The miraculous cure of an Augustinian nun at Antwerp in 1657 from a grievous illness, through the wearing of a cord in honour of Saint Joseph, gave rise to the pious practice of wearing it to obtain the grace of purity through his intercession.
In 1860, several new indulgences were granted to the confraternity erected in the church of St. Nicholas at Verona and by the brief Universi Dominici gregis, 23 September 1862, the Confraternity of the Cord of Saint Joseph was raised to an archconfraternity.