Lumen Christi has around 1,000 households and is located in the Highland Park
neighborhood of St. Paul. It is made up of three parishes which were merged: St. Leo,
St. Gregory, and St. Therese.
In 1888, part time missionnaries were sent to Fort Snelling to serve the 30 families in the area.
In 1920, Fr. Edward Casey was assigned to serve those in military service at the Fort and those
in the surrounding area, and in 1926 the Chapel of the Little Flower of Jesus opened. This
location would become the Church of St. Therese by 1932.
The Church of St. Leo was founded in 1945 and St. Gregory the Great in 1951.
In 1994, the three parishes of St. Leo, St. Therese, and St. Gregory began a clustering process
and became known as Highland Catholic Community.
In 1999, a planning process began that eventually resulted in the full merger of the three parishes.
At the request of Archbishop Flynn, the parish name was changed to Lumen Christi. The St. Leo
site was closed for renovation at the end of December 2004 and re-opened on Holy Saturday, March
26, 2005, under the new name of Lumen Christi. St. Gregory closed on May 15, 2005, and St. Therese
closed on Sunday, February 5, 2006. The newly built Lumen Christi Parish Center opened February
11, 2006. The parish was formally dedicated on April 23, 2006, by Archbishop Flynn.
The parish school is Highland Catholic, with over 400 students from preschool through 8th grade.