March 19 is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus. The Gospels call him "a just man" (Matthew 1:19) and show him doing what the just man does: he takes Mary as his wife despite his perplexity, he names the child Jesus at the angel's word, he flees with the family to Egypt to save the child from Herod, and he brings the child up in Nazareth. He is the silent patriarch of the Holy Family — not a word of his is recorded in Scripture.
The cult of St. Joseph grew slowly in the West — he is absent from the early Roman calendar — but by the 16th century the Carmelite mystic St. Teresa of Ávila Avila adopted him as her special patron and spread the devotion through her foundations. In 1870 Pope Pius IX proclaimed him Patron of the Universal Church, and in 1955 Pius XII added the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 to stand against the Communist May Day.
Two apparitions of St. Joseph are commemorated at Cotignac in Provence: in 1660 he appeared to a shepherd, Gaspard Ricard, on Mount Bessillon and pointed to a spring that still flows. The Sanctuary of St. Joseph at Cotignac is the only recognized apparition site of St. Joseph in the world. From Montreal to Kalisz to Barcelona, his shrines are countless, and the March 19 feast falls in Lent or Easter, a quiet solemnity in the season of preparation.
Connected Destinations
Nazareth
Holy Land · Asia
Nazareth is Jesus' childhood home and the site of the Annunciation, where Gabriel told Mary she would bear the Son of God.
Cotignac
France · Europe
Cotignac is the world's only village where all three members of the Holy Family appeared, making it a premier Catholic pilgrimage destination in Provence.
Montréal
Canada · North America
Montréal is a prominent Catholic pilgrimage destination, home to the ornate Notre-Dame Basilica—famous for its Gothic Revival architecture and intricate interior—and Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, the world's largest shrine dedicated to Saint Joseph, attracting millions of visitors annually.
Kalisz
Poland · Europe
Kalisz hosts Poland's National Shrine of St. Joseph, one of the world's oldest sanctuaries dedicated to Jesus' earthly father, drawing pilgrims seeking St. Joseph's intercession.
Barcelona
Spain · Europe
Barcelona offers Catholic pilgrims extraordinary spiritual heritage with Gaudí's masterpiece Sagrada Família and ancient Gothic churches in Catalonia's historic heart.
Farnborough
England (UK) · Europe
Farnborough houses England's National Shrine to St Joseph at St Michael's Abbey, a Benedictine monastery attracting Catholic pilgrims seeking spiritual reflection.
Bethlehem
Holy Land · Asia
Birthplace of Jesus Christ where the Church of the Nativity marks the grotto venerated since the second century.
Knock
Ireland · Europe
Knock Shrine is Ireland's International Eucharistic and Marian Shrine where an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John appeared in 1879.
Karlovac
Croatia · Europe
Karlovac is home to the National Shrine of Saint Joseph, Croatia's premier Catholic pilgrimage destination dedicated to the nation's patron saint.
St. Louis
United States · North America
Home to the Midwest's only Vatican-authenticated miracle, St. Louis holds a uniquely concentrated Catholic heritage along the Mississippi.
De Pere
United States · North America
National Shrine of St. Joseph at St. Norbert College holds the only papally crowned statue of St. Joseph in the United States.
San Giuseppe Vesuviano
Italy · Europe
Town named for St. Joseph, home to a monumental sanctuary built in stages from 1905 and a Jubilee 2025 pilgrimage site in the Diocese of Nola.
Hanoi
Vietnam · Asia
Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Hanoi, built 1884–1886 in neo-Gothic style, anchors Catholic life in Vietnam's capital.
Detroit
United States · North America
Victorian Gothic shrine, a French colonial basilica founded in 1701, and the tomb of Blessed Solanus Casey define Detroit's Catholic landscape.
Venecia
Colombia · South America
Adobe sanctuary in Antioquia's coffee hills, elevated by Pope Francis in 2021, holding relics of St. Vincent the Deacon and St. Eusebius of Vercelli.
Stirling
United States · North America
Shrine of Saint Joseph in the Watchung Mountains — a 100-year-old pilgrimage center run by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity.