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MINISTRIES
Knights
of Columbus
Blessed Sacrament Council #11947
1427 West Braddock Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22302
Knights of
Columbus Blessed Sacrament
Council 11947
General
Background
The Knights of
Columbus was founded in 1882 by a 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J.
McGivney, in the basement of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Today,
more than a century later, the Knights of Columbus have become the largest lay
organization in the Catholic Church.
The Order has
been called "the strong right arm of the Church," and has been praised by popes,
presidents and other world leaders, for support of the Church, programs of
evangelization and Catholic education, civic involvement and aid to those in
need. As recently as 1992, Mother Teresa of Calcutta praised the Knights in a
speech on the occasion of her reception of the first Knights of Columbus Gaudium
et Spes Award.
Thanks to the
inspired work of Father McGivney—as well as that of millions of other Knights
over the past century—the Knights of Columbus now stands at its pinnacle of
membership, benefits and service. Currently, there are over 1.7 million Knights
of Columbus—more than ever before in our Order's history. Together with their
families, the Knights are nearly 6 million strong. In addition, from the first
local council in New Haven, the Order has grown to more than 12,000 councils in
the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the
Dominican Republic, Panama, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Poland, Guam and
Saipan. Each year, the Order continues this strong growth.
As the Order
has grown, its benevolence has multiplied. In 2005, total contributions to
charity at all levels reached $139,711,619 – exceeding the previous year’s total
by nearly $4 million. The figure includes $33,638,426 donated by the Supreme
Council, $12,685,401 given by state councils, and $93,387,792 in charitable
donations from local councils, such as Blessed Sacrament. Volunteer hours by
Knights for charitable causes grew to 64,039,706 hours, up nearly 1 million
hours from 2004. Additionally, members contributed another 8.5 million hours to
fraternal service activity. There were 399,264 Knights of Columbus blood donors
during the year, and Knights made more than 5.4 million visits to the sick and
bereaved. Many of the monetary donations and hours
of service were in support of relief efforts along the Gulf Coast in the wake of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Knights response to the tragic storms was swift
and significant. Disbursements of an initial $2.5 million allocation for storm
relief began two days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, and a
dollar-for-dollar match was established for donations provided by its members.
Cumulative figures show that during the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has
donated more than $1.208 billion to charity, and provided in excess of 574
million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable causes.
Father
McGivney's founding vision for the Order also included establishing a life
insurance program to provide for the widows and orphans of deceased members. The
Order's insurance program has expanded substantially to serve more effectively
the Knights' growing membership. Year after year, the Knights of Columbus have
earned the highest possible quality ratings for financial soundness from A.M.
Best and Standard & Poor's. The Order provides the highest quality insurance and
annuity products to its members, along with many other fraternal benefits.
Knights of
Columbus are Catholic gentlemen committed to the exemplification of charity,
unity, fraternity, patriotism, and defense of the priesthood. The Order is
consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Order is unequivocal in its loyalty
to the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. It is firmly committed to the
protection of human life, from conception to natural death, and to the
preservation and defense of the family. It was on these bedrock principles that
the Order was founded over a century ago and remains true to them today.
Refer to :
Knights of Columbus General Homepage
(external
link)
Council 11947
If you are a
Catholic gentleman over the age of 18 and interested in learning more about the
Knights of Columbus, call Joe Bush at 703.578.0037 or email him at
rojoe87@verizon.net. Blessed
Sacrament Knights, 10-years old, has 115 members among the 22,500 Virginia
Knights. The Council meets on the first Monday of the Month. Regular dues are
$50 a year and there is a student rate of $20. Importantly, the Knights are
pro-life and fight against the culture of death by prayer and action. Blessed
Sacrament Knights come from a wide variety of backgrounds and professions. All
Priests at Blessed Sacrament are Knights. Once a Knight, you will understand
what it means to belong to a Catholic Fraternity that cares for each Brother in
the Order.
Recent
Activities of the Blessed Sacrament Knights include:
1. Raised over $5,000 for
the Knights of Virginia Assisting the Retarded (KOVAR) in 2006;
2. Raised over $600
selling Kielbasa sandwiches at the school bazaar;
3. Provided support to the
Parish for the going-away picnic for Father Gray;
4. Support a Council member
doing missionary work in Philippines;
5. Sponsored and conducted
the Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot Basketball Tournament for the CYO;
6. Sold religious
Christmas Cards as part of the “Keep Christ in Christmas Program;”
7. Conducted the Knights
of Columbus Free Throw Championship;
8. Conducted a CYO fund
raiser and made over $1,500 for parish youth sports programs;
9. Conducted several
family spaghetti and chicken dinners;
10. Raised monies to help
victims of Hurricane Katrina;
11. Selected and recognized
a Young Man and Young Woman of the Year at Blessed Sacrament Grade School which
promotes service to their community; Savings bonds were provided to each
outstanding youth.
12. Continued to provide an
annual high school scholarship for youth attending a Catholic high school and
made awards totaling $1,500 to outstanding youths;
13. Helped out with the
Arlington Diocese altar-server picnic;
14. Provided monies to a
needy Parish Priest and Bishop in rural Nicaragua;
15. Assisted the respect
life ministries and prayed at the local abortion clinic on Duke Street;
16. Raised funds for
Vocations; Provided $750 for needy Seminarians.
17. Helped Alexandria
Committees raise money for scholarships to help out disabled persons;
18. Helped the Youth group
with fund raisers such as car washes, pancake breakfasts;
19. Conducted organ donor
programs and helped out with blood drives;
20. Provided Rosaries to the
sick and homebound of the Parish;
21. Provided over 700
sandwiches to an interfaith Alexandria group fixing houses for the poor.
22. Assisted staff of Bishop
Ireton High School in several projects.
23. Knights individually
serve as Eucharistic Ministers, Ushers, ECC and CCD Instructors, scout leaders,
coaches, community leaders, etc. |
