St Irene's Knights of Columbus
St. Irene's established a Knights of Columbus Council within the parish in June 2005. St. Irene's Council provides you with an opportunity to serve your family, your community, and your church.
The Knights of Columbus is an international organization of Catholic men who are attempting to make this world a better place, one project at a time. The Knights of Columbus is a charitable organization having raised and donated well over $1 billion within the past ten years. The Knights of Columbus is a service oriented organization in which its members volunteer their time, their talents, and their energies in service to others. In 2005 alone, its members donated over 64 million hours of their time for charitable causes, and approximately 400,000 Knights donated blood - the gift of life.
Since their beginnings in St. Mary's Church in New Haven, CT back in the 1880s, the Knights have focused on the welfare of family. When they were first formed, they established an "insurance" program for the widows and families in their parish who were often left destitute when their breadwinner died. Today, that insurance program still meets the needs of its members' families; it has grown into being one of the top rated insurance programs in the United States. Year after year, the Knights of Columbus insurance program has earned the highest possible quality ratings for financial soundness from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's.
Internationally, the Knights are well known for their support of Catholic education and their attempts to spread knowledge about the Catholic religion. Each year, they pay the satellite costs associated with broadcasting the Christmas and Easter midnight Mass from the Vatican. They provide scholarships for seminarians as well as their own member's children attending Catholic colleges. And they support the building and maintenance of Catholic schools and colleges.
The Knights' website (kofc.org) provides much more information about the their work, their values, and their membership benefits.
At a local level, St Irene's Council has hosted Red Cross blood drives, and worked with the Carlisle Police for a KidsID day. They have supported the parish picnic, established a Christmas party for the kids, make religious Christmas cards available to parishioners, and provide rosary beads for our Confirmation candidates. They support boy and girl scouts, and the attainment of scouting's religious badges. They have responded to requests for help from parish and local community organizations. The Knight's motto "In service to one, In service to all" is realized in their work.
Each February, St Irene's Knights sponsor a Scout Sunday in which local boy and girl scouts are recognized for their work. Following the Mass, scout Religious Medals are presented. For information about these medals, see the documents:
Girl Scout Medals (Adobe PDF Format)
Cub Scout Medals (Microsoft Word Format)
Boy Scout Medals (Microsoft Word Format)
Membership in the Knights is open to Catholic men at least 18 years of age. There is a membership form to complete, and an "enrollment" ceremony. Annual dues are $35. Once a member in St Irene's Council, the Knight can attend meetings and join with other Knights at any council to support charitable work that interests them.
Meetings are held in the Parish Hall at 8:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. All interested Catholic men are encouraged to join us to learn about the Knights at St. Irene's.
If you have questions about the Knights, and want to talk with a person, call Paul Flanagan at 692-6570.
For information about the canonization of the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Fr. Michael J. McGivney.
The Knights of Columbus - World Wide
The following links provide information about the larger Knights of Columbus organization.
- Eight-page overview booklet (Adobe Acrobat file)
St. Irene Roman Catholic Church
181 East Street - Carlisle,MA USA
978-369-3940