Tillsonburg Columbian Squires

This section has been taken from the provincial board web site

THE COLUMBIAN SQUIRES

  The Columbian Squires program was developed to enhance a young man's opportunities in life -- a chance to receive the leadership training and moral guidance needed to succeed. With so many different types of organizations for young men in today's world, what makes the Squires different? This is a Catholic organization that builds character and develops leadership.

 

  While you are a squire, you will have a chance to participate in many different kinds of activities. Programming includes four standing committees -- spiritual activities, service activities, circle activities and membership activities. The goal of each committee is to organize and complete at least four different activities each year. This provides the opportunity for growth in areas such as decision-making, delegation of responsibility, administration, public speaking, public relations, record-keeping, financial responsibility, and program promotion.

 

  You won't merely be a participant in those activities. You will plan them, organize them, finance them, promote them, and carry them to completion. Your counsellors will guide, advise, and assist you in learning the skills needed to complete your programs -- but yours is the responsibility for how well these programs are carried out.

 

  The circle's programs will enrich you in many ways. They will confirm your commitment to the Church and strengthen your moral character. You will gain a sense of the diversity of people in the world, and find your own place within the community.

 

THE FOUNDING OF THE COLUMBIAN SQUIRES

  The existence of the Columbian Squires organization is due to the vision of the Knights of Columbus and the experience and determination of Brother Barnabas McDonald, a Christian Brother whose entire adult life was devoted to the welfare of young men.

 

  Largely because of his previous work with youth, Brother Barnabas was charged by the Knights of Columbus with the development of a program for Catholic young men, which would have the immediate objectives of developing each member's leadership abilities.

 

  On August 4, 1925 the first official investiture took place during the 43rd annual meeting of the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus held in Duluth, Minnesota. Barnabas Circle 1, sponsored by Duluth Council 447, thus became the first Columbian Squires circle. Other circles followed under the sponsorship of a Knights of Columbus Council or fourth degree assembly. Each was granted its own charter and known by its own name and number.

  Four years after the first investiture, Brother Barnabas died in New Mexico. The New York Times wrote, "(he) was a Saint walking amid the crowded, busy, modern ways of men, in active ministry to boyhood...to how many thousands of individuals he has given a helping hand, no one can estimate."

 

  Brother Barnabas once urged the Knights of Columbus, "...give (a boy) the greatest possible help in making himself the sort of Christian citizen he wishes to become, and we so urgently need." Over 300,000 young men have been Columbian Squires in more than 4,500 circles in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippine Islands, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico -- a fitting testament to the insight and compassion displayed by both the Knights of Columbus and Brother Barnabas for the welfare of young men everywhere.

 

 THE SQUIRES EMBLEM

  The Squires emblem symbolizes the ideals which identify a squire. Centered in a circle and on a maltese cross are the letters, "P," "I," "S" and "C" (which symbolize the unity of physical, intellectual, spritual, and civic life in a squire) Over the maltese cross are the larger letters "C," representing Christ, "S," the Squires, and "K," the Knights by whom the Squires program is sponsored.