Happy 100th Anniversary!
The year long celebration commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Knights of Lithuania has officially begun. On a perfect spring day and exactly 100 years since their founding, members of the Knights of Lithuania from all across the United States gathered in Lawrence, MA for a morning Memorial Service at the grave site of our Founder, Mykolas Norkunas.
The official start of our Centennial Year was commemorated during the entire weekend with the Memorial, Mass, Meetings and Christian fellowship.
Organized and Sponsored by local council, Council 78, Lawrence, MA and the New England District of the Knights of Lithuania A beautiful weekend of events took place, fittingly marking the start of a year of remembrance, renewal and celebrations. Our special thanks to David Boucher, President of Council 78, the members of Council 78, Vivian Rodgers, HM, President of the New England District, and the members of the New England District for hosting and welcoming everyone on this historic occasion. Check out the photos page for more pictures of this event.
Labas, welcome to the Knights of Lithuania website!
The Application for the 2013-2014 scholarship can be found on the Scholarship tab on the left.
The Knights of Lithuania is an organization of Roman Catholic men and women of Lithuanian ancestry and their spouses located in the USA. Adhering to the motto, "For God and Country," the Knights of Lithuania aim to keep alive among its members an appreciation of the Lithuanian language, customs and culture while also stressing the importance of Roman Catholic beliefs.
Organized on April 27, 1913, the Knights of Lithuania were begun as a youth organization. Its purpose was to unite the Lithuanian youth living in the USA, and through them, preserve Lithuanian culture and restore freedom to Lithuania, then divided between Russia and Germany. It has since become a family organization. St. Casimir, patron saint of Lithuania's youth, is honored as the organization's patron.
With Lithuania's regained freedom, the Knights of Lithuania have worked to continually expand on our current goals and work towards new ones. Currently, our ancillary organizations are aiding the Lithuanian Pontifical College in Rome through the St. Casimir Guild, Inc.; supplying Roman Catholic reading materials and additional needed aid through the Knights of Lithuanian Foundation, Inc. and promoting a deeper understanding, reverence and knowledge of the Blessed Mother's appearance in Siluva, Lithuania in 1608, through the Our Lady of Siluva Fund, Inc. We also work to assist the needs of Lithuanian causes and Lithuania through our Lithuanian Affairs Committee which works to disseminate information on current issues both here and abroad. We encourage everyone to visit their separate pages of this website for additional information as it becomes available.
Here in the United States, we strive to keep alive our Lithuanian heritage through cultural presentations, lectures, trips, choral and dance groups. A longtime member once said, "Our youth is our future". and the Knights of Lithuania have heeded these words. Through the efforts of our National Scholorship Fund, the organization is able to help talented members further their education. In addition we encourage all councils to form Junior Councils for our younger members.
The Knights of Lithuania is a member of the Lithuanian American Council, and the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Federation.
Keeping busy is always healthy for an organization. The Knights of Lithuania not only believe this, we practice it every day! We invite you to browse through our site and hope you enjoy learning more about us. New members are always welcome!