Welcome to Knights of Columbus Council# 488

The Knights of Columbus was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882 in the basement of St. Mary's Catholic Church by Father Michael J. McGivney and a handful of Catholic laymen. The aim of the founder and those first members was to set up a parish-based lay organization that offered insurance benefits. In an era when parish and fraternal societies were popular, Father McGivney felt there should be some way to strengthen the religious faith of his flock and provide financial support for families overwhelmed by illness or the death of the breadwinner.

Today we have grown from that one local unit, or council, to nearly 11,000 councils in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Guam and Saipan.

Membership is nearly 1.6 million dues-paying members plus their families - approximately 4.5 million people total - many of whom are actively involved in volunteer service programs for the Catholic Church, their communities, their families, young people and one another.

In 1996, members reported 48,966,132 hours of volunteer service and $105,976,102 raised and donated to charitable and fraternal projects, including $19,014,276 from the Supreme Council and Knights of Columbus Charities Inc., and $86,961,826 from state and local councils. The monies raised at the state and local levels are expended exclusively for state and local programs.

The early system of fraternal benefits has grown into a top-quality life insurance society, offering a variety of policy plans to members and their families. Both A. M. Best Co. and Standard & Poor's rate K of C insurance "Superior" - A++ and AAA, respectively - their highest designations.

The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest organization of Catholic men and their families, has been called "the strong right arm of the Church," and has been cited by popes, presidents and other world leaders for support of the Church, for programs of evangelization and Catholic education, for civic involvement and aid to those in need.

"Protecting Families for Generations" is a motto that captures the Knights' adherence to the legacy of its founder and fidelity to his vision.

In a word, fraternity. More specifically, the Knights of Columbus offers the Catholic man and his family opportunities for leadership training through active involvement in a local unit, or council; volunteer opportunities in the parish and community; low-cost life insurance; fraternal benefits like college scholarships and student loans for himself, his wife and children; Columbia magazine; and so much more.

Membership in the Knights of Columbus offers the member and his family fellowship with like-minded Catholic families not only in his community or parish, but throughout his state, region, and even internationally.

Being a Knight of Columbus allows a man to offer an added measure of protection to his family. By availing himself of the Order's highly rated and financially sound insurance products, he can protect his family against hard times or an untimely death and provide for the retirement of himself and his spouse.

By getting involved in the variety of volunteer service programs that each local unit or council conducts through the "Surge...with Service" program, he helps protect and defend his family, Church and community against forces hostile to family life, civic values and the Church today.

A lot of groups promise to look out for your best interests, but the Knights of Columbus offers more - it looks after the best interests of society - and you can be a part of it. We've been "Protecting Families for Generations" and we'll continue to do so for generations to come with your support and involvement.

Have you and your family ever watched the telecast of Pope John Paul II's midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on Christmas Eve? Well, the Knights of Columbus is the organization that underwrites the costs of beaming that telecast from the Vatican, and has done so since 1976. Our satellite uplink program covers the costs of uploading the transmission and pays for the downlink in mission countries as well.

Or perhaps you've seen us standing in front of your local shopping mall or grocery store raising funds for programs supporting people with mental retardation. The Knights of Columbus uses its Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity to gather various facts on the work done by local units. Information collected through the survey includes the amount of money and volunteer hours donated by the Knights of Columbus to charitable and benevolent causes. In 1996, Knights Order wide raised and distributed $105,976,102 to charitable and benevolent programs and volunteered 48,966,132 hours of time.

These totals - the highest in the Order's history - are based on reports received from most Knights of Columbus councils, Fourth Degree assemblies, Columbian Squires circles and other jurisdictional entities responding to the survey. Over the past 10 years, the Knights of Columbus has volunteered more than 397 million hours of service and donated over $945 million to charity.

On a local level, if your community has an active K of C council, you'll find many ways that Knights are involved: running youth religious education programs, delivering Communion to homebound and elderly shut-ins, painting classrooms in Catholic schools, volunteering at Special Olympics events or tending a community garden. We collect used eyeglasses for needy people at home and around the world. We put new roofs on senior citizens' homes and write letters to young men studying for the priesthood.

What we do at the local level is pretty much left up to the Knights in the local community. If they see a problem that they think they can muster the resources to solve, they attack it. No programs are mandated by the international headquarters, or Supreme Council office, in New Haven, Connecticut. No funds raised at the local level are sent to the Supreme Council, either. All funds raised stay at the local level, helping causes local Knights want to help. The principal areas of volunteer involvement through our "Surge...with Service" program can be broken down into the following categories: Church, Community, Council, Family and Youth.

There are only two requirements for a man to join the Knights of Columbus: that he be a practical Catholic as understood by the Church, and that he be 18 years of age or older.

While dues-paying membership is only for Catholic men, most council programs are open to the member's entire family, including social and family activities, scholarships, volunteer service programs and insurance benefits.

Candidates join local units, called "councils," most of which are based in one Catholic parish, or in the community at large. The candidate takes part in initiation degrees that explain the Knights of Columbus' four principles: Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism.

He is considered a "Knight" after taking his First Degree, but he is encouraged to advance through the Second and Third Degrees and on to the Fourth Degree, whose members promote the virtue of patriotism by serving in honor guards, color corps and promoting respect for country and the flag.

