The work has changed less than you might think: steep ground, heavy wood, weather, and a job where a moment’s mistake can kill. The Logger’s Prayer below has been passed around logging camps and crews for years, and the others are for the parts of the job it doesn’t cover.
Historical Context
Joseph is usually called a carpenter, but the Greek word in the Gospels, tekton, means a builder who worked with wood and stone. He is the natural saint for anyone whose living comes from timber.
The Logger’s Prayer
Be with me Lord throughout this day,
may your breeze be gentle today,
to keep the trees from falling my way.
Lord, hold up the logs while I boom them down,
it sure is good knowing you’re around.
Lord, may your mountains not be so steep
as I drive down with a big load behind my back
and only a prayer beneath my feet.
Lord, you know you’re the best worker that I have found
and I know you work overtime keeping me safe and sound.
Amen.
A Prayer Before a Day of Felling
Lord, before the first saw starts,
keep this crew whole.
Let every cut go where it is meant to,
every tree fall where we planned,
and every man see the widow-maker overhead.
Keep the brakes holding on the way down
and bring us all back to the truck tonight.
St Joseph, pray for us.
Amen.
A Prayer for a Logger’s Family
Lord, he leaves before light
and I don’t know what the day holds up there.
Keep him careful and keep him lucky.
Give me peace until the truck is back in the drive.
Amen.
For a Logger Who Died on the Job
Lord, he went to work like any other day
and did not come home.
Receive him, who spent his life among your trees.
Comfort his crew, who will carry this,
and his family, who will carry more.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
Amen.
Best Times for This Prayer
- At the landing, before the crew splits up for the day.
- Before working steep ground or in high wind.
- At the start of a new season or a new contract.
- On 1 May, St Joseph the Worker.
- At the funeral or memorial of a logger.
Scripture Connection
“Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD.” — Psalm 96:12
Loggers spend their working lives among trees, and the psalm imagines the forest itself praising God. It is a good verse for people whose job is both to cut the woods and, increasingly, to look after them for the next generation.
Related prayers
For the patron of working men, see the Saint Joseph Prayer. Other dangerous trades have their own pages: the Ironworker Prayer and the Truck Driver Prayer, for the men who haul the logs out.