|
The history of this ancient Order goes back nearly nine hundred years.
The First Crusade ended with the fall of Jerusalem to the crusaders in
1099 and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. At
this time, Sir Godfrey de Bouillon, the military leader of the
combined forces of the crusaders called for volunteers from among his
knights to spend their lives guarding the newly liberated tomb of
Christ. This new Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre
quickly won papal approbation being formally approved as an order by
Pope Paschal II in 1113.
The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted a little less than a hundred
years, during which time the crusaders built many great churches,
forts, castles and cities. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
which they built covering both the sites of the crucifixion and the
tomb of Christ still stands. This magnificent old church, which
is the spiritual heart of our Order, has recently received a much
needed major restoration to preserve it for the generations of
pilgrims in the centuries left to come.
After the fall of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem the great Orders of
Knighthood were dispersed and modified in various ways, some becoming
monastic, some becoming hospitallers, with many groups remaining for
centuries in the Mediterranean area doing charitable works and others
returning to Europe. Throughout the centuries the Order of the
Holy Sepulchre managed to retain its identity, establishing houses in
France, Spain, Poland, Belgium and Italy.
The modern history of the Order began with the restoration of the
Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem in 1847, after nearly 400 years of
vacancy. The reigning Pontiff, Pius IX, established the four
classes of Knighthood. Pope Leo XIII authorized the conferring
of the honors of the Order with equivalent ranks and dignity to the
Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre. In our time, the popes held the
post of Grand Master of the Order beginning with Pope St. Pius X.
Since 1940, when Pope Pius XII transferred the Grand Mastership to a
Cardinal Protector, the post of Grand Master has been held by Nicholas
Cardinal Canali, Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, Maximilien Cardinal de
Furstenberg, Joseph Cardinal Caprio, and since December 21, 1995, by
our present Grand Master, His Eminence, Carlo Cardinal Furno.
The constitution of the Order promulgated by Pope Paul VI, clearly
sets forth the reasons for its continued existence: "The Order
relives in a modern manner the spirit and ideal of the Crusades, with
the arms of faith, of the apostolate, and of Christian charity.
To this end the Order:
-
fosters in its members the practice of the Christian life . . .
-
is zealous for the preservation and spread of the faith in Palestine,
supports . . . the missions of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,
and gives assistance to its good work and to its charitable, cultural
and social undertakings;
-
champions the defense of the rights of the Catholic Church in the Holy
Land, the cradle of the Order."
The spiritual privileges accorded Knights and Ladies are:
plenary indulgence, under usual conditions, on the day of Investiture
and on the four feast days especially assigned to the Order.
-
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine
-
The Triumph of the Holy Cross (September 14)
-
St. Pius X (August 21) and
-
St. Helen (August 18).
|
