Feast of St. Louis Guanella • Tuesday, October 20, 2026 • St. Louis Center, Chelsea
The Servants of Charity and St. Louis Center have extended a special invitation to the Michigan Knights of Columbus: join them on Tuesday, October 20, as they celebrate the Feast of St. Louis Guanella and the 50th anniversary of priestly ordination of Fr. Enzo Addari, SdC.
Mass will be offered at 11:00 a.m. at St. Louis Center, 16195 W. Old US Hwy. 12, Chelsea. Guanellian Cooperators will renew their promises during Mass. A luncheon will follow. Two superiors of the Servants of Charity will be present: Rev. Fr. Soosai Rathinam Antonysamy, Vicar General of the Servants of Charity, and Rev. Fr. Gnanaraj Rayapillai, Provincial Superior of the Divine Providence Province.
Fr. Enzo was born in Corcumello, in Italy’s Abruzzo region, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1976, for the Servants of Charity — the congregation founded by St. Louis Guanella to serve people whom the world too often leaves on the margins. He arrived in the United States the following year. Since 1983 he has given his life to the mission of St. Louis Center.
He served as administrator of the Center from 1991 to 1997 and again from 2008 until December 2023, when he retired as CEO and became CEO Emeritus. Under his leadership the Center marked its 50th and 60th anniversaries, expanded services from children to aging adults, and built St. Louis Guanella Village — cottages and homes designed so residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities can live with dignity, family-style, in a faith-based community.
Fr. Enzo has always described the work in simple, Gospel terms. The Center, he has said, is meant “to be a lighthouse in a world that doesn’t consider people with disabilities to have value.” Residents “have an integral dignity because of who they are. They are made in the image and likeness of God.” That is the same language Knights recognize in our own call to charity.
Fr. Enzo is himself a member of the Knights of Columbus. For decades, councils across Michigan have walked with St. Louis Center through the Intellectual Disabilities Drive, Christmas visits, coats and gifts, golf outings, volunteer hours, and State Council gifts that help close the gap between government reimbursement and the true cost of 24-hour, loving care.
That partnership is not abstract. Knights have helped replace aging heating systems, support benevolent care, and stand with residents and staff at the annual Guardian Angel Fall Harvest Fest and other events. Honoring Fr. Enzo on this golden anniversary is a natural next step in a friendship that has already lasted a generation.
Date and time: Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 11:00 a.m. Mass; luncheon to follow.
Place: St. Louis Center, 16195 W. Old US Hwy. 12, Chelsea, MI 48118.
RSVP by October 10: stlouiscenter.org/event/feast-of-slg/ • (734) 475-8430 • slcdev@stlouiscenter.org
Brother Knights, wives, and families are welcome. Please RSVP promptly so the Center can plan hospitality. If you cannot attend, a card, a Mass intention, or a note of thanks to Fr. Enzo would still honor fifty years of priesthood spent among “the least of these.”
Vivat Jesus.
Christmas is a very special time of year — for children, for family, for friends, and most importantly, for Jesus. It is also a time for Christians to stand united in faith and remind everyone that Christmas is a Holy Season. This is a truth that needs to be spoken: Christmas is a Holy Day, not just a holiday.
For more than a decade, Bishop Albers Assembly 0496 has directed the Keep Christ in Christmas program for the State of Michigan, helping councils obtain religious cards, signs, magnets, banners, and billboards so Knights can put Christ back at the center of Christmas. Yard signs are one of the simplest and most visible ways to do that work.
A Keep Christ in Christmas yard sign turns an ordinary lawn into a quiet witness. Neighbors driving to work, families walking the block, and parishioners arriving for Mass all see the same message: the birth of Jesus is the reason for the season.
The program is a Supreme-recommended Faith in Action Family activity. Councils display the signs after Mass and in the community as a parish-centered, family-friendly fundraiser. As the Michigan KCIC team likes to say — they sell themselves.
The signs are 24" x 18", printed on both sides of heavy-duty corrugated plastic, and come with a mounting wire. They are built to hold up to Michigan weather for years.
Four designs are available:
White & Red Nativity — “Keep Christ in Christmas” (also available in Spanish)
Green Holy Family — “Keep Christ in Christmas” (also available in Spanish)
Blue Knights of Columbus — Wise Men following the star, with the Knights emblem
Red Nativity — “Merry Christmas — Celebrate the Birth of Christ”
Spanish-language signs make it easy for councils serving Hispanic parish families to share the same message: Mantenga a Cristo en Navidad.
Councils purchase signs through the Michigan Keep Christ in Christmas program and offer them to parish families after Mass. Neighbors buy them for their own yards. Parishes place them near the church entrance. Every sale supports local council charity while spreading a Catholic message the whole community can see.
Council cost is $10 per sign, plus modest in-state shipping. Orders of 25 or more ship at a lower per-sign shipping rate. Checks are made payable to Knights of Columbus.
The 2026 ordering season is open. Download the four-page Council Order Form at www.kcicmichigan.org, complete pages 1 and 2, and mail or email the form to the address on the form.
Visit www.kcicmichigan.org and open Order Here.
Download the 2026 Council Order Form.
Fill in council number, quantities, and shipping address (no P.O. boxes).
Mail or email the completed form and send payment payable to Knights of Columbus.
Orders and pickups: SK Walt Ozanich and Lady Mary Kay, 316 Woodhaven Dr., Lansing, MI 48917. Phone 517-321-2422. Email kcicmichigan@gmail.com, Attn: Mary Kay.
New to the program? A 2026 Beginner Pack is also available — a 94-piece assortment designed to help a council launch Keep Christ in Christmas in the parish.
Place a sign in front of the hall. Offer them after Sunday Mass. Invite families to put one in the yard where the neighborhood can see it. This is Knights helping Knights share the Good News of Christmas.
Join us in sharing the message: Keep Christ in Christmas.
Vivat Jesus!
On Sunday, September 13, Grand Knight Gino Simiele of St. Perpetua Council 13600 in Waterford presented a brand-new Humeral Veil to St. Perpetua Parish and Pastor Fr. Paul Graney.
The veil will be used during Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, when the priest covers his hands out of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.
This gift from the Knights of Council 13600 is a concrete expression of their support for the parish’s liturgical and sacramental life.
Michigan Knights of Columbus Sock Drive
Let’s put our faith into action—one pair of socks at a time!
We’re excited to announce this year’s Michigan Knights of Columbus Sock Drive, taking place at the Winter Leadership Meeting. We’re asking councils and members across Michigan to help us provide new, packaged athletic socks for those in need. Socks are needed in all sizes, from newborns to adults.
Every pair makes a difference! Please have all donations to your District Deputies by December 1st.
