The parish community at that time was quite similar to today’s parishioners: students and English speaking people from all over the metro area. In 1884 most churches in St. Louis were using French or German. Initially the parish celebrated the Eucharist in the basement until the parishioners and Saint Louis University raised the needed funds to begin building the present worship space in phases. The towering fifteen-story steeple was not finished until the early 1900s. The oldest of the three church bells was cast in Seville, Spain, in 1761; the second was cast in 1787 and the third predates the War of 1812. During the anniversary year the parish is planning a range of events, some educational and others celebratory like a cocktail party at Saint Louis University’s great art museum where a number of the beautiful chalices and monstrances that have been part of the parishes eucharistic heritage will be on display. There will be a gala dinner dance in the Xavier Grand Ballroom and a parish picnic in the summer. “Of course, the anniversary we celebrate is 125 years of our gathering at the Eucharist as a worshiping community, so there will be several special opportunities for us to celebrate Our Lord’s Eucharistic presence in our community,” said current pastor, Father Richard Buhler SJ. |