Best Catholic novenas for employment and work
Catholic prayer for employment is among the oldest devotions in the tradition: the early Catholic working class consecrated trades and guilds to particular patron saints, and Pope Pius XII formally established Saint Joseph the Worker as the universal patron of Catholic labor in 1955. The three Catholic novenas most commonly prayed for employment, vocation, and workplace difficulty are featured below.
If you need to start a novena today: begin with the Saint Joseph Novena. Saint Joseph is the universal Catholic patron of workers, and his novena is the traditional first prayer for any employment intention.
The St Joseph Novena
For: the protection and intercession of Saint Joseph for family, employment, holy death, and the needs of the Universal Church
Saint Joseph, the foster father of the Lord Jesus, is the universal Catholic patron of workers and the Catholic Church's principal intercessor for employment. The feast of Saint Joseph the Worker (May 1) was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955 specifically to consecrate the dignity of work and to claim the intercession of Joseph for Catholic workers in every condition. The Saint Joseph Novena is the first Catholic novena to pray for a new job, for a difficult workplace, for a vocation in trades or business, or for the grace of patience in unemployment.
When to pray it: When seeking work, before a job interview, when navigating workplace difficulty, or on the two feasts of Saint Joseph (March 19 and May 1).
The St Therese Novena
For: the intercession of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, with confidence in her promise of a shower of roses
Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897), the Little Flower, taught the Little Way: the doctrine that sanctity is reached through the offering of small daily acts done with great love rather than through extraordinary works. The doctrine has particular application to the Catholic worker who finds little visible meaning in the day-to-day labor of office, factory, or trade. The Saint Therese Novena is prayed for the grace to sanctify ordinary work and to find God in the apparently insignificant duties of the workplace.
When to pray it: When the work itself feels meaningless, when ambition has soured into discouragement, or on the feast of Saint Therese (October 1).
The Surrender Novena
For: surrendering anxieties, illnesses, family troubles, and impossible situations to Jesus
The Surrender Novena is prayed when the employment situation has become a source of greater anxiety than the financial reality requires: a prolonged unemployment, a workplace conflict that the soul cannot release, a discernment between two job offers. The Catholic prayer of release places the entire career into the hands of Christ and asks for the grace to act from peace rather than from fear.
When to pray it: When the search has become anxious self-management rather than active trust.
Why Saint Joseph for employment?
Saint Joseph is the foster father of the Lord Jesus and the carpenter of Nazareth. The Gospels record almost no words from him: Joseph is the Catholic image of the working man who labors in silence, sanctifies his daily work by his fidelity to the will of God, and provides for his family by the strength of his hands. The Catholic Church has consecrated all Catholic labor to his intercession.
Pope Saint John Paul II's encyclical Laborem Exercens (1981) developed the Catholic theology of work as a fundamental dimension of human dignity, rooted in the creation of man in the image of God. The Catholic worker, in this understanding, does not merely earn a wage. He participates in the ongoing work of creation and (when offered in union with Christ) in the redemption of the world through his daily labor. The Saint Joseph Novena is the prayer in which this theology becomes a practical, day-by-day disposition of the worker before God.
The Catholic worker's prayer in difficult conditions
Catholic spiritual writers have long taught that the sanctification of work does not depend on the work being intrinsically meaningful. Saint Therese of Lisieux's Little Way applies directly to the office cubicle, the assembly line, the retail counter, the truck cab: any work done in love can be sanctifying, regardless of how unimportant it appears in the eyes of the world.
The Saint Therese Novena is therefore particularly suited to the Catholic worker who has lost the inner sense of meaning in his labor. The novena does not promise a more exciting job. It promises the grace to find Christ in the present one.
Pairing employment novenas with the sacraments
Catholic prayer for employment is most fruitful when the soul is in a state of grace. The Sacrament of Penance, received before the start of the novena and again midway through, disposes the soul to receive the answer. The Act of Contrition prayed at the close of each day's novena renews the soul's sacramental disposition. The Eucharist offered explicitly for the intention of the job search joins the prayer of the individual Catholic to the perpetual Sacrifice of the Church.
Frequently asked questions
Which Catholic novena is best for getting a job?
The Saint Joseph Novena. Saint Joseph is the universal Catholic patron of workers, and the explicit intent of his novena includes employment and the protection of working families. Many Catholics pray it before a job interview, during a long search, or when entering a new field. For prolonged unemployment, the Surrender Novena is prayed alongside it for the grace of patience.
Is there a Catholic devotion for a difficult boss or coworker?
Yes. The Saint Joseph Novena is the traditional first choice (Joseph is the patron of workers in every workplace condition). For specifically interpersonal difficulty, the Mary Undoer of Knots Novena is prayed for the untangling of the relationship knot. For interior peace in the situation, the Surrender Novena teaches the prayer of release.
Can a Catholic pray to be promoted?
Yes, with the understanding that the promotion is sought as a means of greater service rather than as an end in itself. The Catholic theology of work teaches that career advancement is a legitimate intention when it serves the family, the workers under one's responsibility, and the wider good. The Catechism explicitly affirms the right of the worker to a just wage, to advancement on merit, and to dignified working conditions (paragraphs 2426-2436).
What if I lose a job during the novena?
Continue the novena, redirecting the intention to the grace of finding new work and the peace to act without fear. The Catholic tradition holds that the timing of God's answer to a novena is not bound by the surface circumstances of the moment; the loss itself may be the prelude to the answer.
Related Catholic devotions for workers
Beyond these three novenas, several Catholic devotions are traditionally associated with work and vocation: the daily consecration of the morning's labor to Saint Joseph; the Memorare prayed before a job interview or significant workplace decision; the prayer of the carpenter shop (a short Catholic prayer asking Joseph's protection for the day's work). The Holy Rosary, prayed during the commute, consecrates the journey to and from work to the Blessed Virgin.