Consecration to St. Joseph Start Dates for 2026 and 2027
Find the feast you want, then start on the date beside it. In Fr. Calloway's method the feast is day 33, so each start date is 32 days before the feast. These are the feasts suggested in the chart published with his consecration, worked out for the 2026 and 2027 calendars.
| Start (day 1) | Consecration day (day 33) |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 25 November 2026 | Sunday 27 December 2026, the Holy Family |
| Tuesday 22 December 2026 | Saturday 23 January 2027, the Espousal of Mary and Joseph |
| Friday 1 January 2027 | Tuesday 2 February 2027, the Presentation of the Lord |
| Monday 15 February 2027 | Friday 19 March 2027, the Solemnity of St. Joseph |
| Tuesday 30 March 2027 | Saturday 1 May 2027, St. Joseph the Worker |
| Sunday 11 April 2027 | Thursday 13 May 2027, Our Lady of Fatima |
| Friday 16 July 2027 | Tuesday 17 August 2027, Our Lady of Knock |
| Thursday 30 September 2027 | Monday 1 November 2027, All Saints |
| Monday 8 November 2027 | Friday 10 December 2027, Our Lady of Loreto |
| Wednesday 24 November 2027 | Sunday 26 December 2027, the Holy Family |
Notes on the dates
- The Holy Family is kept on the Sunday after Christmas. Christmas 2026 is a Friday, so the feast is Sunday 27 December 2026. In 2027 it is Sunday 26 December.
- The Espousal of Mary and Joseph on 23 January is a traditional feast kept in many places and by religious communities devoted to St. Joseph, though it is not on the general Roman calendar.
- 19 March 2027 falls on a Friday in Lent, and the solemnity is kept that day. Ash Wednesday is 10 February 2027, so a 15 February start puts the whole consecration inside Lent: a ready-made Lenten practice.
- In 2028, 19 March is a Sunday of Lent, so the solemnity moves to Monday 20 March 2028. Start on Thursday 17 February 2028 to finish on the transferred feast.
What Is Consecration to St. Joseph?
Consecration to St. Joseph is a formal act by which you take St. Joseph as your spiritual father and entrust your soul, your family and your work to his care, so that he can form you in his virtues and lead you to Jesus. God the Father entrusted his own Son and the Virgin Mary to Joseph. Consecration asks him to take you in as well.
The devotion grows from the Church's long trust in Joseph. Blessed Pius IX declared him Patron of the Universal Church on 8 December 1870. Pope Leo XIII wrote a whole encyclical on him, Quamquam pluries, in 1889, and gave the Church the prayer "To thee, O blessed Joseph". Pope Francis marked the 150th anniversary of Pius IX's declaration with the apostolic letter Patris corde and a Year of St. Joseph from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. In those same years Fr. Calloway's book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father (Marian Press) spread the 33-day preparation through parishes around the world.
The tradition applies to him the words Pharaoh spoke of the patriarch Joseph in Egypt: "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do" (Genesis 41:55). St. Teresa of Avila wrote in her autobiography that she could not remember ever asking St. Joseph for anything he failed to obtain for her. Catholics honour Joseph and ask his prayers. They worship God alone, and Joseph, the silent man of the Gospels, would want it no other way.
How It Differs From the 33-Day Consecration to Mary
The Joseph consecration follows the pattern of St. Louis de Montfort's Marian consecration, with 33 days of preparation ending on a feast, and two differences matter in practice.
- The count. In Montfort's Marian preparation, the 33 days come before the feast and the consecration is made on day 34. In Calloway's Joseph consecration, the feast is day 33. If you work out a Joseph date with a Marian chart, you will start a day early.
- The aim. Marian consecration gives everything to Jesus through Mary. Joseph consecration entrusts you to Joseph's fatherly protection so that you become "another Joseph" for Jesus. The two are complementary, and many Catholics make both. If you have already consecrated yourself to Mary, the Joseph consecration does not undo it. Joseph is the first person who ever belonged entirely to Jesus and Mary.
If you want the Marian consecration too, our guide to the 33-day consecration to Mary has every start date for the same months. Calloway's method is the most widely used, and others exist. Devin Schadt's Custos: Total Consecration Through St. Joseph, for example, is promoted by the Fathers of St. Joseph.
How to Do the Consecration to St. Joseph, Day by Day
Give the consecration fifteen to twenty minutes a day for 33 days. Each day in Calloway's book has a short reading on one of Joseph's titles, privileges or virtues, followed by prayers, including the Litany of St. Joseph. Whatever book you use, the daily shape is the same.
