Saint Catherine of Siena Parish Catolic Parish, Metcalfe, ON

The beginnings of Saint Catherine’s Parish can be traced back to a small clapboard chapel built in 1838 about 2 kilometers west of the present day church. The property was part of an allotment given to United Empire Loyalist, Catherine McDonell, wife of Colonel Archibald McDonell, who himself fought loyally for the British in the War of 1812-14 and was rewarded with a large allotment of forest land to become a founding family in Osgoode Township. In 1840 the chapel was deeded to the diocese of Kingston, and became known as “The Mission of Saint Catherine of Osgoode." In April of 1848 the mission had become part of the diocese of Bytown. In 1859 a new building was erected at the present location in the heart of the town of Metcalfe. On January 16th, 1860, on Sunday the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, Bishop Guigues solemnly blessed the church under the invocation of Saint Catherine of Siena. St. Catherine’s was elevated to parish status in 1898 by Bishop Duhamel.

Today, Metcalfe is a small bedroom community southeast of Ottawa in the midst of a larger rural area. The parish includes several surrounding hamlets such as Vernon, Kenmore, and Edwards. Although for a time, St. Catherine’s was a bilingual parish, it is now an English community. Ethnically, we have many solid parishioners who have descended from Holland, but we also happily boast of our French, Italian, Maltese, Portuguese, and Spanish speaking parishioners. Descendants of the early Irish and Scottish settlers are also well represented.