| Societas Patrum S. Edmundi(Latin)[1] | |
 Rev. Jean Baptiste Muard - Founder of thereligious congregation Society of Saint Edmund | |
| Abbreviation | S.S.E. (post-nominal letters)[2] |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Edmundites |
| Formation | 1843; 182 years ago (1843)[3] |
| Founder | Fr.Jean-Baptiste Muard,SSE[4] |
| Founded at | Pontigny,France |
| Type | Clerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right for men[5] |
| Headquarters | Edmundite Generalate 270 Winooski Park, Colchester, Vermont 05439, USA[6] |
| Members | 22 members (18 priests) as of 2020[7] |
Motto | Latin: English: Do the best we can, with what little we have, to serve those most in need |
| Rev. Fr. David Cray,S.S.E.[8] | |
Patron saint | Saint Edmund of Canterbury[9] |
Parent organization | Catholic Church |
| Website | https://www.sse.org/ |
TheSociety of Saint Edmund (Latin:Societas Patrum S. Edmundi), also known as theEdmundites, is aCatholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in 1843 inPontigny,France, byJean Baptiste Muard. The congregation is named afterSaint Edmund.[10] The members of the congregation add the postnominal lettersS.S.E.
In 2022, the congregation announced it would enter completion and no longer accept new members.[11]
The society was formed to keep St. Edmund's memory and life alive through faithful service, for the work of popular missions. The members also devote themselves to parochial work, to the education of youth in seminaries and colleges, to the direction of pious associations, and to foreign missions.
Members of the Society, based in Pontigny, fled to the United States through Montreal, Canada in 1889 after widespread anticlericalism seized France. The Society of St. Edmund settled inWinooski,Vermont, and establishedSaint Michael's College in 1904.[12] The original motherhouse is at Pontigny, but since the expulsion of the religious institutes the superior general first moved toHitchin,England. The Edmundites gave up both the school and the parish in Hitchin in 1925 due to financial difficulties, relinquishing control to theCongregation of Augustinians of the Assumption.[13][14]
In the early 20th century, the congregation had two houses in the United States: a missionary house and apostolic school atSwanton, Vermont, for the training of young men who wish to study for the priesthood and the religious life; andSaint Michael's College inColchester, Vermont, with 12 fathers, 8 scholastics, and 100 pupils. Saint Michael's College has since expanded to 2,000 undergraduates and 650 graduate students.
In 1937 the Society turned to the missions ofAfrican Americans, mainly in Alabama, thanks to Fr Francis "Frank" Casey. During theCivil rights movement and the lead up to theSelma to Montgomery marches, the Society was the only white group inSelma who openly supported the voting rights campaign.[15]Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee staff member Don Jelinek later described this order as "the unsung heroes of the Selma March... who provided the only integrated Catholic church in Selma, and perhaps in the entireDeep South".[16]
In 1953, a Mrs. Alys VanGilder Enders gifted the 11 acres ofEnders Island nearMystic, Connecticut to the then superior general of the Society, Fr Jeremiah Purtill, and there the Edmundites today operate a retreat center and art school.[17]
In 2022, the congregation announced it would enter completion, no longer accepting new candidates.[11]
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