- Visitors can climb up to 283 steps at Saint Joseph's Oratory between street level and the Basilica.
- A flight of 99 wooden is reserved for prayer and for those pilgrims who wish to climb on their knees.
- The carillon consists of 56 bells and was originally designed for the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was installed at the Oratory in 1954
- The Oratory Museum has a collection of over 300 nativity from more than 100 countries.
- Two million visitors and pilgrims visit the Oratory every year.
- The basilica dome has a diameter of 39 meters (125 feet) and rises 236 meters (856 feet) above sea level. It is the highest point in the city of Montreal. Aviation authorities require that the cross on top be illuminated.
- The Basilica can seat 2200 people.
- Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church in 1870.
- Before religious life, Alfred Bessette bounced from job to job working variously as a tinsmith, blacksmith, cobbler, farmer and millworker.
- Every year the Oratory distributes over 100,000 bottles of Saint Joseph’s oil.
- The basilica was consecrated on October, 19 2004, by Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, Archibishop of Montreal on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Oratory.
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Pilgrims climbing on their knees |
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