What St. Joseph Taught Me About Fear: 3 Years with the 7 Sorrows and Joys

Angie Allen describes how praying the devotion to the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph helped her manage social anxiety and panic attacks over the last three years. Allen notes that she discovered the devotion contains specific petitions asking for the grace to overcome anxiety and fear.

The devotion originated when two Franciscan friars survived a shipwreck off the coast of Flanders. After clinging to a plank for three days, the friars reported that St. Joseph appeared to them as a young man and guided them to a safe harbor. He instructed them to recite the Our Father and the Hail Mary seven times daily to honor his seven sorrows and seven joys.

The practice pairs seven sorrows with seven joys from the Gospels. Each pair is followed by a petition, an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be.