TRADITIONAL KNIGHTS UNITE!

I had a note from a good friend, and very active Knight, who is trying to put together an initiative for traditionally-minded Knights of Columbus.

He pointed out that over the last year several posts here announced Masses in the Extraordinary Form sponsored by Knights of Columbus Councils.

For example, in March there was the Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation sponsored by the Harvard Knights in Cambridge.  There were also Masses for the First Friday All-Night Vigil sponsored by the Agnus Dei and Regina Coeli Knights in Manhattan.  Also, for the Feast of the Annunciation/Incarnation a year ago also in Manhattan.

I am a Knight myself, though I haven’t been very active as a Knight for some time.  I am happy to see the Knights supporting the liturgical renewal Pope Benedict XVI has been trying to initiate, especially through the provisions of Summorum Pontificum.  If we want to have a renewal of the life of the Church, we must first renew our liturgical worship.  That renewal must include use of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum, which were intended for all the faithful (Universae Ecclesiae 8).

But, this got me wondering … how many Councils of the Knights of Columbus are involved in supporting celebrations of Mass in the extraordinary form?

Are any of these councils in touch with each other?

My guess is that they are not networked

So, having had conversation with a friend who is a Knight, and who is interested in carrying forward an initiative to get different Councils talking to each other, if you know of or are involved with a Knights of Columbus Council that supports or sponsors Mass in the extraordinary form, you might send your contact information to this e-mail address tradknight {at] gmail DOT com which my friend set up to put these councils into contact with each other.

Perhaps a first project could be to set up a meeting of members of traditional Councils and organize, say, a Pontifical Mass.

Just thinking out aloud.

UPDATE:

So far there is a good response.

Be sure to write to the email address I indicated above.  I am not creating a link, so as to avoid spammers sending to that address.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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20 Comments

  1. Excellent idea… our Council at St. Josephs in Richmond, Virginia is one of the few, and maybe the first, to be established at an exclusively EF parish.

    Our attempt to get the State Council to adopt a resolution calling on Supreme to allow councils to expel pro-abort public figures, was, alas, defeated. There is a real need for some strong traditional voices in the Knights, which sometimes floats a little too much towards mere cultural Catholicism, esp. perhaps in the Northeast where there are so many nominal Catholics.

    Organizing regional, publicized EF Masses would be a great thing, esp. for things like the Blue Mass (for law enforcement) or the Red Mass (for the legal profession).

  2. Tradster says:

    I belong to the Knights (12833) at Mater Ecclesia in Berlin, NJ which, of course, is strictly TLM. Because of distance I am not nearly as involved as I should be so I cannot answer to what, if anything, has been done to reach out to like-minded councils – if there even are any. But I have no doubt such an initiative would be welcomed by our council.

  3. ecclesiae says:

    I would like to let everyone know that a Fourth Degree Assembly, Anima Christi, was chartered at Mater Ecclesiæ last month.

  4. BaedaBenedictus says:

    I’m one of the Knights in the Harvard John Paul II Council. There had been an effort in our council for several years to get an EF Mass at the university parish with which we are affiliated. Fortunately last year we got a new, younger, more tradition-friendly pastor (Fr. Michael Drea, who is also a Knight), who gave the go-ahead for the Annunciation Mass. Hopefully we will have more regular celebrations of the EF at St. Paul’s in the future (which is perfectly set up for it, being mostly intact). Our pastor is also making some other wonderful changes, brick by brick, in the parish generally.

  5. Above, Fr. Z has kindly mentioned our council, Regina Coeli Council, No. 423, originally founded in 1899 and newly reinstuted at the Church of the Holy Innocents in New York City.

    Our mission statement reads in part:

    The Council supports and promotes the Latin Mass, Divine Office, and Sacred Music—especially at the Church of the Holy Innocents—following
    the ancient usages of the Church and in accordance with Summorum Pontificum.

    Many of the members of the council are priests, altar servers, singers, and organists active in this liturgical apostolate.

    As Fr. Z noted, our council—originally founded in the year of Pope Leo XIII’s consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart—cosponsors with Agnus Dei Council, No. 12361, a first Friday to first Saturday vigil in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A number of our members originally became Knights through Agnus Dei Council. We are grateful for their support in reinstituting Regina Coeli Council.

    Ours is the first new Council in Manhattan in many years. We have 35 members now and hope to recruit many more in the coming Columbian year (which runs July-June). Interested men can e-mail me at financialsecretary@kofc423.org. You can learn more about the Council at our web site: http://www.kofc423.org.

