SAINT JOSEPH
St Joseph's House with St Joseph's Church is the pilgrimage, educational and pastoral centre of the Diocese of Celje and the wider Slovenian region.
The founder of St Joseph's Home is the Missionary Society of St Vincent de Paul - Lazarists. The activities of the Home of Saint Joseph, which continue to follow the charism of Saint Vincent de Paul, are divided into three main areas:
Spiritual and educational activities
We offer and facilitate multi-day spiritual encounters, renewals and reflections, trainings, seminars, lectures and cultural events based on the foundations of Christian values for individuals and groups. The doors of our house are open to pilgrimages and groups from near and far, offering accommodation, meals and the possibility of renting a conference room for their work. We are a house of gathering, a house of friendship, culture and dialogue, open to all people of good will.
Organ School
It trains and creates organists who actively participate in the Slovenian parish. This activity has a highly pastoral character, as it offers not only practical (musical) training to organists, but also liturgical formation and introduces them to the work and life of the Church.
Long-term care institute
We want to follow the charism of service to the poor by caring for the elderly and the infirm who receive round-the-clock care in our institutions. For this reason, we are home to approximately one hundred and twenty elderly people whose lives and work are integrated into the overall mission of our institution.
Saint Joseph
1681: St Joseph's Church is built by the people of Celje in gratitude for the end of the plague. The church quickly became a popular pilgrimage site, and it still is today, as can be seen from the two pilgrimage rallies held on 19 March and 1 May.
1852: Blessed Bishop Anton Martin Slomšek invites the priests of the Vincentius Pavelski Missionary Society - Lazarists with the mission of spreading popular missions - to the St Joseph's Hall in Celje.
1933: the mission house is upgraded by the church.
1940-1944: during the Second World War, the German occupier stops building the mission home.
1945: the home is taken over by the Communist authorities.
1990: the house is returned to the Lazarists in very poor condition.
1993: House renovation begins
1998: St Joseph's Home is founded.
2008: modernisation of the house and start of care for the elderly.