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Faith and Eucharist

St. Joseph the Betrothed of the Most Holy Virgin Mary Sanctuary in Warsaw

On March 19, 2021, HE Kazimierz Cardinal Nycz in the Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed of the Most Holy Virgin Mary and St. John of the Cross in Warsaw, he established the Archdiocesan Sanctuary of St. Joseph. This temple is a monumental building, a three-nave pseudo-basilica (the nave is higher than the aisles, but has no windows above the supports) with a transept, on a cross plan. Above the intersection of the nave and the transverse nave, a huge dome rises 37 m above the ground. A smaller dome covers the Chapel of Our Lady of Częstochowa. The architect Feliks Michalski designed the church in the style of interwar Warsaw modernism. Construction continued, except the war break, from 1938 until consecration in 1963.[1]

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sanktuarium

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sanktuarium Wejscie

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sanktuarium fronton

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza wnetrze

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza kopula

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza organy

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza prezbiterium Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza kaplica adoracyjna

The artists listed below created the interior of the church.

St. Joseph with the Child Jesus oil-painting in the Chapel of Our Lady of Częstochowa: Michał Leopold Willman.

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sw Jozef - L Willman

Stations of the Way of the Cross (authorship uncertain), polychromes inside the dome and in the apse of the presbytery: prof. Józef Sławiński and prof. Michał Baranowski.[2]

Stations of the Way of the Cross (authorship uncertain) and the design of six stained-glass windows: Maria Hiszpańska-Neuman.[3]

A monumental cross in the right nave, a statue of the Mother of God and the mysteries of the Holy Rosary in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, and the reliefs of St. Peter and St. Paul on the pulpit pediment: prof. Gustaw Zemła.[4]

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza ambona

Image of Merciful Jesus in the southern chapel of the transept: painter Serge.[5]

There are also pictures of St. John Paul II and Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko: painter Anna Gryczko.

During the general renovation in 2013-2015 the parish priest Can. Zbigniew Godlewski, DD, harmonized the interior of the church with its beautiful architecture.[6]This can be seen above all in the presbytery, where there is a new post-conciliar altar, a new place of chairmanship, stalls and a new reading-desk. The dignified appearance of the interior is completed by three new confessionals and three new oak entrance doors.

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza miejsce przewodniczenia

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza stalle

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza pulpit

The left nave ends with the Chapel of Our Lady of Częstochowa, where there has been adoration since 1986, and 24-hour adoration since 1987. This nave is in adjacent to the Chapel of Divine Mercy, which is also a baptismal chapel. In the niche of this nave there is a wooden figure of St. John of the Cross, who is the second patron of the church since it was blessed by HE Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński in 1951.

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza lewa nawa

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza kaplica Matki Bozej

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Milosierdzie Boze

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza oltarz boczny

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza chrzcielnica Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sw Jan od Krzyza

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sw Jan od Krzyza zblizenie

The right nave ends with the Chapel of the Holy Cross. and is adjacent to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary. In the niche of this nave there are the tomb of Rev. Jan Sitnik, the builder of the church, and the figure of St. Joseph, who is the patron of the Sanctuary, the patron saint of the parish and the main patron of the church.

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Prawa nawa Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Krzyz A Zemla

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Matka Boza Rozancowa

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sw Jozef

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Sw Jozef zblizenie

At the main entrance to the church there is a cross which is customarily kissed by the faithful.

Kosciol Sw Jozefa i Jana od Krzyza Krzyz i konfesjonal



[1] Cf. Zbigniew Godlewski, Warszawie Łagiewniki. Kościół i Parafia św. Józefa Oblubieńca NMP w Warszawie, Warszawa 2016, p. 1.

[2] Ibidem, p. 1.8-9.45.

[3] Ibidem, p. 1.45-60.

[4] Ibidem, p. 1.11.13.14.16-36.

[5]Ibidem, p. 40-41.

[6] Cf. ibidem, p. 1.7.