If you are interested in learning more or joining, feel free to contact our Membership Director:

George Harnois - (508) 697-7359

Welcome to the St. Vincent de Paul Society

Founded 1920

We are an international charitable society organized in 1883 by Frederick Ozanam, a student of the University of Paris. He wanted to address the needs of the poor during the industrial revolution. He also wanted to improve the lives of young people by urging them to perform works of charity rather than just talking about how they ought to be done. The group took as its patron the great French priest St. Vincent De Paul, who had alerted the world of his day to many social problems. The group began by visiting the poor in their homes and assisting them both spiritually and materially. The Society spread throughout Europe and to the USA in 1845. Today there are over 4,300 active conferences in this country with about 65,000 active members. Annually the Society distributes over $100 million in direct aid to the poor in the USA.

• We now have a drop-off box in the church parking lot. Come drop off items of clothes for area families.
• *Note: Bagged clothing only - no appliances, furniture, or mattresses.
• If you are interested in joining the St. Thomas Aquinas Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, please call the rectory.

Women's Club

For those women of church who want to make a difference!

To function for spiritual, charitable, cultural, educational, and social purposes.

Any woman 18 years or over who would like to become a member, please call the rectory.

Parish Council

Coming Soon

Marian and Eucharistic Devotions

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Bridgewater hosts many Marian and Eucharistic Devotions Coordinated by the Rosary Procession Committee of the Parish, one of the main devotions is the monthly Candlelight Rosary Procession, held on the 13th of the month from May through October at 8 PM, rain or shine. These processions, held in the upper church, feature a guest speaker, inspirational music, a Candlelight Rosary Procession led by a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and Benediction. The service begins in church and proceeds outdoors as the Rosary is recited. Outdoor speakers allow all to take part In the Rosary, whether in the church or outdoors. The Rosary Processions are held for the sole purpose of giving honor and glory to Almighty God, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and His Holy Mother. Our Lady of Fatima--for the ultimate triumph of her Immaculate Heart and the Reign of Christ the King, We endeavor to bring the Message of Fatima to all, through the guest speakers and through literature on display at the rear of the church (narthex). Rosaries, Scapulars, medals and other religious items are available for all.

Held in honor of Our Lady of Fatima, we promote the Message of Fatima, which was given to us in 1917 as Our Lady appeared to 3 shepherd children in the little village of Fatima, Portugal, on the 13th of the month on 6 separate occasions, beginning on May 13, 1917 and ending on October 13,1917, The little shepherds, Jaclnta and Francisco Marto, sister and brother, and their cousin, Lucia Santos, were privileged to see Our Lady and to take to heart her pleas for dally Rosary, penance and sacrifices, and acts of reparation for the conversion of sinners. Francisco and Jacinta Marto died in 1919 and 1920, respectively in the world wide influenza epidemic at that time; Lucia went on to become a Dorothean nun and then a Carmelite nun in Coimbra, Portugal. Our Lady had told her that she would live "some time longer" to promote devotion to Our Lady's immaculate Heart. The "some time longer" ended in 2005, when Sister Lucia, then 98, died. AH through those years, she spread devotion to Our Lady through her Memoirs, written in obedience to her Bishops, Pope John Paul II, in one of several visits to Fatima, beatified Jacinta and Francisco Marto now known as Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco, on May 13, 2000. They are buried along with Sister Lucia in the Basilica in Fatima, Portugal, where thousands of people pilgrimage.

One devotion urged by Our Lady of Fatima was reparation to her Immaculate Heart by First Saturday Devotions. St, Thomas Aquinas Parish is privileged to hold First Saturday Devotions on the First Saturday of each month after the 9 AM Mass In the lower church. The devotions include the meditated Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. At the request of Our Lady of Fatima, the First Saturdays are made in reparation for the 5 types of blasphemies against her Immaculate Heart, First Saturday literature is available at the rear of the upper and lower church, with booklets for use along with these devotions.

A devotion held at St, Thomas Aquinas Parish for many years is Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held each Saturday after the 9 AM Mass until 3:30 PM, It is also held on the First Friday of each month after the 9 AM Mass until 10:30 AM, Adoration is held in the lower church. Basically, Eucharistic Adoration is recognizing and honoring the True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. As Jesus Is no longer present to humankind in the same way He was when He walked the earth, He has made Himself present to us through the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist in the church we proclaim Christ's death and resurrection. Outside of Mass, the Church venerates the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic Adoration, Usually the consecrated Host is placed in a sacred vessel known as the "monstrance", which Is placed on the altar for all to see. We come to Jesus in the Eucharist to adore thank, pray to and console Him, In the words of Pope John Paul I!, "When we contemplate Him present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, Christ draws near to us and becomes more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. Remaining in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, it is Christ totally and really present whom we discover, whom we adore, and with whom we are content."

Our Parish is always in need of "Adorers" of Jesus In the Blessed Sacrament at Eucharistic Adoration, As we must never leave Our Lord "alone" when He is exposed in the Blessed Sacrament, we need persons to commit to one hour on Saturdays between the hours of 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM, In the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on Holy Thursday night, to his Apostles, "Could you not watch one hour with Me?" (Matthew 26:40) Bring your lives. Its hope, Its struggles, Its needs to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament He waits for you.

If you need any information about the above devotions, or to commit to an hour of Adoration on Saturdays, please call Parish Representatives of the World Apostolate of Fatima, Archdiocese of Boston-Andrea Proffetty (508-697-9481) or Elaine Sweetman (508-697-8154) also members of The Rosary Procession Commlttee at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.