County of church: St. Louis Independent City
Location of church: 2653 Ohio Ave., St. Louis
Built: August 1895
Public tours are available Mon.-Fri. Contact the Oratory office for availability
Phone: (314) 771-3100
Church History:
"St. Francis de Sales parish was formed in 1867 by seven German immigrant dairymen who had been members of Saints Peter and Paul parish, located at Eighth and Allen streets. At the time, the area west of Jefferson was not very populated but the dairymen purchased a tract of land at Gravois and Ohio with plans to build a new church.
"Plans were made to build a new brick church at a cost of $12,850, a pricey amount in those days. The church was named in honor of St. Francis de Sales, a French Jesuit missionary who was instrumental in combating Calvinism. He is credited with bringing back over 50,000 protestants to the Church. He later became bishop of Geneva and was canonized as a saint in 1665. In 1923, St. Francis de Sales was designated patron saint of the Catholic press.
"A cornerstone-laying ceremony held September 15, 1867 was marred when a stand collapsed. No one was seriously injured, but it was determined that vandals had sawed some of the timbers supporting the stand the night before.
"The first Holy Mass was celebrated at the church on Christmas 1867 while the building was still under construction. Three babies were baptized that morning.
"On May 24 of the next year, the church was dedicated. A census revealed St. Francis parish already had 800 members. The parish quickly grew and in 1869, a parish school was opened. The parish’s second pastor, a recent arrival from Germany, purchased property adjacent to the church where a three-story school, including a residence for the nuns, was constructed in 1872. The St. Francis de Sales Benevolent Society organized April 19, 1874 still opperates today. Several other parish organizations were also formed during these years including, in the winters of 1884 and 1885, the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
"In 1883, the parish’s third pastor, Father John Peter Lotz, enlarged the church by adding a new sanctuary and bell tower. Five years later, he built another three-story school. In 1894, Father Lotz began to make plans to build a new church. He traveled to Berlin to consult with German architect E. Seiberts and came back with plans for a grand church of cut stone with a 350-foot center spire, two large supporting towers, two smaller towers over the transepts, two additional spires and elaborate finials. But it soon became clear the cost of so elaborate a building would be far more than the $135,000 earmarked by the parishes building committee. After excavation on the basement begun, it was decided that the cost of so grand a church was beyond the means of the parishioners. Parish leaders decided to finish the basement, put a roof on it and use it as a church until a final decision could be made on what to do about proceeding with plans for the new building.
"Before the basement of the new church could be completed, the devastating tornado of 1896 destroyed the original church. Over 300 persons died in that storm. A few years later Father Lotz died and a year after the arrival of his successor, Father Frederick G. Holweck, plans were underway to build the new church but with some changes. Instead of cut stone, the church would be brick and terra cotta; the transept towers and twin steeples were eliminated and the exterior trim streamlined. A 12-foot iron cross weighing 900 pounds topped the 300-foot tall steeple. In 1952, the rusting cross was replaced by an 18-foot gold leaf cross.
"By early 1907, construction on the new church had begun. It was dedicated on Nov. 26, 1908. Even with the changes, the building had a grand, elaborate look to it. A parish newsletter a year after the church was dedicated proclaimed, “The portal of the front entrance is an exact copy of the famous Gothic portal of the Cathedral of Munich.”
"After construction was completed, Fridolin Fuchs, a German immigrant, was hired to paint the interior frescos, and a Benedictine Monk from Arkansas did the drawings for the two large paintings in the church’s transept.
"By 1917 when the parish celebrated its Golden Jubilee, it had grown into one of the largest in the city. Twenty years later plans were made to build a new grade school and open a parish high school.
"During the 1930 growth years, it became popular to refer to St. Francis de Sales church as “the cathedral of South St. Louis.”
"For many years the sermon at Holy Mass was given in German, and classes at the school were conducted in German. As late as 1930, half of the parish’s publications were written in German.
"In 1939, after razing the school built in 1872, a new school was built. Plans were also underway to establish a high school as there was a shortage of Catholic high schools in St. Louis. In the fall of 1939, a junior high school was established in the parish and later it was expanded to include a high school. The first class was graduated in 1947.
"In 1964, an elevator was installed at the church’s Lynch Street entrance to accommodate parishioners. At that time only two other churches in St. Louis had elevators.
"In 1966, as the parish’s 100th anniversary approached, a restoration of the building was undertaken, and two years later St. Francis de Sales was named one of the 62 “significant historic buildings and sites” in St. Louis by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
"As suburbs developed and the population shifted away from the city neighborhoods, the parish’s numbers began to decline. In 1973, the elementary school was consolidated with three others, and St. Francis de Sales High School closed in 1974. And as urban blight became an issue for the neighborhood, a Parish Community Development Office was opened the next year. It evolved into the DeSales Restoration Corporation, and the parish became a center for many social service agencies. The DeSales Community Housing Corporation, independent of the parish, has spearheaded improvements in the area. As the parish celebrated its 125th anniversary, it continued to serve parishioners of more than a dozen nationalities." ~ St. Francis de Sales Oratory