  6. Sword40 says:

    Although not a Knight, myself, I have been in contact with a group of Knights from Olympia, WA who have started a Men’s schola. They are practicing for the time when an EF Mass comes close enough to them so they may assist.
    And that is about to happen this weekend at a small rural parish south of them. Hopefully they will be down to sing a few latin hymns and to meet and talk with our priest celebrant, ( who is just learning the EF). In time we would like to do a Missa Cantata.
    Pray for us.

  7. Ed Mechmann says:

    Thank you for this post Father, and for giving traditional-minded Knights a chance to connect up!

    I am the Grand Knight of Agnus Dei Council #12361, which meets in the Bronx and in Manhattan. We were very happy to be the springboard for Regina Coeli Council, and helped to get it off the ground. We work closely with them on several projects.

    We’ve been in existence for about ten years. Our mission is to provide committed Catholic gentlemen with fellowship and spiritual growth. We promote traditional Catholic worship, particularly the Traditional Mass) and devotion to the Lord in the Eucharist, we perform corporal works of mercy (particularly pro-life work, such as prayer before the abortion clinics), and we foster the spiritual growth of our members (through retreats and spiritual reflections at all meetings).

    As Brother Sam Howard noted above, we are the co-sponsor of the monthly Eucharistic Vigil — we have maintained that vigil virtually uninterrupted for many years. We also sponsored the special Extraordinary Form Mass on the Feast of the Incarnation in 2009 and 2010 (at which Cardinal Egan presided), and expect to do so again with Regina Coeli in 2012.

    Anyone interested in us can check out our website: Agnus Dei Council

  8. Quaerens me sedisti lassus says:

    I don’t know if this counts as ‘sponsorship’, but the Knights at my college council have a nascent tradition of supplying altar servers to the local EF mass :)

  9. Young Canadian RC Male says:

    May I ask where this poster who owns the E-mail address is from? I ask because I do know of a traditionally minded Knights Council in Toronto Ontario who uses an oratory for meetings and events and goes to the TLM often (either single members or holds council meeting preceeded by a TLM). However if this gentleman is in the USA, contact might lead to little or no fruition.

  10. Young Canadian RC Male, the Knights are an international organization and I don’t think there’s any reason that this coalition effort can’t be too. Folks in Toronto are closer to New Haven (where the Supreme Council is located) than folks in California are. So send along their info or send this blog post to them and suggest that they do so.

  11. So far there is a good response.

    Be sure to write to the email address I indicated above. I am not creating a link, so as to avoid spammers sending to that address.

  12. Maltese says:

    I am a fourth degree Knight myself. They are incontrovertibly pro-life; an extremely powerful force for good in the Church. I hope Ven. Fr. McGivney’s cause advances! I have met many Knights who are staunch EF guys! Lead the charge brothers!

  13. benedetta says:

    The Knights are doing excellent work. I have noticed that Knights have an organization for boys aged 10 to 18 as well as a sister organization for girls aged 10 to 18, although have not seen this organized where I live now. But it would be very helpful for families and especially if with respect to the Extraordinary Form. For young people of that age group there is a bit of a need to concretely connect with solid leadership formation and the enjoyment of social relationships which are wholesome with opportunities to share in the life of the faith. Perhaps something to think about down the road once this gets going.

  14. Woodlawn says:

    Woodlawn Council 2161 has been sponsoring Traditional Latin Masses at St. Titus Church in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, since Columbus Day 2007. October 2011 we’ll hold our Fourth Annual Battle of Lepanto Mass and Dinner where we bring in a traditional Catholic speaker and raise money for traditional seminarian scholarship grants.

    Check out our weblog at the Woodlawn link above.

  15. FXR2 says:

    I haven’t seen anyone else mention these guys at St. Michael’s, Scranton, (knights14829 at gmail dot com). They hosted a seminar on the TLM last February. We really should try to network more.

    FXR2

  16. Tedster says:

    Our Lady of Mount Carmel Council 13205 is attached to the F.S.S.P. parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Denver Diocese.

    This is an excellent idea. I hope we can make this effort fruitful.

  17. That is such a great idea! I hope I can organize one here in the Philippines. :)

  18. Emailed.

    GREAT idea. … Knights have lots more sway to prevent … blockage … of things like Pontifical Masses….

  19. ALL: Remember to WRITE an EMAIL to the address I gave at the top. It’s nice to talk…but do take action.

  20. Woodlawn says:

    Sent two emails to the address above. Have yet to receive a reply.

Comments are closed.