Before we read a single report or take a single vote, we stand together and say two things out loud: the Pledge of Allegiance and the Our Father. Here is why we start every club meeting that way.
We rise, face the flag, place our right hand over our heart and say the Pledge together. It reminds us that before we are officers, members or guests, we are neighbors and citizens of the same country.
Then we bow our heads and pray the Our Father, the Padre Nostro. We ask for our daily bread, for forgiveness, and for the grace to forgive each other, which is a good way to begin a meeting where people will not always agree.
Most of our families came here with very little: a trunk, a trade and a willingness to work. America gave them a chance, and they gave America their sons in uniform, their labor in its factories, and their faith and food to its neighborhoods. Warren is one of those neighborhoods.
Saying the Pledge is how we say thank you. It is a promise of loyalty to the flag and to the Republic it stands for, and it reminds us of the ideals our grandparents crossed an ocean for: one nation, liberty, and justice for all.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Written by Francis Bellamy in 1892. Adopted by Congress in 1942; the words “under God” were added in 1954. Stand, face the flag, right hand over the heart. Veterans and service members may give the military salute.
Our Lodge carries the name of Santa Maria, the Blessed Mother. For generations of Italian families, faith was at the center of everything: the parish, the feast days, the blessing before Sunday dinner. Opening our meetings with a prayer keeps that at the center of the Lodge, too.
We chose the Our Father because it is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples (Matthew 6:9–13), and nearly every Christian, of every church, knows it by heart. It is short, it is shared, and everyone in the room can say it together.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Padre nostro, che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome, venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volontà, come in cielo così in terra. Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano, e rimetti a noi i nostri debiti come anche noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori, e non abbandonarci alla tentazione, ma liberaci dal male. Amen.
“Famiglia, comunità, rispetto.” The values on our Heritage page start here, in the first two minutes of every meeting.
Putting the Pledge and the prayer first is deliberate. Whatever is on the agenda that night, a rental question, a fundraiser, a repair to the roof, it comes after we have remembered what we are grateful for and who we answer to. It turns a room of individuals into a lodge.
It is also simply our tradition. Fraternal lodges, veterans’ posts and civic clubs across America have opened this way for generations, and we are proud to keep doing it.
Please stand with us for the Pledge if you are able. If you prefer not to recite it, standing quietly is perfectly fine.
Guests of every faith, or of none, are welcome at the Lodge. During the Our Father you are invited to join in or simply share a moment of respectful silence.
Hats off and phones down for these two minutes. Then the meeting begins, and so does the conversation.
Santa Maria Lodge #220 · Warren, MI
Members and prospective members are welcome at our club meetings. Ask us when the next one is.