Franciscan Friars (Our Lady of Guadalupe Province)

In April 1994, lightning struck St. Anthony of Padua Church.  Over one hundred St. Louis firefighters struggled for hours to extinguish the resulting fire.  It took two years to restore the Church, but no one doubted that the parish, served by Franciscan friars since 1863, would be rebuilt and the friars maintain their commitment to the people and the Archdiocese.

In 1861, Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick asked German-speaking Franciscans from Saxony, who had been in Teutopolis, IL since 1858, to come to St. Louis, with its many German immigrants.  On February 5, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the friars celebrated Mass in a local orphanage for some seventy German-speaking families.  Then the Union Army confiscated the orphanage to use as a hospital.  St. Anthony of Padua Parish moved to the corner of Meramec and Compton Streets.  The people and friars built a Church which held 700 people.  On July 4, 1908, construction began on the current church in the heart of Dutchtown, because the old church was too small.  Eventually friars ministered to Irish and Polish communities too, while serving as chaplains for Poor Clares and other religious sisters, for Secular Franciscans, high schools, orphanages, hospitals, and institutions for the mentally ill.

In 1875, the German government forced Catholic communities to leave the newly united country.  Over one hundred Franciscan friars from Saxony came to the United States on one ship! Four years later, Saint Anthony Friary on Meramec became the headquarters of the newly established Sacred Heart Province.  Between 1879 and 2023, the friars based in St. Louis proclaimed the Gospel in thirteen states, Brazil, China, Morocco, Russia, Vietnam, and Africa.  Through the work of these Franciscan friars, a little bit of the Archdiocese of St. Louis would extend around the country and around the world.  In 2023, the friars joined the new coast-to-coast Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the Archdiocese, the Franciscans continue to serve in many ways, including not only St. Anthony of Padua Parish, but also with Poor Clare nuns and Secular Franciscans, in education, with a food pantry, and the Franciscan Connection that offer financial, spiritual and emotional assistance to those in need. 

Being strong catholics and descendents of one of the oldest Catholic nations in the world, a group of immigrants from Croatia sought to establish a parish where they could serve God as they did in their fatherland.

These pioneer Croatians in 1902, almost exclusively of the working class, pulled together to organize a national parish, according to historical accounts. With the guidance of Msgr. Davorin Krmpotic, pastor of a Croatian parish in Kansas City, Kan., their endeavors slowly were realized after they received permission from Archbishop John J. Glennon to establish the parish.

They welcomed a Croatian priest, Father Oscar Suster, and began to attend masses at St. Wenceslaus parish in South St. Louis. Then, parishioners were able to purchase a Jewish synagogue on the corner of 11th street and Chouteau avenue. Archbishop Glennon dedicated the St. Joseph Croatian Catholic Church on Sept. 25, 1904.

The Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters were founded on Dec. 8, 1896 in Steyl, Holland by St. Arnold Janssen and his faithful collaborator, Mother Mary Michael.  Mother Mary Michael’s first foundation was in Philadelphia, PA in 1915. God blessed the new foundation abundantly, and soon American candidates were applying for admission. As the Congregation continued to grow, Mother Mary Michael founded convents in the Philippines, Germany, and the Netherlands. She was also looking to make a second foundation in the United States. At this time, the Lord also awakened in the heart of Mrs. Theresa Kulage, a wealthy St. Louis widow, the desire to establish a convent of perpetual adoration in her native city. Mrs. Kulage learned of the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters through the Society of the Divine Word and traveled to Philadelphia to meet the Sisters personally. She approached Archbishop John Glennon and offered to found an adoration convent in St. Louis. In October of 1924, Archbishop Glennon wrote to the superior in Philadelphia inviting the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters into his diocese. 

The Mount Grace Chapel is open daily from 5:30am until 6:25pm for Prayers, 7am Mass, and Eucharistic Adoration.

All are also invited to the annual Novena of Masses and Family Consecration to the Sacred Heart, held in June.

1438 East Warne Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63107

Hospital Sisters of Saint Francis are women who have dedicated their lives to and for the love of Christ Jesus, and to their brothers and sisters in Christ. Public vows made to God, through the church and community, are the manifestation of a life of simplicity and service to the sick and poor.

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is a society of apostolic life of pontifical right whose goal is the honor of God and the sanctification of priests in the service of the Church and souls. Its specific aim is missionary: to spread the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ in all spheres of human life. Our work is carried out under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception, to whom The Institute is consecrated.  

The most divine of divine things is to cooperate in the salvation of souls.

The spirituality of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver, inherited from their Foundress, Blessed Mary Theresa Ledochowska, is rooted in Ignatian spirituality; from there it branches into a uniquely Claverian way of following Christ.

The Servants of the Paraclete is an international religious community founded by Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald S.P. in 1947 with a specific ministry to serve fellow priests and brothers who are facing particular challenges in their vocations and lives. We are located near St. Louis, Missouri, and continue to offer the St. Michael renewal program, a carefully integrated program for growth and healing, and Vianney Center, a residential faith community for priests and brothers who wish to live their vocation at its core of prayer and fraternity.

Founded more than 180 years ago, the Sisters of Mercy is an international community comprised of 9,000 Sisters of Mercy who live and minister in 46 countries. Through the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Sisters of Mercy serve those in need in the U.S., Central and South America, Jamaica, Guam and the Philippines. In the St. Louis Archdiocese 61 Sisters of Mercy live and serve in a number of ministries including health care, social services, education, spiritual direction, prison and prayer ministry. Sisters of Mercy sponsor Mercy Conference and Retreat Center, a spacious complex for individual and group retreats as well as meeting space and overnight accommodations on 70+ acres in west St. Louis County.

The Sisters of Loretto, one of the first religious communities of women founded in the United States, began on the Kentucky frontier in 1812.  From this beginning, the Loretto charism of loving service, rooted in Jesus on the cross and Mary at the foot of the cross, has shaped and formed this community and keeps it alive today.