Our History
St. Mary of Victories Church was established in 1843 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1980. It is the second oldest Roman Catholic Church to have been built in the City of St. Louis - only the historic "Old Cathedral" Basilica is older. George I. Barnett and Franz Saler, the architects of St. Mary's Church, made its design in accordance with early 16th Century architecture: The nave is rectangular and with the transept it forms a cross with the Sanctuary at its head. The choir loft is located on the second tier of the two-tier balcony at the rear of the church. (Its ornate wooden carved organ case and stenciled display pipes are among the oldest in St. Louis). Eight, tall, stained glass windows with rounded frames grace the nave and the transept, complementing the high arch of the Sanctuary. The Egyptian doorway to the church is framed by two massive pillars that hold up the heavy wood cross above the entrance.
The architecture of St. Mary of Victories Church is so acclaimed that the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the City Landmarks Registry. The church site itself forms the hub of the pioneer "Chouteau's Landing" District - one of the early commercial and residential immigrant neighborhoods in pre-Civil War era St. Louis. Its architects would go on to other notable accomplishments. George I. Barnett would design the Romanesque/Byzantine "New" Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in the "West End" and the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City. Franz Saler would serve as a Trustee of St. Mary's as well as an accomplished architectural draftsman.
The interior of St. Mary of Victories is also remarkable as the first totally designed liturgical interior in a St. Louis church, developed and fabricated by Professor Max Schneiderhahn, the city's first professional church artist. Himself a German immigrant, Schneiderhahn studied at a German University and two monasteries, bringing the craftsmanship tradition of liturgical art to the St. Louis area - where it would remain preeminent until the early 1960s. The altars, statuary, communion rail, carvings and the frescoes were conceived and executed by Schneiderhahn, who also painted the oils of the Stations of the Cross.
Within the historic altars in the Sanctuary of St. Mary's are a rich collection of relics - bone fragments of saints - that are displayed in glass-fronted containers on the altars called reliquaries. A collection of free-standing relics in ornate brass and gold cases is also in the church's custody: a relic of the True Cross is contained in a rare reliquary case that resembles a Monstrance. With it are four other relics of Christ's Passion: a thorn from His crown; a particle from the sponge that was lifted to His face during His Crucifixion; a small part of the pillar where He was scourged; and a particle of the stone taken from the Holy Sepulcher, where His body was place after His death. Other separate relics from saints displayed in statuary or paintings in St. Mary's include - all the Apostles; of the veil worn by the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of the parish, of the mantels of St. Joseph, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Agnes, and (since 1957) St. Stephen of Hungary, St. Emeric and St. Margaret.
Originally, St. Mary's served as a parish and school home to about 500 families from St. Louis' large German population. The parish would also help spawn the St. Raymond Maronite (Eastern) Rite parish when Syrian and Lebanese immigrants met at the church until building their own parish center on Chouteau Avenue. Over a century later, due to changing demographics and the emigration of large numbers of Hungarians to St. Louis after World War II and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the church officially adopted the parish name of St. Stephen of Hungary, commemorated in the white stone statue in the scenic parish courtyard. Since that time, the church has been familiarly known as the "Magyar Templom" or the "Hungarian Church" for the city - drawing members from the greater St. Louis metropolitan area as well as the south Downtown business community.
To new Americans looking for a bit of home here in St. Louis, the Hungarian Church became the gathering place for more than just Sunday Mass. Historic St. Mary of Victories Church and the adjoining hall became the symbolic home to immigrants of all faiths and walks of life who longed to celebrate and commemorate the important events of over 1000 years of Hungarian history. And while the church has assimilated the fragrance of sweet paprika, the parish grounds are poised to aid in the urban revitalization of the Chouteau's Landing district - one of the oldest pioneer sites in Downtown St. Louis that is positioned for upcoming revitalization as part of Downtown's planned rebirth as a tourist, residential, and business center for the Bi-State region. While St. Mary's families come from all over the metro St. Louis area, our "noontime" parishioners and business patrons of our Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Hungarian Luncheons help send a strong message of St. Mary's continuance as a beloved historic church of Old St. Louis as well as a bridge between the city's pioneer past, present and future.
Whether it's been the challenges of urban renewal and civic revitalization, the sacrifices of wartime veterans of the parish in the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, the Hungarian Revolution, Vietnam or other military conflicts, the spirit of St. Mary of Victories continues to endure through the years. Even now, entering the 21st Century, parishioners and sons and daughters of the parish come back. . .to hear a fiery speech, to eat a hearty gulyás and delicious pastries, to laugh and cry over the politics, the revolutions, the familiar and the foreign, and to stand and sing the American, Hungarian, and Transylvanian anthems with pride and powerful memories of a life "Old" and "New" - from the Mother Country to American soil with great fellowship and solidarity.
Remembering heroes, such as Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, the primate of Hungary, who stood up for freedom during the Hungarian Revolution, or Lajos Kossuth, the 19th Century Hungarian Patriot, or even esteemed older parishioners who sacrificed much for freedom in Hungary and established a successful life for their families in the U.S. , is an important facet of St. Mary's community life.
Recalling the memories of pioneer St. Louisans -- and waves of immigrant families that helped establish the ethnic neighborhoods of South St. Louis, is also a vital sense of St. Mary of Victories Parish Community. Whether you're from the "old neighborhood" or a grandchild of someone who is, you will receive a warm welcome here, along with St. Louisans of all faiths who value the city's architectural legacy of notable historic churches and historic sites. ALL seem to come back to St. Mary's for important moments in their lives -- whether it's the annual Parish Festival in August, the Christmas or Easter celebrations, meetings of ethnic or parish societies, or an interesting tourist outing.
Pray that our historic and beautiful church, now standing in the shadow of highways and warehouses poised on the brink of a revival, will continue to be Holy Ground for metro St. Louisans for the next century and beyond!
May God Bless You Always!
THE FRIENDS OF HISTORIC ST MARY OF VICTORIES CHURCH
| Recent Catholic history highlights the role of historic St. Mary of Victories as the scene for the celebration of the new Saint, Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos, C.S.S.R., who was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 9, 2000. Father Seelos, a priest of the Redemptorist order, gave a mission at St. Mary of Victories Church in 1865. Our historic downtown church will celebrate our connection to the new Saint on his first Feastday Thursday, October 5, 2000, with a special Mass at 10:00 a.m., followed by a reception. |
