The St-Louis Priory was our very first, with a history stretching back to 1945. Centred on France, where we have members scattered throughout the country with particularly strong groups in Paris and in Lyon, it has oversight of our current and aspiring members in Belgium, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), as well as traditionally in the French Cantons of Switzerland. It has also conducted aid work in Senegal, Togo and Benin. It was canonically established at the Cathedral of Chartres in 1964 (by Monsignor Rocher Michon) . Its mandate today includes responsibility for MSM activity in all francophone majority nations and peoples.
Our second Priory, centered on Germany, also includes members in Austria (where its current Prior resides) and, traditionally, in the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. Its first member was admitted to the Order in 1952, following which the Priory was canonically recognised in Regensburg in 1968 (by Monsignor Rudolf Graber) and in Sion in Switzerland in 1969 (by Monsignor Nestor Adam) ,making it the second Priory of the Order.
From its humble origins in Spain in 1957, the Prior was implanted and canonically recognised in Braga in Portugal in 1975 (by Monsignor Francisco-Maria Da Silva) and in Santander in Spain in 1984 (by Monsignor Juan Antonio Del Val), where it continues to be active, the Priory has expanded to include a large and vibrant national group in Brazil, centered on San Paolo. Its mandate includes responsibility for MSM activity in all lusophone and hispanophone nations throughout Latin America and Africa. Our fourth and most recent Priory, it has possibly also rapidly become our most active one.
Centered on Great Britain (and in particularly the Southeast of England) since 1959, the Priory also has scattered members in Eastern Canada (since 1970), the United States (Virginia and traditionally Washington DC), as well as in Australia. It has furthermore conducted extensive aid work in Kenya. The MSM and its works are at this time known to the British dioceses of Southwark, Westminster, East Anglia, the British Armed Forces Diocese, as well as to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsinham, and the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Washington DC, which are all in possession of the MSM's canonical documents, providing the basis for its ipso facto recognition and for the proper monitoring of MSM activity by their respective ordinaries. The MSM has moreover been consistently listed in the Diocesan Directory of Southwark in England, in which its official oratory of the Shrine of St Augustine of Canterbury is located, since 2007. The St Thomas Priory was the third to be established by the Order and is responsible for the MSM in the English-speaking world.