[3] The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly ultimately decided not to ban celebration of Mass and cited William Penn's Charter of Privileges as controlling, despite the English penal laws.

Fathers Egan, Carr and Hurley, James Oellers, Cornelius Tiers, Joseph Eck and John F. Hoares were among the most active benefactors of the orphans.

[7] Nearby St. Mary's Church, built in 1763, was used for grander occasions, and was visited by public dignitaries such as George Washington and John Adams.

One story relates that Benjamin Franklin advised Father Greaton to protect the church, since religious prejudice existed in the largely Quaker city at the time.

The entrance from Willings Alley remains through a narrow arch with iron gates, which opens to an unassuming courtyard that conceals the nature of the church building.

[4] (On two occasions, in 1740 and 1755, Quakers helped defend St. Joseph's original chapel to prevent Protestant mobs from destroying it.

[12] Filippo Costaggini's "The Angelic Exaltation of St. Joseph into Heaven (1886), a circular painting 15 feet (5 m) in diameter, is affixed to the ceiling.