Welcome to the Oratory of Saint Martin of Tours.  We are a society of Apostolic Life—that is, a religious order - of clergy and lay persons rooted in the Lutheran tradition who covenant together to form our lives around the adoration of God in Christ, especially by means of the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and praying the Daily Offices, the historic hours appointed for prayer, chanting Psalms, and the reading of Scripture.  Our identity as followers of Jesus Christ and members of this Oratory is rooted in the Gospel message of freedom and new life and is expressed by living deeply into the Holy Tradition of Christ's Church--Evangelical and Catholic.  

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Our Charism.    Members of the Oratory are ordained clergy and lay persons in their respective jurisdictions or live under the provision of the Oratory as their ecclesiastical judicatory. Oratorians promise to live by the Rule of the Oratory, which includes Stability of Heart, Fidelity to the Charism of the Oratory, and Obedience to the Will of God.

                    ✢    Oratorians, as a part of the Rule, engage in the following spiritual practices: Praying the Divine Offices, Lectio Divina, frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist, Private Confession, and continuous, lifelong theological formation and education. Additionally, each Oratorian should personally have a spiritual director and a confessor.

                    ✢   Oratorians, following the example of the Oratory's namesake Saint Martin, connect their spiritual lives to the needs of the wider world by engaging in at least one continuous corporal work of mercy in the Name of Jesus Christ, who calls us to care for the needs of the world, especially the poor, the hungry, the sick, the infirm, and those imprisoned.

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The Pillars of Oratory Life.  Our life together is formed by our pillars:

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                    ✢  Personal conversion and lifelong Christian formation and education

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                    ✢  Continuous corporal works of mercy  

                    ✢  A love for the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar

                    ✢  A commitment to praying and being formed by the Daily Office, also called the Liturgy of the Hours

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We are followers of Jesus Christ gathered together in one community and found in many places!   We joyfully believe that we have been called into God's mission for humanity, which is the restoration and reconciliation of the world under Christ. We have been charged with life-changing ministry of "binding up the broken-hearted, proclaiming freedom to the captive, and releasing from darkness those who are imprisoned" (Isaiah 61:1).

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We hold fast to the faith of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, delivered once for all to the saints, believing that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that God did indeed send his only-begotten Son in order to keep us in eternal life (John 3:16).