DID YOU KNOW?

The parish of St. Remy in Russia was established before the town itself was built.

8 statues in the sanctuary: Sts. Ignatius of Loyola, Therese of Lisieux, Mary Magdalene, and Isadore on the high altar; two man-sized angels holding candlestands; St. Remy, and Jesus displaying His Sacred Heart

2 stained glass windows in the sanctuary honoring Sts. Peter and Paul

8 major stained-glass windows

Visitors should know they can arrive anytime from 5 am to 9:30 pm; we want everyone to be able to pray in St. Remy. When they come, they will encounter silence. Our folks know how important that is, and we still keep to the old tradition of whispering in church or else stepping outside. - Fr. Martin Fox

If you don’t know St. Remy and King Clovis, the first stained glass window on the Joseph side, right near St. Joseph, tells the story of his baptism- with an assist by the Queen, St. Clotilda. - Fr. Martin Fox

St. Remy

Known as the “Apostle to the Franks,” Remigius (Remy), Bishop of Rhiems, baptized King Clovis on Christmas Day in 496, which led to the conversion of the entire Frankish people.

1839

St. Valbert parish in Darke County established for French-speaking immigrants

1846

St. Valbert’s split into three parishes; St. Remy chapel built

Early 1850s

Russian immigrants settle in the area eventually named “Russia” either by French-speaking veterans of the Napoleonic wars in Ukraine, or by Russian immigrants noting the land’s resemblance to the Russian steppes

1852

First log church dedicated

1869

First brick church built

1890

Current church constructed in the Romanesque Revival style with a Gothic Revival tower

1904

First remodel; Stations of the Cross added

1915

Stained glass windows installed

1970

Church renovated extensively, gutting or redoing much of the interior and adding an exterior vestibule

1979

St. Remy listed on the National Register of Historic Places both alone and with 32 other properties associated with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

1990

Church renovated to restore much of its original look with a high altar, freestanding altar, pulpit, Mary and Joseph side altars, and gilded half dome

2014

Glass exterior doors replaced with new custom walnut entrance doors, transom, and tympanum