St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

The Shrine Church

A large section of the present building housing St. Joseph the Worker Shrine was used by a Protestant group, the Unitarian Society, beginning in 1850. In 1868, this former Protestant church was purchased by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to establish a parish, St. Joseph Parish. The first Mass was celebrated here on May 3, 1868. Over the years there have been significant additions to the original Protestant church building as well as many other changes, in order to provide the appropriate setting for the Mass and the other sacraments and to increase the seating capacity. St. Joseph was consecrated as St. Joseph the Worker Shrine by the then Archbishop Richard Cushing on May 10, 1956. The present seating capacity of the Shrine is approximately 550.