Service & Fellowship

The Basilica of Saint Mary currently has over 50 different apostolates actively serving the parish and local community. Organizations focused on service and community have been present at the church since its founding, although a few have endured for more than a century:

Ancient Order of Hibernians
A fraternal organization dedicated to promoting Irish culture, history, traditions and charitable giving, the present-day Ancient Order of Hibernians was founded at the Basilica in 2011. Its parent organizations, however, have been present at the parish since 1824. An Alexandria Gazette article published on April 15, 1824, details the founding of the “Hibernian Society”: a society for “rendering pecuniary assistance to poor and [f]orlorn emigrant stranger.” Although the organization was separate from the parish, its chaplain, Rev. J.W. Fairclough, was the pastor of Saint Mary Church and a number of its officers were parishioners.

Knights of Columbus
Catholic immigrants poured into the country during the latter-half of the 19^th century. Many of the newcomers faced discrimination, and often the only work available to them were dangerous factory jobs with poor working conditions and high mortality rates. A young Catholic priest in New Haven, Connecticut, named Father Michael McGivney recognized the need for support among poor immigrant families. In 1882, he established a lay organization that promoted fraternity among Catholic men, offered support to immigrant widows and orphans, and combatted the notion that Catholicism was anti-American. At Saint Mary, a Knights of Columbus chapter was founded in 1900.