Knights of Peter Claver Council No. 63 will mark its 90th anniversary with a Bible study during Saturday’s 4 p.m. regular mass.

Joseph Simon Jr., Grand Knight for the Knights of Peter Claver Council No. 63 at St. Edward Church, said that though it’s just a regular mass, it’s a great way for everyone in the community to come together and celebrate the church.

Knights of Peter Claver is the largest historically African-American Catholic lay organization in the U.S., similar to Knights of Columbus.

What can we expect Saturday?

We will be celebrating mass for our 90th anniversary. The St. Edwards council was organized Feb. 23 1930. We are going to be turned out and process in and have a mass together. At a later date, we are going to have a banquet to celebrate in maybe June or July.

What’s going to happen during the mass?

It’s a regular Catholic mass and we do all of the ministries in the church. We have some who give bread, wine and choir ministries.

How will you help celebrate Black History Month?

The ladies are going to be dressed in African attire and the men will be dressed in our regular regalia because of our anniversary. We wear our sash, our hats, regular shoes, black ties, black pants, white hats. It’s just going to be a regular mass.

What is your order for St. Edwards?

Peter Claver is our patron Saint and that’s why we are the Knights of Peter Claver. He was a priest in Columbia and he used to take care of the slaves coming from the boats and that’s why we are named after him.

What is the role of the Knights of Peter Claver?

Our motto is to serve the community and the church and that’s what we’re there for.

So what do you do in the community?

The weekend before Christmas in conjunction with Super One, we gave out over 500 food baskets and we collected food donations. We erected a new sign at St. Francis Diner.

Anything else?

We just do a lot in the community. We feel as Catholic men, we do this for the Lord and help the community.

What’s the importance of the 90th anniversary?

The importance for the 90 years for us is that we’ve had eight prior Grand Knights. Our organization has about 40 people involved and we have a few members who live out of state like Texas and one who lives in New York. But we’re excited for the celebration.