During the 126th annual Army-Navy Game on Dec. 13, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori led college Knights from the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy in praying a rosary at halftime.
With the Black Knights holding a 13-7 lead at the break, cadets and midshipmen alike left their rivalry on the field to unite in a public display of faith and fraternity. Approximately 250 people gathered in a stadium concourse to pray the rosary, organized for the second consecutive year by Knights from Msgr. Cornelius George O’Keefe Council 8250 at West Point, New York, and Commodore Barry Council 14534 at Annapolis, Maryland, with support from the Supreme Council.
“It is so wonderful that you are here — Pro Deo et Patria, for God and country,” said Supreme Knight Kelly, referencing the motto of the Army Chaplain Corps. “We live in a great country where we can do this — practice our faith in public. And we can do it because we have the armed forces to protect these freedoms.”
Also joining the rosary were Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA; Supreme Master Michael McCusker, a retired U.S. Army major; and Catholic leaders from both academies.
Since before World War I, the Knights of Columbus has supported the spiritual and temporal well-being of servicemen and women, a mission that continues today. For more than a decade, the Order has partnered with the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, to sponsor the annual Warriors to Lourdes pilgrimage and has distributed more than 700,000 copies of Armed with the Faith, the Order’s military prayer book. The Knights also sponsor a scholarship program that supports the archdiocese’s Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program, which helps fund the education of seminarians preparing to serve as Catholic chaplains in the U.S. armed forces.
This year, the Order celebrated the 125th anniversary of the Fourth Degree, the patriotic degree of the Knights of Columbus.
The supreme knight, a former U.S. Navy officer, concluded his remarks at the rosary event with a bit of humor that turned out to be prophetic.
“We all know that God is a just judge, and sometimes he sends rain on … the Navy, and sometimes on the Army,” Supreme Knight Kelly said. “The only thing I can leave you with is this: Go Navy, beat Army.”
The final score: Navy 17, Army 16.
Editor’s note: The halftime rosary was organized by the Knights of Columbus and was not officially sanctioned or endorsed by either service academy or by the Army-Navy Game.