The town of Aurora had the distinction of establishing the first Catholic Church in Hamilton County. The first Mass was celebrated on June 20, 1876 by Rev. Ferdinand X. Lechleitner in the home of Andrew Fury near the site that was later used for the Cemetery. The Parish began to grow from there. When Father Lechleitner's missionary territory was reduced in 1878, Aurora became part of the region entrusted to the care of Father George Glauber of Hastings. During the years of 1880 and 1882 the priests from Seward attended to Aurora. These priests were Father P.N. O'Brien, Father John Wallace, and Father C.J. Quin. Father Eugene Geary was then assigned the first resident Pastor of St. Michael Church in Central City. Begining in November of 1881, Father Geary crossed the Platter River at least one Sunday of every month to minister to the Catholics in Aurora. At the time there were 40 families in the congregation, but no building to celebrate the Liturgy.
In 1882 the Parishioners bought an old school building and some lots of land and established the first Caholic Church in Aurora as St. Francis Parish. On August 23, 1888 Fr. Theodore Adam was assigned to Aurora as the first resident Pastor. The following year on October 21, 1884 Bishop O'Connor visited Aurora for the first time and confirmed 34 persons in the Parish. The second resident Pastor of St. Francis was Father Bernard Sproll who served St. Francis along with Parishes in Doniphan and Utica until 1891. In December of 1891 Father O.N. Turgeon became pastor, and he remained until 1893 when he exchanged parishes with Father L.A. Dunphy. During 1893 Father L.A. Dunphy supervised the construction of a new churchbuilding, which was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day in 1894 as Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Because of repeated crop failures during the ensuing years the parish was unable to meet the interest payments on the mortgage, and in 1897 Father Michael A. Shine learned that he had a week to prepare for a foreclosure hearing. Father Shine was able to postpone the hearing and with valient efforts and contributions from Parishioners he was able to pay off the mortgage and preserve the church building.
In 1899 Father Shine was succeeded by Father Paul Brounts until 1901. Other Priests who came to Aurora from Harvard were Father Bernard Ulbrick 1901-1902, and Father Patrick McShane 1902-1903. Then in 1903 Aurora became a mission of Hastings with Father William McDonald as Pastor until 1908. In 1908 Aurora became a mission of McCool Junction with Father Patrick Healy in charge of the two Parishes. It was during his time in Aurora that Father Healy constructed a 2-story residence and in 1909 he started residing in Aurora instead of McCool Junction. His successors were Father William McKenna 1911-1914, Father M.A. O'Boyle 1914-1915, and Father Edward F. Hagan 1915-1919. On February 2, 1916 the church building was damaged by fire and it was decided to build a new larger brick church on the same property. On December 5, 1916 Bishop Tihen dedicated the church in honor of our Blessed Mother under the title St. Mary. Other priests who have ministered to St. Mary were Father Paul Donovan 1920-1924, Father William S. Ferris 1924-1925, Father James Hennessy 1925-1933, Father John J. Carey 1993-1934, Father Paul Ulenberg 1934-1935, Father Berry 1935, Father Hubert A. Campo 1935-1957, Father Edward Orzechowski 1957-1969, Father Raphael P Chonta 1969, and Father Victor A. Derwinski 1960-1994.
As the Parish grew the need for another church building grew too. The fourth church, our current church was built under the guidance of Father Victor Derwinski. It was dedicated on November 19, 1972 by Bishop Glennon P Flavin. The Parish Hall was doubled in size and redidicated in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary of the Parish in 1982. After Father Derwinski's retirement in 1994 the pastors have been; Father Douglas Morin 1994-1996, Father Christoper Barak 1996-1997, Father John Keefe 1997-2000, Father Craig Doty 2001-2005. The Parish continued to grow under the guidence of Father Denis Hunt and on September 9, 2012 St. Mary had a ground breaking for the new addition and renovation of the Church and Hall. On February 15, 2014 Bishop James D. Conley rededicated the current church building. Father Hunt served as Pastor from 2005-2014. Succeeding pastors are Father Dhan Raj Marnini 2014-2017, Father Loris Grell 2017-2021, and Father Mark Seiker 2021-present. As of census in 2021 there are 225 families registered in the Parish.