Guided Tours and Pilgrimages
The Franciscan Missionary Brothers host numerous tours and pilgrimages each year. A variety of programs are available -- from simple lectures and grotto tours to full-day religious pilgrimages with catered luncheons.
If you would like to bring a group to the Shrine and Grottos, please use the contact information on this website to let us know -- and to find out more about such wonderful group visits.
Liturgical Services
Though there are no regularly scheduled masses, we do our best to offer public masses for the following Feast Days:
Feast of Saint Anthony - June 13
Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa - August 26
Feast of Saint Francis - October 4
All masses are dependant on priest availability; therefore, please check our Events Page for mass confirmation and time.
If you are a priest and would like to offer a private mass for family and friends or would consider supporting our Liturgical Services and/or Feast Day masses, please contact us at 636.938.5361.
Open Air Chapel
Dedicated to Our Lady of Czestochowa in the mid-1960s, the open-air Chapel of the Hills replaced the earlier cedar, wooden chapel. It was built by the novices and postulants of the Franciscan Missionary Brothers.
The mosaic wall of the Chapel was created by Frederick Henze, a well-known artist. He wanted to do something to beautify Mary's Chapel -- in memory of his friend, Bronislaus. Henze also created the icon of the Madonna above the altar, as well as the angels above the candle racks, and the icons of St. Helena and St. Luke the Evangelist.
The painting on the Chapel's easel was commissioned by Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, the former Primate of Poland, to replace the painting destroyed in the cedar chapel. It was placed on the altar at Jasna Gora for a novena of masses, touched to the original, blessed by the Cardinal, and then shipped to the Brothers. The painting arrived only weeks prior to the death of Brother Bronislaus.
The glass-encased icon in the Chapel previously was hung over the high altar of Our Lady of Czestochowa Church. The church was razed as part of the Interstate 55 construction.
St. Louis Archbishop, Cardinal John Carberry, donated it to the Shrine in the mid-1960s. Originally, the painting was brought to Missouri by Polish settlers. It is believed to be between 200 and 300 years old.
The various pictures and statues in the Chapel have been donated over the years by generous friends of the Franciscan Missionary Brothers.