St. Joseph, Protector of the Unborn

Laurel
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This podcast is dedicated to honoring and to venerating St. Joseph. And, to seeking his help to save the lives of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Episodes

  1. Sep 16

    A Litany For Life

    Send us Fan Mail Love gets quoted a lot. This prayer takes love seriously enough to apply it to the hardest moral crisis of our time: the dignity of human life in a culture that often treats people as disposable. We recite the Litany for Life, a Catholic prayer permitted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops through the Secretariat of Pro Life Activities, and we let its steady rhythm examine us line by line: Lord, love is patient. Lord, love is kind. Lord, love rejoices with the truth. Along the way, we pray for the people who live at the sharp end of pressure and fear: a mother tempted to abortion, a new father being told to choose abortion, and families trying to do the right thing when it is costly. The litany also confronts the quiet logic that fuels a culture of death, trading human life for convenience, advantage, or personal benefit, and it asks for humility to see every person, rich or poor, young or old, guilty or innocent, as made in the image of God. Then the prayer goes where many conversations refuse to go: mercy. We ask for hearts free of vengeance, for the redemption of wrongdoers, and even for the abortionist to repent and receive grace. Finally, we pray for endurance when we are insulted, discouraged, or worn down, trusting that love never fails and that the Gospel of Life is stronger than darkness, death, and hate. If you care about pro life prayer, abortion healing, and building a culture of life with truth and compassion, listen through to the end. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review telling us which line you want to pray all week. Credits: A Litany for Life. Used with permission. Copyright ©2010, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.

  2. Sep 16

    Go To Joseph Prayers

    Send us Fan Mail When life feels like a “veil of tears,” you do not need a long speech to start praying, you need a doorway. We open one with a short, traditional Catholic devotion centered on a simple command that cuts through anxiety and shame: Go to Joseph. If you have ever wondered what to say when you feel pressed down by fear, regret, or plain exhaustion, this prayer gives you words, structure, and a calm pace you can follow. We move through a series of petitions that present Saint Joseph as a real refuge for real trouble. The prayer echoes Mary’s trust in Joseph, asking him to comfort us and deliver us from what oppresses us. It also names the hard parts without flinching: our sins, our need for mercy, and the question of where safety can be found when we feel spiritually exposed. Along the way, we pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, letting these core Catholic prayers carry us when our own words run out. The devotion becomes even more pointed as it describes Joseph’s unique closeness to Jesus and the Father, portraying him as a foster father entrusted with care, protection, and help for those who ask. Whether you come for Catholic prayer, Saint Joseph intercession, spiritual comfort, or a quick daily reset you can return to, this episode is designed to be prayed, not just heard. If this helped you breathe a little easier, subscribe, share it with someone who needs strength, and leave a review telling us how you personally pray to Saint Joseph. Credits: I want to thank The Catholic Crusade for introducing me to The Go To Joseph Prayers

  3. Sep 15

    What Do We Owe The Child No One Sees

    Send us Fan Mail A dream warns Joseph to run, and he doesn’t hesitate. That one moment of protection, the flight into Egypt, becomes the spiritual backbone of what we’re wrestling with today: how do we defend children when the world decides they are inconvenient, unwanted, or “better off” gone? I’m Lori, Stacy’s sister, and I’m still grieving the loss of my little sister who had Down syndrome. Her joy and her smile shaped my whole life, and I feel that absence even more as selective abortion after prenatal diagnosis makes it harder to find faces like hers.  We lean on Saint Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos and the Gospels to see Saint Joseph as more than a statue or a quiet background figure. Joseph acts. He listens. He guards Mary and Jesus at real cost to himself. I walk through Matthew’s account of Herod’s violence and the Holy Family’s escape, then reflect on the hidden life at Nazareth and the moment Mary and Joseph find twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple. Along the way, we pray together, including “A Prayer to Saint Joseph, Defender of Life”  Then we face a painful modern reality: abortion policy and the targeted loss of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome. Today’s focus is France, including the legacy of the 1975 Veil Act, the hostility faced by Dr. Jérôme Lejeune, and France’s 2024 constitutional change that enshrines a woman’s right to abortion. I also share a short, tender story about Stacy, our family’s love of live theater, and her unexpected favorite Shakespeare play: Macbeth.  If this conversation matters to you, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find it. What part challenged you most? Credits: A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation, Redemptoris Custos                                                               of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II. On the Person and Mission of Saint Joseph in the Life of Christ and of the Church.

