About St. Mary of Victories · Saint Louis, Missouri
Historic St. Mary of Victories Catholic Church sits just south of the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, on South 3rd Street in the pioneer Chouteau's Landing district. Founded in 1843 for German Catholic immigrants, it is the second-oldest Catholic church building in the city and one of the few consecrated churches in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Since 1957 it has also served as the official Hungarian Catholic parish for the archdiocese — today known as St. Stephen of Hungary Parish Community at St. Mary of Victories. The chapel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (since 1980) and houses a magnificent high altar with more than 280 sacred relics.
- Established
- 1843
- Patron
- The Blessed Virgin Mary (under the title of St. Mary of Victories); co-patron St. Stephen of Hungary
- Rector
- Rev. Brian W. Harrison, O.S.
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of St. Louis
Why belong here
St. Mary of Victories offers a rare combination of historic reverence and intimate community in the heart of downtown St. Louis. The Ordinary Form Sunday Mass is celebrated in a classically reverent style with traditional music and a touch of Hungarian in the readings and closing hymn — visitors often call it 'the heart of Catholic St. Louis.' After Mass on the third Sunday of each month, parishioners and guests gather for an authentic Hungarian lunch (about $10) and tours of the landmark church. It is a small, warm, self-supporting community that welcomes anyone seeking traditional Catholic worship, devotion to the saints (the church holds over 280 relics, including a first-class relic of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos), and a connection to both 19th-century German Catholic heritage and 20th-century Hungarian-American refugee history.
Mass times at St. Mary of Victories
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sundays at 10:30 AM (on the third Sunday, when Mass is celebrated)
History of St. Mary of Victories
Founded in 1843 for German Catholic immigrants under Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick, St. Mary of Victories was the first national parish in St. Louis and the second Catholic church building erected in the city after the Old Cathedral. The cornerstone was laid June 25, 1843, and the nave-only structure was dedicated September 15, 1844. Builder-architect Franz Saler, an Austrian-born parishioner, led construction funded by the Leopoldine Society of Vienna, Kenrick's personal gift, and local offerings, at a final cost of about $8,000. In May 1845 Kenrick's pastoral letter divided the city into four parishes and made St. Mary's a 'succursal' (subsidiary) parish under the Cathedral — an arrangement that protected German language and customs but limited its diocesan rights and sparked conflict later in the century.
- Cornerstone laid June 25, 1843
- Dedicated September 15, 1844
- Architect/builder: Franz Saler
- First rector: Rev. John P. Fischer (1844–1847)
- Second pastor: Rev. Joseph Melcher (Vicar-General for St. Louis Germans)
- Rev. Henry Muehlsipen became pastor in 1868
Early Pastoral and Cultural Life
From its earliest years the parish was a stronghold of German Catholic identity in St. Louis. Father Fischer established a German-language school in a log house across the street and hired the decorator Paul Hoegen to execute the interior wall paintings and install the original stained-glass windows. His assistant, Rev. Ambrose J. Heim, organized the first conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in North America and devised a parish banking system for immigrants that Archbishop Kenrick adopted as the 'Archbishop's Bank.' In 1872 five German women fleeing Bismarck's Kulturkampf took lodging in the church attic under Mother Mary Odilia Berger; in 1874 they constituted themselves as the Sisters of St. Mary, taking their name from the parish — and would later found SSM Health Care.
- First conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in North America (organized here)
- 'Archbishop's Bank' adopted from Heim's parish system
- Sisters of St. Mary founded in 1874 (later founders of SSM Health Care)
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
It was at St. Mary of Victories that Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, C.Ss.R., a Redemptorist known for his kindness as a confessor and catechist, preached his Missouri debut — a German parish mission from October 1–15, 1865, with companions Fathers Schneider, Jacob and Gulielm. A side altar in the south middle portion of the nave honors his role in the parish's development, and his statue rests on an altar made from the communion rail of the demolished old St. Malachy's Church. The church is honored to hold a first-class relic of Fr. Seelos as well as one of the five known death masks made of him at his death.
- German parish mission Oct 1–15, 1865
- Side altar in south nave honors Seelos
- First-class relic of Seelos
- One of five known Seelos death masks
Hungarian Parish (since 1957)
In 1957 the Archdiocese of St. Louis designated St. Mary of Victories as the official Hungarian Catholic church for the region, succeeding St. Stephen's at 12th and Chouteau. Many early parishioners were refugees from post-WWII Hungary and the failed 1956 Hungarian Revolution against Soviet occupation. Bishop William M. Cosgrove of Belleville later designated the parish as the official Hungarian church for that diocese as well after Belleville's Hungarian parish closed. Hungarian members continue to travel from across the metropolitan area, the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois. The parish is sometimes styled 'St. Stephen of Hungary Parish Community at St. Mary of Victories,' and the third-Sunday Hungarian lunch and annual Homecoming Picnic (held in Mignoty Hall during the week of the Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary, August 20) remain central traditions.