- Same time, same place. Before work, on your lunch break, or after the children are in bed. Decide now.
- Read the day's reading slowly. Stop at the line that hits you and stay with it.
- Pray the day's prayers. The Litany of St. Joseph takes about four minutes. In 2021 Pope Francis approved seven new invocations for it, among them "Guardian of the Redeemer", "Support in difficulties" and "Patron of the afflicted".
- Ask for one virtue. Joseph's virtues are concrete: obedience without delay (Matthew 1:24), courage under threat (Matthew 2:14), honest work, chastity, silence. Ask for one and practise it that day.
- Mark Wednesdays. Wednesday is St. Joseph's day in Catholic tradition. Add something small on the Wednesdays of your 33 days: a visit to church, a fast from one comfort, a prayer for your father.
For the Holy Family cycle, day 1 is Wednesday 25 November 2026, day 5 is the First Sunday of Advent on 29 November, and day 33 is Sunday 27 December. The consecration runs straight through Advent and Christmas, which is exactly where Joseph is found in the Gospels: finding a place, protecting a child, getting up in the night.
What to Do on Consecration Day
On day 33, go to Mass, receive Communion, and pray your act of consecration, then sign and date it. Go to confession in the days before so that you make your consecration in a state of grace. If you need help preparing, use our examination of conscience.
Calloway's book has its own act of consecration. If you are making the consecration without it, this traditional prayer, found in many older prayer books, expresses the same entrustment.
A traditional act of consecration to St. Joseph
O dearest St. Joseph, I consecrate myself to your honour and give myself to you, that you may always be my father, my protector and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a greater purity of heart and fervent love of the interior life. After your example may I do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. O blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.
Traditional Catholic prayer. Wording varies between prayer books.
Then do something a father would do. Fix something at home that has been broken for months, call your own father or pray for him if he has died, or give a day's wages to a family in need. Joseph's holiness was practical, and your consecration day should be too.
A father keeps showing up. So should your prayer.
The consecration asks you to pray every day for 33 days, and the hardest days are the ordinary ones in the middle. Pro gives you audio devotionals and audio-guided prayers for the commute and the late night, the full study library of in-depth Bible studies and prayer frameworks, worship playlists, and a private circle to pray with, so you are not doing this alone. It works offline too. $49 once, lifetime access, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Start today, alongside your consecration book.
Get Pro. $49 once. One-time payment. No recurring charge. 30-day money-back guarantee.Why Fathers, Men and Families Turn to St. Joseph
Catholics turn to St. Joseph because God trusted him with the two people he loved most, and Joseph never failed them. The Litany calls him "Terror of demons", "Pillar of families", "Patron of the dying" and "Protector of Holy Church". Our full profile of St. Joseph, Terror of Demons tells his story and why those titles fit.
Here is the hard truth. Many homes have a father who is absent, distracted, or present in body and nowhere else. Many men were never shown how to lead in prayer, protect without controlling, and work without making work an idol. Thirty-three days under the care of a man who got it right, day after day, is how new habits begin. Women and single people make this consecration too, and Joseph is their father as well.
If you are a man looking for a daily rule of prayer, our page of Catholic prayers for men pairs well with the consecration.
Missed the Start Date? Pick the Next Feast
If you missed the start date, begin on the next one in the table, or begin today and catch up by doubling the readings for a few days. Fr. Calloway's own chart says the dates are suggestions, and there is no prescribed time to begin or end the consecration.
From early November 2026, the nearest date is 25 November for the Holy Family. If you are reading this in December, start on 22 December for 23 January, or on 1 January 2027 for the Presentation of the Lord. The big one is 15 February 2027 for the Solemnity of St. Joseph on 19 March. A date kept in your head gets missed. Put it in your calendar now with a reminder the evening before.
After the Consecration: Staying Under His Care
After the consecration, renew it every year on the same feast and keep one short prayer to St. Joseph every day. The classic choice is Leo XIII's "To thee, O blessed Joseph", prayed after the Rosary in October and by many families every night. Our page of prayers to St. Joseph has it in full, with the prayers for protection, for a happy death and for the hard days.
- Every day: one prayer to St. Joseph, and the Litany on Wednesdays.
- Every week: Sunday Mass with your family, and one act of service done quietly, the way Joseph did everything.
- Every year: renew the consecration on your feast, and consider a novena before 19 March or 1 May.
If you are looking for work, Joseph the carpenter is your patron: pray our novena for a job to St. Joseph the Worker, with a job-search step for each of the nine days.