  4. Sep 7

    The Litany Of Saint Joseph;

    Send us Fan Mail A 3 minute prayer can do more than fill a quiet moment, it can steady your mind and re center your heart. We pray the Litany of Saint Joseph straight through, using the Church’s simple call and response to ask for mercy, help, and peace. The litany begins with the Kyrie and a direct plea for God to hear us, then turns to the Holy Trinity, keeping everything rooted in worship of God. From there we invoke Saint Joseph with a cascade of titles that reveal who he is and why people lean on him: spouse of the Mother of God, foster father of the Son of God, diligent protector of Christ, head of the Holy Family. You will also hear virtues many of us need right now named out loud: just, chaste, prudent, strong, obedient, faithful, mirror of patience, lover of poverty, model of artisans. The final petitions widen to the places life hurts, with prayers for families, the sick, the wretched, and the dying, along with bold lines like “terror of demons” and “protector of holy Church.” We close with the Lamb of God responses and a final prayer asking that we may have Saint Joseph as our intercessor in heaven and our defender on earth. If you want a guided Catholic prayer for strength, family life, work, or spiritual protection, press play and pray along. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs calm today, and leave a review with the line that stayed with you.

  5. Sep 1

    How Saint Joseph’s Fatherhood Shapes A Pro-Life Response To Down Syndrome

    Send us Fan Mail A doctor schedules a termination before a mother even decides. That detail stops you cold, and it’s one reason we refuse to talk about Down syndrome and prenatal screening as if they’re just numbers on a chart. I’m Lori, “Stacy’s sister,” and I’m inviting you into a prayerful, honest conversation that holds grief and hope at the same time while we ask Saint Joseph, Patron of the Unborn, to protect babies whose lives are treated as disposable. We begin where this podcast always begins: with prayer, and with the true story behind my devotion. After Stacy’s passing, consecration to Saint Joseph (inspired by Father Donald Callaway and resources I discovered through Father Mike Schmitz) opened up a deeper love for this quiet saint. Using Saint Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos, we reflect on Joseph as Guardian of the Redeemer and on his real, costly fatherhood: the circumcision of Jesus, the naming of Jesus, and the Presentation in the Temple. We also notice the Holy Family’s poverty and what it reveals about protection, sacrifice, and trust. Then we face the most difficult topic: Australia’s approach to abortion after a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis. We talk about reported discrimination in medical settings, repeated pressure placed on parents, and the heartbreaking stories that show how “care” can become coercion. To close, we pray again, return to a joyful Stacy memory from Disney World, and end with the Litany of Saint Joseph, asking for courage to welcome, cherish, and safeguard life. If this matters to you, subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations and these prayers. Credits: A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation, Redemptoris Custos                                                            of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II. On the Person and Mission of Saint Joseph in the Life of Christ and of the Church.

  6. Aug 15

    A Foster Father’s Quiet Courage Can Change How We See Life

    Send us Fan Mail A society tells us to measure a life by stress, cost, and convenience, but a sister’s grief and gratitude tell a different story. I’m Lori, Stacy’s big sister, and Stacy had Down syndrome. She filled our family with laughter, affection, and the kind of joy that doesn’t need to “prove” its worth. That’s why I turn to Saint Joseph, Protector of the Unborn, and ask for his strong, prompt intercession for babies diagnosed with Down syndrome who are at risk of abortion after prenatal testing. We spend time with Saint Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos and the startling practicality of Joseph’s vocation: the foster father who shelters, travels, obeys the law, and quietly makes space for Jesus to enter the world. Then the conversation takes a hard turn into modern bioethics with a 2011 argument for “afterbirth abortion,” a sanitized phrase for infanticide. I lay out the claim, why newborns with Down syndrome are targeted by it, and why the language we accept shapes the policies we tolerate. To end where my heart lives, I share Stacy as a Special Olympics athlete, from bowling trips to shuffleboard wins, plus the friendships, dancing, and sheer pride that came with competing. If you care about disability rights, Down syndrome advocacy, pro-life ethics, Catholic prayer, and the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, you’ll find both challenge and hope here. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs encouragement, and leave a review so more listeners can find these stories and prayers. Credits: A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. A Litany for Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2010, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation, Redemptoris Custos     of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II. On the Person and Mission of Saint Joseph in the Life of Christ and of The Church.

