• Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

  • Saint Mary of Victories

    Catholic Church

    Reverent  Faithful  Welcoming 

    Since 1843

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About St. Mary of Victories

Historic Saint Mary of Victories Catholic Church, just south of the Gateway Arch, is a splendid and unique part of the heritage of old Saint Louis.

Founded in 1843 for German immigrants, it became the city's Hungarian Catholic Church and cultural center in 1956. Its acclaimed architecture, beautiful old paintings, ornate statuary and noted historical personalities have earned it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the few consecrated churches in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and has a magnificent high altar with hundreds of sacred relics.

Saint Mary’s accordingly offers a classically reverent style of worship in proclaiming the joy of Christ's Gospel to locals and tourists alike. The 11 a.m. Sunday Mass is mainly in English, with a touch of Hungarian in Scripture and song.

Read the Whole Story...  

Reflections From Our Saints...

  • SMOV - Infant of Prague
  • St. Therese of Liseaux
  • St. Elizabeth of Hungary
  • SMOV - Cabrini
  • SMOV - Anthony (1)
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History

St. Mary of Victories has played an important role in the development of St. Louis... Read More
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Architecture

St. Mary of Victories is an excellent example of pre-Civil War architecture in St. Louis... Read More
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Hungarian Parish

St. Mary of Victories has been the official home of the Hungarian Catholics in St. Louis since 1957... Read More
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Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos once preached at St. Mary of Victories... Read More
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Latin Novus Ordo Mass

St. Mary of Victories is the only place in St. Louis that celebrates the Modern Rite, ad orientem, with Gregorian Chant... Read More
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Liturgy Schedule

Mass Times

11:00 AM Sunday - Third Sunday ONLY

Ordinary Form Mass, Traditional Music, Some Latin
Hungarian Lunch After Mass - Usually $10

Confessions:  Sundays at 10:30 am
Tours Conducted Sundays after Mass

The Facilties are Not Open Other Sundays Of the Month (No Lunch)

 THERE IS NO DAILY MASS AT SMV CHAPEL

Latin Ordinary Form Mass with Gregorian Chant - One Saturday Per Month

See Web Page or Facebook Group (or Call) for Details

                                                                                                           

Note:  the 7 pm Saturday and 9 am Sunday Masses have been discontinued.  

31 January 2016, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Introit: Laetetur cor

Offertory: Let all mortal flesh, p. 286

Communion: Illumina faciem tuam

Recessional: Lift up your heads ye mighty gates, p. 211

Mass XI, PBC p. 58. Credo III, PBC p. 77.

The Introit antiphon is one that appears in a number of Mass formularies, perhaps most prominently in that of Thursday of week 4 of Lent (Laetare week). It has three phrases:

  1. Laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum
  2. quaerite Dominum et confirmamini
  3. quaerite faciem ejus semper

Medieval commentators labeled mode 2 as the 'sad mode,' and the Office psalm tone, many mournful mode 2 antiphons, and the Lenten tracts certainly bear that out. OTOH, it also is the mode of some of the most joy-ous chants of the year. How/why is this? Christian joy is not the bouncy, smiley, carefree stuff of TV adverts or children's shows. It is a secure contentment that is the fruit of suffering, like the joy of the resurrection after the cross. Today we sing this very clearly because we know that seeking the Lord involves embracing the cross, the real source of our joy and strength. The classic intonation formula starting on low la sets the stage to climb to high la at the climax points of quaerentium and faciem ejus. But the manuscripts caution us not to hang on to those melodic high points; we have to seek the Lord in our real world, here and now. So the melody moves along briskly, as befits the sense of the text. We are ever on 'the way' toward the face of the Lord of glory.

The Communion antiphon is taken from the formulary of Septuagesima Sunday in the EF. It has three phrases:

  1. Illumina faciem tuam super servum,
  2. et salvum me fac in tua misericordia:
  3. Domine, non confundar, quoniam invocavi te.

The accented syllables drive the melody of the first phrase but with a clear emphasis on faciem. (The 'face of God' is a recurring image in Sacred Scripture; we find it in both antiphons today. In the second phrase the pleading for mercy changes to an expression of joyous confidence in that mercy. God's mercy differs radically from the pity we show one another. Our mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goes away in the morning. (Hos 6:5) But His own mercy is lasting, generous, and inexhaustible. The melody exults in this divine mercy. The third phrase is full of confidence in God's salvation, assured that He has heard our plea and will come to save us. Domine, non repeats the melody of misericordia. In the second half (beginning with in tua) we find many melodic elements of the first half being recycled, a common practice in chant composition.

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Address and Phone

744 South 3rd Street (at Gratiot)
Saint Louis, MO 63102-1645
(314) 231-8101

Click Here for Directions

 

Copyright © 2023 St. Mary of Victories Catholic Church. All Rights Reserved.
Our Lady of Victories, Pray for Us!  St. Stephen of Hungary, Pray for Us!
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos and Venerable Cardinal Mindszenty, Pray for Us!