- Designated official Hungarian Catholic church 1957
- Successor to St. Stephen's at 12th and Chouteau
- Annual Homecoming Picnic in Mignoty Hall
- Annual Hungarian Sausage Sale
- Concerts and Hungarian luncheons/suppers as fundraisers
Architecture
St. Mary of Victories is a charming neoclassical red-brick edifice designed in an early 16th-century Mannerist style by Saler and the noted St. Louis architect George I. Barnett, and is a rare St. Louis example of Egyptian Revival influence — most visibly in the Egyptian-style doorway framed by two massive pillars supporting a heavy wooden cross above the entrance. The rectangular nave with transept forms a cross leading to a high-arched sanctuary. The interior is the first totally designed liturgical interior in a St. Louis church, developed by Professor Max Schneiderhahn — a German immigrant trained at a German university and two monasteries — who conceived and executed the altars, statuary, communion rail, carvings and frescoes, and painted the oils of the Stations of the Cross. Eight tall rounded stained-glass windows grace the nave and transept, and the two-tier rear balcony holds one of the oldest wooden-carved organ cases and stenciled display pipes in St. Louis. The ornate statue of St. Mary of Victories, cast in 1844, still stands in the sanctuary.
- Architects: Franz Saler and George I. Barnett
- Egyptian Revival doorway
- Interior by Prof. Max Schneiderhahn
- Altar, statuary, communion rail, frescoes, Stations of the Cross all by Schneiderhahn
- Oldest wooden-carved organ case in St. Louis
- Listed on National Register of Historic Places (1980)
The Relics
Within the consecrated walls of St. Mary of Victories are more than 280 relics — bone fragments or personal effects of the Saints kept mostly in glass-fronted reliquaries on the High Altar and side altars, with some in free-standing ornate brass-and-gold reliquaries. The collection includes a fragment of the True Cross in a rare reliquary resembling a Monstrance, plus four other relics of the Passion: a thorn from Christ's crown, a particle of the sponge lifted to His face, a piece of the pillar of the scourging, and a particle of the stone of the Holy Sepulcher. Saints' relics include all the Apostles, a fragment of the veil of the Blessed Virgin Mary (patroness of the parish), mantel pieces of St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Agnes, and (since 1957) St. Stephen of Hungary, St. Emeric, and St. Margaret. A first-class relic of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was added more recently.
- Over 280 relics total
- Relics of Christ's Passion (True Cross fragment, crown-of-thorns thorn, sponge particle, scourging pillar, Holy Sepulcher stone)
- Relics of all the Apostles
- Veil of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Relics of St. Stephen of Hungary, St. Emeric, St. Margaret (since 1957)
- First-class relic of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
Music and Devotional Life
Music is a defining feature of the parish. The Hungarian choir sings the closing hymns in Hungarian and recites a Hungarian Eucharistic devotional at the elevation, and the congregation joins them in the Hungarian National Anthem on the third Sunday of each month. The ornate carved organ case with stenciled display pipes, among the oldest in St. Louis, supports the parish's traditional musical worship. The only place in St. Louis that celebrates the Modern Rite ad orientem with Gregorian Chant on a monthly basis, St. Mary of Victories offers parishioners and visitors a classically reverent encounter with the sacred liturgy.
- Hungarian choir
- Hungarian National Anthem sung on third Sundays
- Historic organ case (one of the oldest in St. Louis)
- Monthly Latin Ordinary Form Mass ad orientem with Gregorian Chant
Visit, Tour, and Hungarian Lunch
After the 11 AM Mass on the third Sunday, the parish hosts a hearty Hungarian lunch in Mignoty Hall (usually $10 per person) and conducts tours of the historic church — making the third Sunday the prime day to visit. The chapel is NOT open on other Sundays of the month. Visitors from across the country and around the world have come to see the building and relics; one couple visiting from Texas wrote back that they found St. Mary of Victories to be 'the heart of Catholic St. Louis.'
- Hungarian lunch after Mass on third Sundays (~$10)
- Church tours conducted Sundays after Mass
- Facilities open only on the third Sunday of the month
Staff and Clergy
The parish is currently served by its pastor, Rev. Brian W. Harrison, O.S. The parish website hosts recordings, Mass sheets, and bulletin study notes by Fr. Harrison as well as homilies and talks by visiting clergy including Cardinal Raymond Burke and Monsignor John F. McCarthy. The chapel may be reached by telephone at (314) 231-8101.
- Rev. Brian W. Harrison, O.S. — Pastor
- Recordings and study sheets by Fr. Harrison on the website
- Visiting homilists include Cardinal Raymond Burke and Monsignor John F. McCarthy
- Phone: (314) 231-8101
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. John P. Fischer1844–1847
First rector; planned interior paintings, hired Paul Hoegen, acquired original stained glass.
- Rev. Joseph Melcher
Second pastor; Viennese former Court of Modena chaplain, Vicar-General for St. Louis's Germans, recruited priests in Europe.
- Rev. Henry Muehlsipen1868–
Long-time assistant rector (ten years) before becoming pastor.