Council 9058 Newsletter
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COUNCIL 9058 NEWSLETTER Publication Month – October 2020 Grand Knight’s Report As a reminder, the Grand Knight no longer works for Dent Wizard and thus his contact info has changed. He can be reached at (603) 339-6971 or by email [email protected] The Grand Knight wished to thank the Knights who helped move 4 tons of wood pellets that were delivered to Claudette Levesque’s home in time for winter. They were a huge help and moved everything into storage. The Grand Knight wished to thank various brother Knights such as Dan Beaule, Paul Fitzgerald, Steve Rizzo and the many others who help behind the scenes and keep the Council humming. The Grand Knight wished to thank Jean Morin for constructing a beautiful wall for the Food Pantry in the last garage bay. Knight of the Quarter The Knight of the Quarter for Aug – Oct is Bill Mahoney. Brother Bill has recently come onboard but took no time to ease into things, he immediately jumped with both feet forward and helped with the Golf Tournament. Through your tireless efforts, we are on pace to having a great tournament this year. Thank you on an award well deserved. Business Meeting Minutes The council’s last business meeting was held on October 5th. Minutes from the meeting can be found on our Council Website in the Members Only section. Our next business meeting is Monday, November 2nd. You can either dial in through Zoom or attend in person. The meeting invite was previously sent out on October 8th. Upcoming Events None at this time Upcoming degree exemplifications The next exemplification will be held online on November 27th. This 1-hour meeting will earn you up to your 3rd degree. Please see the Grand Knight or Financial Secretary if you wish to attend. If you are unable to make it, December 18th will be the next exemplification opportunity. Weekly Briefings Each week, the Knights of Columbus State Council put out Weekly Briefings. These briefings list any upcoming events such as State sponsored drives, degree exemplifications and membership updates. To access the current news brief, go to nhknight.org, then click Home / Weekly News briefs For a list of past briefings, click Home / Previous Newsletters Inspiration from our Worthy Lecturer The Vatican Swiss Guard Reference: www.britannica.com Swiss Guards are a corps of Swiss soldiers responsible for the safety of the pope. Often called “the world’s smallest army,” they serve as personal escorts to the pontiff and as watchmen for Vatican City and the pontifical villa of Castel Gandolfo. The guards, who are independent of the Swiss armed forces, are employed by the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the pope, to whom they swear fealty in a ceremony at Belvedere Court. As is common with any elite military corps, competition is intense for inclusion in the Swiss Guards. New recruits must be unmarried Roman Catholic males with Swiss citizenship, between 19 and 30 years of age, and at least 5 feet 8 inches tall; they must have a professional diploma or high school degree and must complete basic training with the Swiss military. The guards normally wear blue doublets and blue berets, but on ceremonial occasions they don the colorful Renaissance-era uniforms for which they are famous. They are among the oldest uniforms in continuous use, though Michelangelo, contrary to legend, probably did not design them. The tunics are striped in the colors of the Medici family: red, dark blue, and yellow. White ruffs and high plumed helmets (with ostrich feathers colored to reflect different ranks) are also worn, as, on occasion, is armor. While in traditional dress, the guards carry pikes and swords, but they are also trained in the use of modern weaponry and counterterrorism techniques. The living quarters of the Swiss Guards are at the eastern edge of the Vatican City, north of St. Peter’s Square and beside the Vatican palace. Their chapel is that of Saints Martino and Sebastiano, and the Campo Santo Teutonico, near St. Peter’s Basilica, is designated their cemetery. Swiss mercenaries were long renowned as the best soldiers in the world - they were in particularly high demand in France and Spain. The guardsmen began serving the Papal States in the late 14th and 15th centuries. In 1505 the Swiss bishop (later cardinal) Matthäus Schiner, acting on behalf of Pope Julius II, proposed the creation of a permanent Swiss contingent that would operate under the direct control of the pope, and on January 22, 1506, the first contingent of 150 Swiss guardsmen arrived at the Vatican. They soon earned a reputation for self- sacrifice and bravery, as demonstrated during the sack of Rome in 1527, when all but 42 of the 189 guardsmen died defending Pope Clement VII. The Swiss Guards prepared for similar self-sacrifice during World War II, when the vastly outnumbered guardsmen took up defensive positions as German forces rolled into Rome; Adolf Hitler, however, chose not to attack the Vatican. The unit was reorganized in 1914 to consist of a commandant (with the rank of colonel), 5 other ranking officers, 15 lesser officers, a chaplain, and 110 pikemen. Further reorganizations were made in 1959 and 1976, and in 1979 their number was fixed at 100 (a commandant, 3 other high officers, a chaplain, 23 lesser officers, 2 drummers, and 70 pikemen). In 1981 Swiss Guards helped protect Pope John Paul II during an assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square. In fact, the plainclothes guardsman who rushed to the pope’s aid became a hero and was named commandant of the Swiss Guards in 1998. The Swiss Guards are sometimes referred to as the Vatican City police, but a separately administered police force is charged with the overall security of the nation-state (except St. Peter’s Square, which is under the jurisdiction of the Italian police). Stories of Faith Surviving the September 11th attack on New York City My name is Genelle Guzman-McMillan. I work at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the LaGuardia Airport. In 2001, I was assigned from a temp agency, working for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the World Trade Center. It seemed to be an emergency, a terrorist attack or something. And I was, like, a terrorist attack, what is that? I think we have to leave. I think there is something where a plane hit the building. I don't know what's going on but they said we have to leave. The building felt like an earthquake. Like it's, like, it's really going to fall. After we kept going on, twenty- something staircases, we saw firefighters. That's when I just felt the whole wall and the tumbling, the rumbling and everything just came crashing down. It knocked me to the ground. When I realized that I couldn't move, I couldn't get up, I realized that this is not a dream, this is happening. I just closed my eyes and I said, Lord, am I gonna die here? And I was, like, I knew I was going to die because I knew the building collapsed, 110-story building, after a collapse like that, how could anybody find me under the rubble? And you know, so I was just kind of preparing myself to die. I was in so much pain and I knew I was still alive and I wanted to live. And for some reason I just said, you know, do something, say something and I just started to pray in silence. You know, I told Him to show me a sign. And if You pulled me out of this rubble, if You saved me today, I would change my life and I would do His will. Someone grabbed my hand and they called me by my name. And they said, "Genelle, I got you, my name is Paul." And when that person grabbed my hand and told me his name and called me by my name, I said to myself, thank God, and my body just felt completely calm. I didn't feel the pain, but I just kept holding onto his hand. And I said, thank God, thank God. And he said to me, he said, "I'm not going to let you go. Just keep holding on my hand, keep holding my hand until the rescuer gets here. I got you, I got you." I was so joyful at that time, knowing that the guys came in, finally, I'm getting out. Then the doctors whisked me into the operating room and told me that I had to go through emergency. I spent like two months in the hospital. I had to do intensive therapy, physical therapy. In the hospital I was told that I was the last survivor to be removed from the rubble after 27 hours. Being under the rubble, I knew that I have given my life to Jesus Christ that day. I had made that commitment with God that I will change my life and do His will. I think I'm here to tell a story and to do the will of God as well. I think there is a bigger plan for me. A lot of people would come up to me and said, you know, my story has inspired them so much. I would get emails on the Facebook page and people would just send out emails, trying to connect with me, telling me about my story, how it's been just a blessing of hope and inspiration for them.