BREEZY POINT — St. Edmund Church now shares a distinction with Notre Dame Cathedral.

Both were ravaged by fire. The Notre Dame blaze was on April 19, 2019, in Paris, and St. Edmund on Breezy Point was flame-ravaged on April 19 of last year.

RELATED: Bishop, Community Gather to Support St. Edmund Amid Fire Damage, Easter Reflections

But both were repaired, refurbished, and finally restored through elaborate rededication ceremonies.

The sacred practice at St. Edmund was conducted on May 29 during an evening Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan and concelebrated by its pastor, Father Michael Gelfant.

Holy water, incense, and chrism oil were applied by Bishop Brennan during the solemn, yet joyous rituals required for the rite of dedication.

“The dedication of the church is probably one of our richest liturgical experiences, and with powerful symbolism,” Bishop Brennan said after the Mass. “It is an opportunity for us to reflect on what the Church is.
“Here we find ourselves at home with God.”

Photos show the damage to St. Edmund Church in Breezy Point after an electrical fire broke out on Holy Saturday, April 19, 2025. The blaze displaced parishioners during Easter celebrations and left the church in need of extensive repairs and restoration. (Photos: Bill Miller and John Quaglione)

St. Edmund, built in 1937, joins St. Thomas More and St. Genevieve as the three churches of Blessed Trinity Parish, all pastored by Father Gelfant, on the Rockaway Peninsula.

The repaired and renovated church is now adorned with a sparkling coat of white paint and “smart” technology for climate control and security. A bit more work is needed before regular Masses can resume in a few weeks, Father Gelfant said.
Meanwhile, the church rededication on May 29 was a rare event not viewed by Catholics who, fortunately, haven’t seen their church destroyed.

But the parishioners from St. Edmund are experienced at rebounding from calamity, having recovered from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Nearly 13 years later, on April 19, they watched smoke and flames belch from St. Edmund on Holy Saturday, the result of an electrical fire.

The following day, Easter Sunday, Bishop Brennan canceled plans to celebrate Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn. Instead, he went to be with the displaced parishioners from St. Edmund and celebrated Mass for them at St. Thomas More church.

Next, he went to St. Edmund with Father Gelfant to see the fire damage.

“The first reports were that it was beyond repair,” Bishop Brennan said after the Mass on May 29. “But, as they started to clear things away and looked around, there was hope of being able to repair the church — to really rebuild the church.

“In just a little more than a year, it all came together with great dedication, constant care, and a lot of cooperation,” Bishop Brennan said.

Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated the rededication of St. Edmund Church in Breezy Point on May 29, marking the completion of major restoration work more than a year after a devastating Easter fire damaged the historic parish. (Photos: Bill Miller and John Quaglione)

Father Gelfant noted that the rite of rededication is among the Church’s oldest traditions. For that reason, Father Carlos Velásquez, director of liturgy for the Diocese of Brooklyn, helped facilitate the rituals.

According to Canon Law, a Catholic church loses its dedication when the building — or its altar — is destroyed or damaged.

If the structure is completely rebuilt or restored, the bishop must celebrate a Mass of rededication — a deeply symbolic liturgy that treats the building as if it were a person being baptized and confirmed.

At St. Edmund, it began with the ceremonial handing over of the church from those involved in its restoration. So, Frank Naccarato, the renovation’s contractor, joined parish trustees in presenting the architectural plans to Bishop Brennan.

Next, the bishop moved throughout the church, sprinkling holy water on the refurbished walls and the people in the pews.

Later, Bishop Brennan pressed the relics from the damaged altar into the replacement altar, which he anointed with chrism oil. These relics from St. Pope Urban and St. Auctus were not harmed in the fire.

“This stuff goes back beyond generations,” Father Gelfant said in his closing remarks.

The pastor praised the volunteer firefighters for their heroics during the fire, plus the parish staff for rushing back to the church from out of town that holiday weekend a year ago.

He also thanked Bishop Brennan.

“Your encouragement and support of me and the workers really helped us realize why we were rebuilding this church,” Father Gelfant told the bishop. “We speak of not a building, but the living stones of the Church, with Christ as the foundation.”

After the Mass, some of the people lingered outside the church and marveled at its shining exterior. It was a cool evening, illuminated by the nearly full moon above.

Mary Elizabeth Smith, a historian of Breezy Point and a resident there for 70 years, praised Father Gelfant’s leadership in restoring the church. But Smith lamented that some of her family members could not see the restored church.

She recalled how, as a child, her family helped fund an extension of the building to accommodate the growing congregation.

“My grandparents would always be in front,” she said. “It’s very sad that the people who sat there are gone.”

Seamus and Fran McDonald also praised the exterior’s luster.

“It probably was in need of a paint job,” Seamus said of the old church.

Fran added she was glad it wasn’t demolished.

“I love,” she said, “that it looks like the old one.”