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PHOTO ESSAY!
Courage,
Stability and a Call to Chivalry in Pennsylvania
The
second of the American TFP’s National Call to Chivalry Camp for boys was
held at the TFP-staffed St. Louis de Montfort Academy in rural Herndon, Pennsylvania,
from August 11-20. The meetings and activities of this year’s camp were
largely modeled on the earlier TFP camp in Louisiana. (Click
here to read a report of this year’s Louisiana camp.) The theme centered
on applying the Catholic heroism of the Knights of Malta to the present day Cultural
War.
Attended by
43 young men, ages 12-17, this year’s camp inspired many participants who
came from all over the nation and even from Poland to attend. After experiencing
firsthand the combination of discipline, spirituality and adventure that the TFP
offers adolescents, some even expressed a desire to attend the TFP-staffed St.
Louis de Montfort boarding school this year.
Two activities
of this year's course merit special mention. One was a Friday morning protest
at an abortion clinic in Harrisburg, Penn. The boys had spent the previous day
coming up with slogans to put on their protest signs. "It is important to
teach boys to stand up for their beliefs," said camp counselor Cesar Franco.
"That is why we brought the boys out to protest. I think it will have a truly
beneficent effect on them."
The other was a trip to see the battleship USS New
Jersey, currently docked in Camden, New Jersey. The boys had a private tour of
the ship and ate lunch in its mess hall.
The camp’s
crowning event was the medieval games and banquet, held on the last day. Two teams
of “aspirant knights” faced each other throughout the day in games
such as steal the bacon, French football and tug-of-war. All that exercise fostered
healthy appetites in preparation for the medieval banquet.
Organizers spent the day, transforming the school’s gymnasium into a banquet
hall where over 110 parents and participants feasted on barbecued brisket, sausage
and a richly decorated platter topped with a 159-pound pig that had been slowly
roasted throughout the day. During the meal, awards were given for those participants
who won the ping-pong and chess tournaments.
The jovial
atmosphere reached a pitch of excitement as a castle-cake, modeled on the Hospitaller
fortress of St. Elmo, was brought in, topped with lit sparklers. As the event
finished, souvenir-statues portraying a knight, kneeling in prayer were distributed
to all the boys.
However, the camp’s higher
purpose was well summed up by organizer John Ritchie. “In our volatile and
changing world, boys must be formed with a sense of courage and a stability that
only the Catholic Faith can give,” Mr. Ritchie said. “Both are fostered
at TFP Call to Chivalry Camps by immersing the boys in an atmosphere that encourages
pride in the Faith and a willingness to bring that pride into their daily lives.”
