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]

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.

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]

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.

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.

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.

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