The Oratory of Ss Gregory & Augustine

09/14/2026

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was dedicated on September 13, 335 and the following day, September 14, the Cross that Helena found was venerated in a solemn ceremony. It has been one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the world ever since.

09/11/2026

Sts. Protus and Hyacinth were brothers who were martyrs in the early Church. Little is known about them aside from the fact that they gave their lives for Christ, although the tomb of St. Hyacinth was found in a Roman catacomb in the 19th century. Even if the details of their lives are lost to us, that they gave their lives for the love of God can never be forgotten.

09/10/2026

St. Peter Claver, whose feast day was yesterday, worked tirelessly to care for the slaves being brought to the Americas. He nursed, baptized, catechized, and supported them, subsisting on little food or sleep himself. He was attributed with miracles even in life, including being seen surrounded by a supernatural light and healing people with a touch of his cloak. He baptized and catechized more than 300,000 slaves.

When a man in St. Louis was ill to the point of death, he sought the intercession of St. Peter Claver at the Shrine of St. Joseph. He saw immediate relief when a relic of the saint was applied to him and his condition continued to improve, eventually being recognized as one of the two authentic miracles necessary for the canonization process of St. Peter.

09/08/2026

Today we celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of only three birth dates the Church celebrates: Our Lady, St. John the Baptist, and Our Lord. For all other saints, we celebrate their "birth" into Heavenly life, or the day of their death. For these three, however, we honor the day of their birth because they were born in the state of grace: Our Lord was, of course, without sin; Our Lady was immaculately conceived and never stained with original sin; and, according to tradition, John the Baptist was cleansed of original sin when he leapt in his mother's womb at the Visitation.

09/02/2026

St. Stephen was crowned King of Hungary on Christmas Day in 1001. He offered his crown to the Virgin Mary, such was his devotion to her. He unified his people, brought them into the Christian faith, determined to rid them of idolatry. He built churches, cared for widows and orphans, listened to his people, and strived for peace among his people and lands. When would be assassins entered his bedroom, Stephen proclaimed, "If God be for me, who shall be against me?" May we all have such conviction!

St. Stephen, King of Hungary, pray for us!

08/31/2026

St. Raymond Nonnatus, so named because he was delivered of his mother's womb after her death, joined religious life with the Mercedarians in Barcelona where he worked tirelessly to free captives, even offering himself when money ran out. He was a zealous teacher of the Catholic faith, so much so that he was imprisoned and his lips impaled with a hot iron and padlocked to prevent him from preaching about Christ.

May we all preach Christ so courageously! St. Raymond Nonnatus, pray for us!

08/30/2026

It would be difficult to adequately thank Msgr. Breier and the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis for the use of this incredible relic. Thank you for your generosity and support of the festival!

08/30/2026

08/29/2026

May we all live for Christ with such abandon! St. John the Baptist, pray for us!