Twenty-nine members of the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary received meritorious fourth-degree status, the order’s highest honor, during a private ceremony June 4 followed by a Mass of celebration at Marymount University’s Sacred Heart of Mary Chapel in Arlington.
The nine men, all but one from the Arlington diocese, are now referred to as Sir Knights and known as a fourth degree assembly, while the 20 women, called Gracious Ladies, are a fourth degree chapter. The assembly and chapter are each named after Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, who joined the Knights of Peter Claver as a seminarian. Both are numbered 53, indicating their sequence of designation and elite status within the order.
The newcomers join approximately 1,025 other Sir Knights and 1,800 Gracious Ladies in the United States. Bishop Emeritus Paul S. Loverde received the status of Sir Knight when the order was established in the diocese in 2014.
“They are the workers in the vineyard,” said Grant A. Jones, executive director of the New Orleans-based Knights of Peter Claver Inc., of the fourth degree honorees. “With this exemplification, they are being recognized and rewarded.”
Their service to the church goes beyond being ushers or extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, though most participate in those ministries, Jones said. They regularly are involved in work with food pantries, hospitals and social causes. The women are involved in supporting seminarians.
“It’s really any facet of the Catholic community that has lay people working in it,” said Reginald C. Auzenne of Houston, supreme navigator of all fourth-degree Sir Knights.
The larger number of Gracious Ladies, seen at both the national and Arlington levels, “mirrors the church” and represents women’s deeply nurturing nature, said Supreme Navigator Jackie Simien Gulliory of Lake Charles, La.
113-year history
The order was founded in 1909 in Mobile, Ala., by four priests of the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart and three lay men of the Diocese of Mobile. It was an era not only of segregation in society and the church, but also when belonging to restricted membership organizations helped with financial and health care needs.
A group of 40 men formed the nucleus of the new Knights of Peter Claver. The fourth degree for men was established in 1926 and authorized for women in 1979.
St. Peter Claver (1581-1654) was a Spanish-born Jesuit. He devoted much of his life to serving enslaved Africans brought to Colombia during the 17th century. He is known as the patron saint of slaves, African missions and interracial justice.
While the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary is the largest historically African American Catholic lay organization in the United States, practicing Catholics of all races and ethnicities are welcome to join, said Jerry Cousin, chairman of the Arlington diocesan Black Catholic Ministry and one of the new Sir Knights. “We are lifting each other up and supporting the core values of the church.”
St. Joseph Church in Alexandria is the order’s home parish in the Arlington diocese. The Bishop Paul S. Loverde Council 398 has 34 members, including the new Sir Knights. The Mother Mary Lange Court 398 has 51 members, including the 20 new Gracious Ladies. Another eight Junior Knights and 12 Junior Daughters helps the order to flourish within families.
‘Yes’ to the Holy Spirit
The fourth degree exemplifications were planned before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vigil mass of Pentecost was a fitting coincidence.
“You have said ‘Yes’ to the Holy Spirit,” Father Gabriel Muteru, Marymount chaplain, said during his homily. “The Spirit is always telling the church something. And who is the church? You are the church.”
The Kenyan-born priest, now in the process of becoming a Knight of Peter Claver himself, told the honorees they should “walk with your heads high,” even as they continue to serve the church in humility.
Holan is a freelancer in Arlington.
Meritorious Fourth Degree Honorees
These eight men were exemplified as “Sir Knight” in the Wilton Cardinal Gregory Assembly No. 53:
Albert Anderson
Joseph Brooks
Gerard Cousin
Anthony Johnson
Ben McCarter
Nathan Murray
Herman Paris
Joseph Ragsdale
Joseph H. Greeter III of Philadelphia also was exemplified and joins Assembly No. 34.
These 20 women were exemplified as “Gracious Lady” in the Wilton Cardinal Gregory Chapter No. 53:
Beverly Anderson
Tracey Boyd-Vega
Janell Cline
Beverlyn Ellison
Gwendolyn Day Fuller
Cherie Furlow
Lisa Gilmore
Lisa Henry
Maude Holt
Patricia Jacobs
Dora Jones
Mathelle Lee
Beth Mahar
Sharon McCarter
Princess McEvilley
Stephana Miles
DeMia Pressley
Shirley Rochon
Beverly Thornton
Grace Williams
Two men and three women from the Arlington diocese were unable to attend the exemplification. They will be reconsidered later.
