About St. Augustine Catholic Church · Grafton, West Virginia
St. Augustine Catholic Church is a Roman Rite parish in Grafton, West Virginia, belonging to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Established on August 18, 1852, it is the oldest Catholic congregation in Grafton, founded to serve the Irish Catholic laborers who came to build the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The parish sits at 17 West Washington Street in downtown Grafton, and its present church building — the third on the site — was constructed in 1922 and is renowned for its Tyrol Art Glass Company stained glass windows imported from Innsbruck, Austria.
- Established
- 1852
- Patron
- St. Augustine of Hippo
- Rector
- Rev. James E. O'Connor
- Diocese
- Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Why belong here
St. Augustine offers the steady rhythm of a small, historic parish: four Masses a week including a Saturday Vigil and Sunday morning Mass, weekday Masses on Tuesday evening and Thursday morning, and the fellowship of a tight-knit congregation with deep roots in Grafton going back to the railroad era. Visitors are welcomed into a community that treasures its 1852 heritage, its 1922 church with Austrian-made stained glass, and the simpler Catholic life of north-central West Virginia.
Mass times at St. Augustine Catholic Church
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish History
St. Augustine Catholic Church was established on August 18, 1852 as the first Catholic parish in Grafton, organized to minister to the Irish Catholic laborers building the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Rev. James Cunningham, Grafton's first priest, and Rev. Henry Malone served as the parish's first resident priests. The first church — a small frame building — was constructed in 1857 on land donated by the heirs of Wilford Fetterman, who also gave land on Route 50 for what became the Catholic Cemetery. A second, larger church replaced it in 1873, and the present St. Augustine Church was built in 1922. The parish's history is preserved by a historical marker erected by the West Virginia Humanities Council and the Taylor County Historical and Genealogical Society.
- Founded August 18, 1852
- First Catholic parish in Grafton
- First church built 1857 on Fetterman-donated land
- Second church built 1873
- Present (third) church built 1922
- Original 1857 bell still in the bell tower
Architecture & Stained Glass
The current St. Augustine Church, the third on this site, was constructed in 1922. Its sanctuary is distinguished by a series of stained glass windows crafted by the Tyrol Art Glass Company of Innsbruck, Austria. The windows on the left side of the sanctuary depict the Gospels, while those on the right side depict the Epistles — a deliberate theological arrangement that uses art to catechize the faithful. The original 1857 bell, paid for by Father Henry Malone, continues to hang in the bell tower.
- Current church built in 1922
- Windows by Tyrol Art Glass Company of Innsbruck, Austria
- Left side windows: the Gospels
- Right side windows: the Epistles
- Original bell still in the bell tower
Mass & Worship Schedule
St. Augustine celebrates Mass four times a week, with one Sunday Mass. Mass is offered in English in the Roman Rite. The Saturday Vigil Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation.
- Sunday – 9:00 AM
- Saturday Vigil – 4:30 PM
- Tuesday – 6:00 PM
- Thursday – 8:30 AM
Clergy
The parish is currently administered by Rev. James E. O'Connor. The parish's earliest priests, Rev. James Cunningham and Rev. Henry Malone, are remembered on the parish memorial as the founding pastors; Father Malone personally funded the original bell of the parish.
- Administrator: Rev. James E. O'Connor
- First priest: Rev. James Cunningham
- Co-founding pastor: Rev. Henry Malone
Catholic Cemetery
The Catholic Cemetery on Route 50 in Grafton was established through the same Fetterman family land donation that made the first St. Augustine Church possible. Father James Cunningham persuaded the heirs of Wilford Fetterman to give the land for both the church site and the cemetery, providing a perpetual resting place for the Catholic faithful of the Grafton community.
- Cemetery located on Route 50, Grafton
- Land donated by the heirs of Wilford Fetterman
- Established alongside the parish in the 1850s
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
St. Augustine Parish belongs to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which was erected by Pope Pius IX in 1850 and renamed from the Diocese of Wheeling in 1974 when its boundaries were realigned to match the State of West Virginia. St. Augustine was one of the early parishes founded in the new diocese, established with its first resident priests in 1852–1853.
- Diocese erected 1850 by Pope Pius IX
- Renamed Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in 1974
- Bishop: Mark Brennan
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. James Cunningham1852–
Grafton's first priest; persuaded the Fetterman family to donate the land for the first church and cemetery.
- Rev. Henry Malone
One of the first two resident priests of the parish; personally paid for the original bell, which still hangs in the bell tower.