Grand Knight’s Corner for March

February was a busy month for our Council! We welcomed two new Knights – Andrew Wing and Ryan Sharpe – into Fitzgerald Council 459 at the exemplification we had on February 19; they are already rolling their sleeves up and signing up for volunteer opportunities, which is exactly what I like to see. We also helped out at the basketball free throw challenge on February 14 at the BSM school gym and participated in the Polar Plunge down at Leesylvania State Park. I am proud to say that our Council raised $4,500 for the Special Olympics and the entire event raised $130,000. A tremendous success! Many thanks to my fellow Plungers John Kim, Zach Waters, Chuck Zakrzwski, Chuck’s son Peter, Terry Riley and his Patrick, and Ted Smith and Eric Latcheran.

At 10:30 on March 1st, Potomac Assembly 2204, the Fourth Degree Assembly, hosted a Patriotic Rosary at the Basilica of St. Mary. This is conducted regularly on the first Saturday of every month to pray for our country, alternating between the three Councils that make up the Assembly.

There will be five Masses on Ash Wednesday (NOT a Holy Day of Obligation, contrary to popular belief): 6:30 am, 8 am, 12:10 pm, 5 pm and 7 pm. The 7 pm Mass will have a choir; if you have not experienced a Mass at St. Mary’s with a full choir, I would highly recommend it because it is a beautiful experience and Heaven and Earth truly meet for a moment. We will need 3-4 ushers for each Mass so if you are available, please email Steve Teslik () to sign up for a Mass.

This weekend, we are kicking off the St. Lucy Food Drive by handing out bags AFTER each Mass; you can find the sign up genius for bag distribution here. We have a separate sign up for the bag collection, which will happen the following weekend (March 8-9) BEFORE each Mass. If we can get 2-3 guys to join me and Keith in dropping the bags off at the Catholic Charities warehouse in Manassas (ETA between 6-6:30 pm) Sunday evening, that would be terrific. This is one of the biggest and most important projects we take on twice a year, as almost 300,000 people in our Diocese struggle with food insecurity. Please help out if you can and of course, donate your own bag of food next weekend. And wear your Knights shirt if you have one!

On Friday, March 21, we will be hosting a meatless Lenten dinner for the parishioners; each major apostolate at the Basilica is given a different week to host. The dinner typically takes place at 6 pm and ends at 7, when the Stations of the Cross begins. The Council needs someone to step up and lead the charge.