Befriending St. Joseph: Finding Faith, Hope, and Courage in the Seven Sorrows Devotion

by Greg Kandra

After Pope Francis declared 2020 the year of St. Joseph, interest in the patriarch of the Holy Family and patron of the Universal Church was heightened worldwide. In Befriending St. Joseph, popular blogger Deacon Greg Kandra leads you on a journey of imaginative exploration and spiritual renewal rooted in the few Bible stories where Joseph is written about. This book offers a fresh take on the centuries-old devotion known as the Seven Sorrows of St. Joseph and provides an opportunity to ponder Joseph’s role in our salvation and to become more like him. Although the Bible doesn’t record St. Joseph saying a single word, we know he became what God wanted him to be with patience, attention, trust, and prayer. The biblical account of Jesus’s life shows us that St. Joseph had faith in times of uncertainty and courage in times of danger. Kandra shows us Joseph as a gentle man, pure of heart, trusting in God, and a role model for those who feel unworthy or unready. Through guided reflections, Kandra helps you imagine what life may have been like for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus and offers guidance to help you better navigate your own life, with particular attention to trust, purity of heart, courage, and persistence in faith. Kandra invites you   Each chapter of Befriending St. Joseph includes a scriptural verse about Joseph that lies at the heart of the devotion, original prayers by Kandra, and questions for self-reflection, journaling, or faith sharing. The appendixes include additional prayers to St. Joseph and an adaption of the Seven Sorrows devotion for group prayer.

128 pages, Paperback

Published April 8, 2022

About the author

Deacon Greg Kandra is a Roman Catholic deacon in the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. For nearly three decades, he was a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to a variety of programs and was honored with every major award in broadcasting. Deacon Greg now serves as Multimedia Editor for Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA.) He and his wife live in Forest Hills, New York.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Befriending St. Joseph: Finding Faith, Hope, and Courage in the Seven Sorrows Devotion by Deacon Greg Kandra is a wonderful book focussing on the life of St. Joseph, the husband of Mary. Just beautiful.

This is a book collecting what we know about Joseph from the bible, and the author takes all of this information, and presents it in chronological order so that we can piece together a life that was full, important, needed, loved, cherished, and vital.

The author then adds how these passages add messages, meaning, and relevance, to our lives today. The end of the book has a nice collection of prayers to St. Joseph that can be done with groups (Seven Sorrows), and individually.

Nicely done and very much needed during this time.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Ave Maria Press for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 4/8/22.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful look at the life of St. Joseph with respect to his life with Mary and Jesus. So little is actually known about him, yet he had such a big role in the lives of Jesus and Mary. To be the head of the Holy Family, to care for and love the Mother and the Son, the Son who would later make the biggest sacrifice to save us all.

I loved this look at the Seven Sorrow of Joseph. Being familiar with the Seven Sorrows of Mary, this additional look into what St. Joseph experienced helped me learn even more about a Saint that became so special to me during the year of Saint Joseph.

I highly recommend Deacon Kandra’s book to anyone wanting an additional look at this Saint. This books is so well written and the writing is so descriptive, making it easy to picture the things mentioned. I also loved the prayers at the end of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ave Maria Press, and Deacon Greg Kandra for the copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

[Mrs C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those who are interested in the faith journey of St Joseph will find snippets of respectful fictionalized scenarios to dive deeper into the life of the foster father of Jesus. It also has meditative passages for a deep dive into imagining how God calls on each of us to take a leap of faith. Collected prayers to St Joseph are included, usually found in other missals and novenas, makes this book indispensable. This is an accessible and much-needed book that will enhance one's prayer life, recommended for personal or public library collections.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC, of Befriending St. Joseph by, Deacon Greg Kandra. This is a great book for anyone who loves St. Joseph, or for anyone wanting to learn more about St. Joseph. I loved the prayers in this book.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takes way too much liberty in describing details of Joseph’s life, even some that contradict Scripture (Flight to Egypt the Scriptures tell us they left at night yet in the narrative presented Joseph waited until the morning and talked to Mary before they left).