  7. Aug 1

    Prenatal Screening Can Become A Pipeline To Eugenics

    Send us Fan Mail Denmark’s numbers stopped me cold: tens of thousands of live births in a year, and only a handful of babies born with Down syndrome. When prenatal screening becomes automatic and a diagnosis is treated like a problem to erase, “choice” can start to look a lot like pressure, and compassion can quietly collapse into modern eugenics. I’m Lori, Stacy’s sister, and I’m dedicating this reflection to Saint Joseph, Protector of the Unborn. Along the way, I pray with you and lean on Catholic teaching that explains why Saint Joseph’s role as foster father of Jesus makes him a powerful patron for unborn children. Drawing from Saint Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos, plus voices like Saint John Chrysostom and Pope Leo XIII, I reflect on Joseph’s fatherhood as a lived vocation of protection, humility, and sacrifice in service of the vulnerable.  Then I turn to Denmark’s prenatal Down syndrome screening policies and the cultural script that often follows a positive result. I share reported realities and verified data, including Denmark’s 2019 live birth count and the strikingly low number of babies born with Down syndrome, plus concerns about misinformation, coercion, and treating human lives as financial burdens. To keep the heart from going numb, I also share one of my favorite Stacy stories, a moment of pure joy that challenges the cruel myth that life with Down syndrome is “not worthy.” If you care about Down syndrome, disability rights, pro-life ethics, Catholic prayer, and the dignity of every human life, listen through the closing A Litany for Life, based on 1 Corinthians. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and please leave a review so more people can find these conversations and join us in protecting the unborn. Credits: A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. A Litany for Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2010, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation  Redemptoris Custos    of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II. On the Person and Mission of Saint Joseph In the Life of Christ and of The Church.

  8. Jul 15

    Why Saint Joseph Gives Me Courage To Defend Life

    Send us Fan Mail A single sentence in a medical chart can feel like a verdict, especially when a prenatal diagnosis points to Down syndrome. I’m Lori, Stacy’s sister, and I’m inviting you into a deeply personal and prayerful conversation about what gets lost when children like Stacy are treated as problems to solve instead of persons to love. We begin by turning to Saint Joseph with prayer, because this topic isn’t just political or theoretical for me, it’s spiritual and painfully real. I share how grief after Stacy’s death pushed me to become more intentional about my Catholic faith, from focused prayer to deeper formation, and why Saint Joseph’s humility and steady perseverance have become a source of comfort. We also draw from Saint Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos to understand Joseph’s role as foster father of Jesus, the meaning of Mary and Joseph’s marriage bond, and the Holy Family as a model for Christian families.  Then we face hard facts about disability-selective abortion and modern prenatal screening. We discuss the real-world consequences of trisomy 21 testing, the pressure placed on mothers, and the United Kingdom’s abortion law that allows abortion for Down syndrome up to birth. To end with hope instead of despair, I remember Stacy’s contagious joy and share a story from Mass that still makes me smile, followed by A Litany for Life rooted in 1 Corinthians that asks for patience, courage, mercy, and steadfast . If this moved you, please subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find this conversation about Saint Joseph, Down syndrome, and protecting unborn life. Credits: A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. A Litany for Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2010, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos                                                            Of The Supreme Pontiff John Paul II                                                                        On The Person And Mission Of Saint Joseph                                                           In The Life of Christ And Of The Church

  9. Jul 1

    Iceland And The Down Syndrome Abortion Rate

    Send us Fan Mail   I’m Lori, “Stacy’s sister,” and I open with prayer because this mission is spiritual and painfully concrete at the same time. We ask Saint Joseph, Protector of the Unborn, to defend babies diagnosed with Down syndrome and to guide us toward courage and clarity. Along the way, I share why Saint Joseph didn’t always feel prominent in my own Catholic life, and what changed as I learned more through Redemptoris Custos and the Church’s growing emphasis on Joseph as guardian, father, and protector. Then we turn to the real-world impact of prenatal screening and abortion policy, spotlighting Iceland’s near-total termination rate after a positive Down syndrome diagnosis and the cultural language used to justify it. We also look at the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, where Iceland’s treatment of people with Down syndrome was challenged, and we pray for a change of heart and policy. To end on truth instead of stereotypes, I return to Stacy. Her life was not an argument on paper but a daily reality full of personality, friends, laughter, and one unforgettable baseball story that says more than statistics ever can. If you care about Down syndrome awareness, prenatal testing ethics, disability rights, and Catholic pro-life witness, listen, share, and subscribe and if this moved you, please leave a review so more people can find it. Credits: A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation  Redemptoris Custos Of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II   On the Mission of St. Joseph In The Life of Christ and of The Church

