The Oratory of Ss. Gregory & Augustine was canonically established on the First Sunday of Advent, 2 December 2007, by His Grace, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, then Archbishop of St. Louis. It is a non-territorial parish of the Archdiocese of St. Louis that celebrates all the Church’s Sacraments in their extraordinary form for the pastoral good of the faithful according to the 1962 Missale Romanum.
In establishing the Oratory, Archbishop Burke wished that Holy Mass would be celebrated with the greatest possible dignity and that at the same time the faithful would receive sound pastoral care. He wrote, "Given the longstanding devotion of the Order of St. Benedict to the cultivation of the Sacred Liturgy, I see the offering of the regular celebration of the Rite of Mass found in the Missale Romanum of Blessed John XXIII to be a fitting work of your community."
Reverend Monsignor C. Eugene Morris is the Rector of the Oratory.
Mission Statement
The Oratory of Ss. Gregory and Augustine, uniquely administered by priests of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, is a non-territorial parish established in the Archdiocese to preserve and promote the traditional Latin Mass, in accord with the motu proprio of Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum. The Oratory seeks to worship God in the spirit of Sacrasanctum Concilium from Vatican Council II and the motu proprio of Pope Saint Pius X, Tra LeSollicitudini. By sacraments, religious education and formation, social activity, and outreach to the greater community, the Oratory seeks to promote the sanctification of its members and to support the Catholic family life.
In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which developed in the Church’s faith and prayer and to give them their proper place.