On the first Friday of Lent, the men and women of the Knights of Peter Claver Council 166 were up to their elbows in fried fish and seafood jambalaya.
The volunteers, all members of the largest Black Catholic lay organization in the United States, gathered at St. Anthony Parish Hall on Friday to prep and serve around 750 plates to members of the surrounding community, anchored by St. Anthony Catholic Church at 600 Madeline Ave., Lafayette.
The fish fry had the air of a neighborhood party, with old friends cooking comfortably together while visiting with neighbors at the start of the Lenten season. The Knights of Peter Claver function similarly to the Knights of Columbus as Catholic fraternal service organizations, and during Lent, both societies express their service publicly through the parable of the loaves and fishes: creating enough, and serving all, through a simple meal of fish and fixings.
: Kick off Lent in Acadiana with a Friday fish fry at these churches and halls…