bead call to mind one of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary as St. Joseph would have known or awaited it. On each of the three purple beads that follow, pray: 'Praised and blessed be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.' At the end pray: 'V. Pray for us, O holy St. Joseph. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ,' and close with a prayer asking St. Joseph's intercession for a holy life and a happy death.

About 15 minutes