Greetings for Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving, Brothers. Nancy and I wish each of you and your families, a very Happy and Prayerful Thanksgiving. We are sure that each of us has so much to be thankful for. One of the things that all of us are thankful for is our freedom. So as we celebrate with our families, let us stop and say a prayer for all of those who have given us our freedom and who continue to give us our freedom each and every day -- the men and women who protect and serve our country. Following this message is a message from our Vice Supreme Master, Ralph Rossi, and a Proclamation issued by President George Washington in 1789. Both are worth the few minutes they will take to read. I ask that all of the Navigators please make sure that this message is forwarded to their members. Thanks for all that you do for our Order and for the Fourth Degree. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and travel safely.
Fraternally,
Charles and Nancy Smallwood

*******From Former Vice Supreme Master Charles Gallina
Worthy Vice Supreme Master and Dear Ralph,
A timely and thoughtful Thanksgiving message. We need to be reminded often, especially since many of our elected and appointed officials, judges, and too many of our fellow citizens seem to have forgotten the debt this Nation owes to Almighty God or are deliberately seeking to drive Our Lord out of our daily lives, that we are indeed a Nation founded on Judeo-Christian values and if we are to remain Free and Strong we must stand up and defend these values. George Washington's declaration reminds us of the religious principles our Founding Fathers built this Nation on---we do not need those who hate God to tell us what they "really meant". The most Solemn duty of the 4th Degree of the Knights of Columbus is to teach, to enlighten, to defend, and to speak out for our civil and religious Freedoms--to be actively and truly Patriotic---our Catholic values and principles are the underpinning of our Christan Patriotism! Happy Thanksgiving to All.
Vivat Jesus. Semper Fi!
Chuck Gallina, PSD/FVSM
Colonel of Marines, Ret*******

From VSM Ralph Rossi....
My Friends,
Becky and I would like to extend our best wishes for a Happy and SafeThanksgiving Holiday. As we thank God for the many Blessings He has bestowed upon us, let us say a prayer for those who continue to do everything possible to remove Him from our public lives. Especially during this time of year, we often hear or read about situations involving judges and politicians who express their beliefs as to what our founders intended regarding separationof Church and State. How often we are told that "God" has no place in our public schools or public buildings, that the mere mention of his name is in violation of the Constitution. As a reminder of how our Founders truly felt about "Almighty God", I thought I would include in my message the Proclamation written by President George Washington 220 years ago. Please take a minute to read it; we all should be reminded of this daily.
General Thanksgiving By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America: A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence ofAlmighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and WHEREAS both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of AlmightyGod, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:" NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service ofthat great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His Providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- forthe peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us. And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.
(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

Let us never forget this Nation was born as, is today and always will be "ONE NATION UNDER GOD" !

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving.
Ralph