  10. Jun 15

    Faith, Grief, And A Pro-Life Prayer For Babies With Down Syndrome

    Send us Fan Mail A prenatal diagnosis can feel like a verdict, but it is still a human life and a family being asked to hope. I’m Lori, Stacy’s sister, and I built this podcast around one intention: honoring Saint Joseph while begging his protection for unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome, especially when fear and pressure are loud. After spending 60 years with my baby sister Stacy, I can’t ignore what’s at stake when children who look like her are targeted in the womb.  We begin with the traditional prayer to Saint Joseph, then I share how my devotion deepened after Stacy passed and why Father Donald Calloway’s consecration to Saint Joseph helped me see Joseph’s strength in a new way. From there I explore Saint Joseph as Patron of the Unborn, drawing on Saint Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos to show Joseph as the humble guardian entrusted with the earliest beginnings of our redemption. I also recite the "Prayer to Saint Joseph, Defender of Life,” asking for the grace to welcome, cherish, and safeguard life where it is most vulnerable.  The episode revisits the remarkable story of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, the geneticist who discovered trisomy 21 and then paid a professional price for opposing abortion. And, I want to credit Francois Lespes, Jerome Lejeune, to the least of these my brothers and sisters (Ignatius Press, 2026) for much of the information regarding Dr. Lejeune. Dr. Lejeune's friendship with John Paul II, his work connected to the Pontifical Academy for Life, and his cause for sainthood reveal what it looks like when science, conscience, and the dignity of the human person collide. To keep everything grounded, I share a joyful memory of Stacy at a Kenny Rogers concert, a small moment that says more about dignity than any debate ever could. We close with "A Litany for Life" based on First Corinthians, praying for patience, mercy, courage, and hope in a culture that often forgets the unborn.  If this mattered to you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these prayers and these stories. What part stayed with you most? Credits:  A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2021, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. A Litany for Life. Used with permission. Copyright © 2010, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Apostolic Exhortation  Redemptoris Custos    Of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II  On the Person and Mission of  St. Joseph In The Life of Christ and of The Church

  11. Jun 1

    A Quiet Saint Takes On A Loud Culture

    Send us Fan Mail Most people think of Saint Joseph as silent background in the Nativity, but I keep coming back to one urgent question: what does his quiet courage look like when unborn babies with Down syndrome are being targeted for abortion? I’m Lori, and this first chapter of Saint Joseph, Protector of the Unborn is both personal and prayerful, rooted in my sister Stacy’s life and the ache of knowing how many children who look like her never get the chance to be born. I share how my devotion to Saint Joseph deepened after Stacy’s death, shaped by Father Mike Schmitz’s Bible in a Year community and Father Donald Calloway’s consecration to Saint Joseph. We pray together, and we reflect on Saint Joseph’s role as foster father and legal father of Jesus, a man entrusted with protecting a child the world did not understand. That’s why I talk about Saint Joseph as patron of the unborn, especially for babies diagnosed with Trisomy 21 and labeled as disposable. We also start tracing the road that led from genetics to eugenics through the story of Dr. Jérôme Lejeune, the French Catholic doctor who first published findings about the extra chromosome 21. His work affirmed that people with Down syndrome have something extra, not something less, yet he later watched that knowledge become a tool for elimination. To ground all of this in real life, I share a joyful story from Stacy’s adulthood: her journey to Confirmation and the way her faith lit up an entire parish. If you care about Down syndrome awareness, Catholic pro-life witness, prenatal diagnosis ethics, and the power of prayer, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find this conversation. What part of the story stays with you most? Credits: Francois Lespes, Jerome Lejeune, to the least of these my brothers and sisters (Ignatius Press, 2026) Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos  Of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II  On the Person and Mission of St. Joseph in The Life of Christ and of The Church

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This podcast is dedicated to honoring and to venerating St. Joseph. And, to seeking his help to save the lives of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome.

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