Our Lady of Victories Church was built in the style of the French Renaissance. Its architect, Patrick Keely, designed dozens of churches in the Greater Boston area, including the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Washington Street.

Originally, Our Lady of Victories Church was the dream of French-speaking Fr. Leon Bouland, who hoped to create a great French parish which was to include a sumptuous church, a school, and a social center. Eventually Fr. Bouland was appointed the first Monsignor of the Boston Archdiocese  and in early I883 left for Europe before the church was dedicated.  Today, the church is still officially a French National Church, even though no services are conducted in French.

The Marist Fathers arrived in the United States in 1880.  Fr. Louis Touche,s.m..was the  first Marist Pastor of Our Lady of Victories  with a chapel  on Freeman Place, near the State House. In  1885 the Marists bought the land on Isabella Street  and in 1886  the pastor sang the first Mass at Our Lady of Victories.

The 14 large stained-glass windows on either side of the nave depict the life of Our Lady. They were  designed  by  F. X. Zeittler of Munich, Germany. On either side of the sanctuary are two windows from Chartres, France  designed by artist Lorin Pinx. The central window,  depicting Our Lady of Victories  is by Zeittler.

The main altar, made of marble, was resented  by Louis P. Ober ( of Lock Ober Restaurant fame) in 1892, and the side altars honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady who is Patroness of the Church..

In 1917, the Rev. Joseph Marie Sollier, s.m.  added a plaster  ceiling over the wooden one to give the church  a Gothic style. He built a large entablature  along the full length of the nave with angel figures on the pillars and ornaments on the open wall spaces.