About Our Council

St. Joan of Arc Council 3384 was founded on January 9, 1951 and reinstituted on November 12, 2003 through the efforts of the men of St. Joan of Arc Church in Orleans MA.

St. Joan of Arc

The council is named after St. Joan of Arc, who was the patroness of soldiers and of France. At a very early age, in May, 1428, she heard the voices of “St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret” who told Joan to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom.

After overcoming opposition from churchmen and courtiers, the seventeen year old girl was given a small army with which she raised the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429. She then enjoyed a series of spectacular military successes, during which the King was able to enter Rheims and be crowned with her at his side.

In May 1430, as she was attempting to relieve Compiegne, she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English when Charles and the French did nothing to save her. After months of imprisonment, she was tried at Rouen by a tribunal presided over by the infamous Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, who hoped that the English would help him to become archbishop.

Through her unfamiliarity with the technicalities of theology, Joan was trapped into making a few damaging statements. When she refused to retract the assertion that it was the saints of God who had commanded her to do what she had done, she was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress, and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. She was nineteen years old.

Some thirty years later, she was exonerated of all guilt and she was ultimately canonized in 1920, making official what the people had known for centuries. Her feast day is May 30. Joan was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

Works Closely with the Church

The council works closely with St. Joan of Arc Church in Orleans MA in providing funds for various projects and getting involved in various activities. Members of the council are also active participants in the parish. Many of our members serve in the lay ministry as Ushers, Lectors, and Eucharistic Ministers. In addition, some of our members serve on the Respect Life Committee, the Parish Council, and with the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Meetings

The council meets at St. Joan of Arc Church located at 61 Canal Road in Orleans MA. We meet in the Parish Hall (basement) of St. Joan of Arc Church at 7:30 pm on the second Wednesday of each month.

The Grand Knight for 2021 – 2022 fraternal year is John Vasilik

You can contact the Orleans MA Knights of Columbus by phone at (508) 240-7801 or by email.