Fun facts about the Church
- The church is filled with unique relics that include a piece of the true cross, a thrown from his crown, a particle from the sponges that was lifted to his face, a small part of the pillar where he was scourged, a piece of stone taken from the sepulcher which is where his body was placed after death
- Father Heim innovated a banking system for St. Mary immigrants (who distrusted private banks) that was so successful Archbishop Kenrick adopted Heim’s method, extending it into the “Archbishop’s Bank” and appointed Heim secretary to the Archdiocese in 1847.
- The first bishop created a school where the first set of classes was labeled as the pioneer room. The school is thought to have been abandoned in 1859. Which is the same year that the first permanent parochial residence was built at 744 South Third Street
- One of the most transformational moments was when the church transferred to the Hungarian community, which had been living here since the 1956 uprising, as well as Saint Stephens church. The church had a large fire where at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon on a crisp Wednesday afternoon of January 10, 1951, the clock in the tower of what was now known as Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen’s Church rang only twice instead of the usual three times. A fire had broken out in the church choir loft and reached the electrical system.
- The name that many people know of The sisters of Saint Mary was not the name that they originally had. when they joined in 1873 they wanted to be called Servants of the Divine Heart.
- After being around for an incredible 150 years, the federal government recognized this achievement by placing it in the National Register for Historic Preservation, which is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
- The first mass was celebrated on September 15th, 1844 the completion of the building was reached in 1860. In 1896, the church was finally designated cononically as a parish equal to her sister parishes of the United States
Sample of the Hungarian newspaper, which circulated around Saint. Louis.
- Saint Stephen was born in 969 and took over the region in 997. Following his Christian zeal, he strove to persuade his nation to accept Christianity and built churches and monasteries. He forgave his enemies, prayed night long in the church, and was generous with alms. His almonial purse is in a Vienna museum, and his holy crown is in Fort Knox.
Cardinal Mindszenty Visit
Over the years, the church has been visited by a number of famous people, including Cardinal Mindszenty. He was the cardinal of Hungary from 1945-1973. He worked constantly to fight fascism during World War II. He also fought communism during the Russian regime and was even imprisoned in 1949; however, he was freed during the Hungarian Revolution. The church had the pleasure of seeing him when he visited the church in 1974.
The visit was actually filmed by a TV station in Debrecen Hungary
