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| History of Saint Margaret of Scotland Church |
Just a few facts are known about the first location of
the parish church. It was in a former meat market
on the southeast corner of Russell and 39th Street (then called Vandeventer).
Store fixtures served as the altar, vestments were said to have
been kept in an icebox, there was a small pump organ, and a
white cross was hung above the door. Forty-five families joined
the newly-appointed pastor Fr. John J. O'Brien for the first
Mass on Christmas Day, 1899 in this simple place of worship -
the beginnings of a new Catholic parish in the Shaw Neighborhood.
It took eight years to move from that storefront to the
church shown in the picture below. Four lots at 39th
and Flad were purchased, plans were drawn up by the
architectural firm of Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett
(designers of many of Henry Shaw's properties, including
Tower Grove House), a building fund was started, and the
cornerstone of the so-called Celtic style church was finally
laid in April 1906. By now there were 400 families in the
parish, and the building was dedicated with a Pontifical
High Mass on Thanksgiving Day, 1907. The eloquent sermon
was delivered by the young Archbishop John J. Glennon.
The new church's interior was dominated by a large stained
glass window, behind the main altar, depicting the Crucifixion.
Dark oak pews could seat 1200 and brass chandeliers with heavily
frosted globes lit the congregation. The sanctuary lamp was described
as particularly beautiful, "of finely fretted brass with delicately
pointed, clear electric globes alternating with crimson lamps
of perpetual light." This lamp is barely visible just above
the altar in the picture below.
By 1925, the church interior needed redoing. Parishioners
were asked to add 25 cents to their Sunday envelopes to
pay for replacing the wood altars, the flaking plaster statues,
and the darkened oak ceiling. The Daprato Studios in Pietrasanta,
Italy, were commissioned to produce a new altar, baldachin
(the canopy over the altar), shrines and statues in marble
of vivid color. New stained glass windows, including a large
one depicting scenes from the life of St. Margaret, were installed
by the Emil Frei Art Glass Company of St. Louis. The stained glass
"Crucifixion" behind the altar was removed and replaced by
murals depicting the Nativity in remembrance of the first
Mass in that storefront on Christmas Day, 1899. The renovation
took thirteen years and cost a total of $125,000.
In the 1940's, another sprucing up was undertaken. The spring
under the church was finally capped securely, new pews were
installed, the interior was painted, and the draperies
and carpets in the sanctuary added.
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Mass Times
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| Saturdays: |
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4:30 PM |
| Sundays: |
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8:00 and 10:00 AM |
| Weekdays: |
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6:30 AM
each weekday |
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8:00 AM
Mondays
Tuesdays
Fridays |
| All School Mass: |
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8:00 AM Fridays |
| Holydays: |
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Refer to bulletin. |
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