Catholic At Home | Katie Sciba

 “Do you know the Litany of St. Joseph? Have you prayed it?” This is how I answered an incoming call from a priest friend. I was in the process of reading Fr. Don Calloway’s Consecration to St. Joseph and felt as though the included litany was a huge discovery. I couldn’t believe I had never come across it as a cradle Catholic. 

My priest wasted no time: “Yes. Which was it? Which title of his got you?”

Savior of the Savior

Among the litany’s eloquent and powerful titles for St. Joseph was one that especially grabbed my attention: Savior of the Savior. Such words are loaded with holy implications and heroism, yet like St. Joseph himself, are simple and straightforward. Bl. William Joseph Chaminade wrote, “To give life to someone is the greatest of all gifts. To save a life is the next. Who gave life to Jesus? It was Mary. Who saved his life? It was Joseph.”

Recognizing St. Joseph as Savior of the Savior doesn’t imply that St. Joseph redeemed Jesus in a messianic way. Rather, it points to the protection given the Christ Child by His earthly father. It was when an angel appeared to him in a dream that St. Joseph was instructed to immediately take “the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there” to evade King Herod’s murderous pursuits of eliminating believed competition for the throne (Mt 2:13). Scripture indicates no doubt, pride, or questioning from Joseph, only obedience to the angel’s direction. From that obedience, the Lord’s life was saved, allowing for the glorious “hidden years” of His upbringing.

Faithful Husband & Father

It was in this stand-out instance that St. Joseph earned the title Savior of the Savior, but what blew my mind was that he continued to embody it through faithful fatherhood, marriage, and provision for his family. The Heavenly Father and all-knowing Creator of the Universe entrusted His only Son to an ordinary man’s protection, obedience, and daily labor. In other words, St. Joseph’s guard over and preservation of the Lord’s life was a constant event, one that has huge implications for Catholic families now.

As Christians, we focus primarily on the ministry of Jesus. Of course we do. Christ’s preaching, Passion, Death, and Resurrection are the whole point, and they sustain us spiritually. But those aspects of the Lord’s life are firmly scaffolded by His time with His parents. Jesus spent most of His years living in a home with His family. He was fed, taught, loved, and protected. There was stability and faithfulness in the environment where Jesus grew, and it was St. Joseph who had the concrete means of providing all of the above. Aren’t we working toward the same objectives? As parents, we guard our children’s innocence, create a stable home for them, choose obedience to faith when it’s inconvenient, and keep an environment and lifestyle that welcomes the Holy Trinity. God could have spared Jesus from Herod by any other way, but His choice to use a mother and father in a home means family isn’t just a common human formation. It’s an instrument of salvation.

Guardian of Families

Joseph never spoke a word in Scripture, but his actions saved the Savior; which means your unseen faithfulness, quiet consent to God’s call for your soul, and perseverance in marriage and parenthood are a mystical continuation of Nazareth. Every Catholic home can become, by St. Joseph’s example and intercession, a place where the Savior is saved.

Be at peace—none of us are doing this flawlessly. In fact, the simple, steady efforts of marriage, family, and work can feel impossible from season to season. Though husband and father, St. Joseph stands apart from Mary and Jesus in that he was not preserved from Original Sin, yet he was chosen to guard the Redeemer. Confronted with the physical and spiritual demands of your family, take courage in the grace God provides. Ask confidently for prayers and help from St. Joseph, the man who once guarded the Redeemer and now guards the families who call upon him.

Katie Sciba is a national speaker and Catholic Press Award-winning columnist. She and her husband Andrew were married in 2008, and are blessed with seven children.

This article appeared in the March 2026 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.