St. Edmund's Church

Land was purchased for a Catholic church in Ellenburg on January 2, 1867. The first mass in the church building was celebrated in 1871.

The church was dedicated on July 1, 1883 by Bishop Edgar P. Wadhams, the first bishop of Ogdensburg. The Ogdensburg Diocese had been newly formed in 1872. Bishop Wadhams, a native of Lewis, New York and a convert from the Episcopal Church, was vicar general of the Albany diocese before being named bishop of Ogdensburg.

The church was originally a mission of St. Philomena's (now Immaculate Heart of Mary) in Churubusco. The parish was attended from different parishes (Churubusco, Chateaugay, and Mooers Forks) until 1893 when its first resident pastor arrived. The parish has had its own pastor ever since.

The church was built of wood. Its exterior was constructed in Greek Revival style with some Romanesque features: round-arched windows and door and tower openings. It has two small rose windows on each side of the entrance.

The interior of the church was constructed as a Romanesque basilica with an apse at the north (liturgical east) end. Square pillars support Romanesque arches throughout.

The Ellenburg church was originally dedicated under the patronage of St. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury and St. Ellen of the Cross (also known as St. Helen or St. Helena), mother of Emperor Constantine.

A distinctive feature of St. Edmund's church is its beautiful stained glass windows. The windows were created in pairs over the years.

The earliest are on the side walls of the choir loft (at left). They are yellow and green cathedral glass with painted rondels. They did not need central figures because the choir loft originally extended into the nave above the side aisles and across the center of these windows.

One pair of windows depict St. Patrick and St. John the Baptist, patron saints of the Irish and French settlers.

Next are two windows dedicated to the patron saints of the parish, St. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, depicted castigating the king (at right), and St. Ellen, finding the true cross in the Holy Land (pictured below).

Next are windows dedicated to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The most recent windows depict St. Anne with her daughter the Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph opposite it.







(Read more about the life of St. Edmund Rich from the web site of St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish, Beaconsfield, Quebec.)

Between the rose windows in the choir loft is a magnificent crucifixion window above the main entrance.

The windows in the penance room, the stairs to the choir loft, and the sacristies, as well as on each side of the entry and above the main entrance are more recent windows and done in a different style.

One sacristy has a more recent window made of cathedral glass to match the older windows near the choir loft. Was it once over the main entrance and later replaced by the crucifixion window? No one seems to remember for sure.

View of the stained glass windows on the east wall of the church and the choir loft.

Stained glass window on the east wall of the church depicting St. Ellen finding the true cross.

Over the sanctuary is a beautiful mural of the Ascension.