Knights of Columbus
Our Lady of the Chesapeake Council 10881

Who We Are

Our Lady of the Chesapeake Council #10881 of the Knights of Columbus was chartered on April 20th, 1992 and now includes over 75 members. We are a Parish-based Council affiliated with Our Lady of the Chesapeake Roman Catholic Church in Pasadena, Maryland. 

We are heavily involved in Church ministry with outreach activities to the community, to youth and to God's Special Children. 

The Council conducts an Officers/Business meeting on the first Wednesday and a General/Social meeting on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm at The Gathering Place at 8325 Ventnor Road, Pasadena, MD.

Who are these Men they call Knights?

   CHARITY, UNITY, FRATERNITY, AND PATRIOTISM

The 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.

If you want to join this great organization of Catholic men, Our Lady of the Chesapeake Council 10881 will be more than happy to welcome you. There you will find brother Knights working to fulfill the central mission of the Order: giving aid to widows, orphans, the sick the poor; striving in charitable works; serving the Church and unified in following its teachings; supporting brother Knights in their temporal and spiritual needs and acting for the good of their country.

    Fr. Michael J. McGivney 

History and Growth of the Knights of Columbus   

On Oct. 2, 1881, a small group of men met in the basement of St. Mary's Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut. Called together by their 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, these men formed a fraternal society that would one day become the world's largest Catholic family fraternal service organization. They sought strength in solidarity, and security through unity of purpose and devotion to a holy cause: they vowed to be defenders of their country, their families and their faith. These men were bound together by the ideal of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the Americas, the one whose hand brought Christianity to the New World. Their efforts came to fruition with the incorporation of the Knights of Columbus on March 29, 1882. They were Knights of Columbus.

The founder and first officers of the fledgling organization chose the name "Knights of Columbus" because they felt that, as a Catholic group, it should relate to Christopher Columbus, the Catholic discoverer of America. This would emphasize that it was a Catholic who discovered, explored, and colonized the North American continent. At the same time "Knights" would signify that the membership embodied knightly ideals of spirituality and service to Church, country and fellowman.

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. With a membership of over 1.6 million men, the Knights of Columbus is now the world's largest lay organization in the Catholic Church. There are over 12,000 Councils throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Guam, and Saipan.