KNIGHTS IN ACTION

13984: First Picture the Inspiration, The second the Beginning and the Final Picture

Nick Gresko, Brookpark Council #13984

33 colorful, sawdust carpets, known as the Carpets of Holy Week. In Spanish, they are called Alfombras de Semana Santa. The handiwork was done by individuals, families, parish organizations, nonprofits and other groups. Brook Park Council #13984 took part this year when their Founding Grand Knight Nick Gresko and his wife Alicia were asked to come up with the design. The council is out of Mary Queen of the Apostles Parish in Brook Park. When looking up where did the Name Mary Queen of the Apostles come from the following was found:

Our Lady in the Upper Room: After the Ascension, the Apostles returned to the Upper Room to await the coming of the Paraclete, as we read in Acts 1:13-14:

When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Mary joins the Apostles in the Cenacle. She provides a model of prayer, and encourages the Apostles to wait and pray for the Holy Spirit and pray for the Holy Spirit. She models how to be active in preparing for the Holy Spirit.

A group of volunteers tinted sawdust and sand that was used by the groups to create their carpets. Volunteers go to a sawmill in Amish country to pick up 15-20 large bags of sawdust for the carpets. The sawdust is divided into large, aluminum trays, moistened and tinted with paint. The volunteers also tint several colors of sand.

Groups creating the carpets select the colors they need and get to work filling in the design. It’s similar to a paint-by-number project, except they use sawdust, sand and flour.

From this the first image above shows Mary praying with the Apostles in the Upper Room. This picture was submitted to La Sagrada Familia for our design. Volunteers enlarged and sketched the design on a large square of plastic. This is shown in the second picture. 6

Brother Knights, Including Father Rob Reidy, Parochial Vicar of Mary Queen of the Apostles who was Pastor of La Sagrada Familia from 2009-2021. State Advocate Brother Jim Maslach, three wives, one niece and three grand children helped start the project on Palm Sunday and was finished on Tuesday of Holy Week. The final picture shows the completed Carpet of Holy Week the council made. Brother Nick Gresko said “It was amazing seeing everyone work on these carpets together from across our Diocese. This shows the bigger picture of the church. It really is a community and church event.”

On Good Friday a three mile long procession walks over these carpets. The procession symbolizes the sacrifices made through Christianity. "It's a sacrifice," said Nick Gresko. "We put our art, our time and then the carpet gets walked all over. We're not destroying, we're giving up something that we like, like Jesus gave his life for us." “Our sacrifice is extremely minor compared to the sacrifice He gave us all!”