Florida Catholic | A Millennium Of Conserving Holy Places

A millennium of conserving holy places

Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem begin Holy Week celebration at Palm Sunday Mass.

PEGGY DEKEYSER | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PENSACOLA-TALLAHASSEE BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 03.28.08

Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, at right, join in the Blessing of Palms prior to the Palm Sunday procession into the Cathedral of Sacred Heart March 16. Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, at left, listens as Msgr. Michael Reed prays the prayer of blessing.
PEGGY DEKEYSER | FC

PENSACOLA | Born in another time of crisis in the Holy Land a millennium ago, the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem have worked tirelessly to protect the holy places where Jesus spent the final days of his life — suffering, dying and entombed to rise again in glory. Each of those events was anchored in a real place, a place that still exists in the war-torn city.

It’s fitting then that local knights and ladies of the order began Holy Week at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, participating in Palm Sunday Mass in their ceremonial robes. Celebrated by Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, the Mass began with the blessing of palms in the sunny courtyard outside the church. As the cathedral choir intoned “Hosanna,” the bishop, assisted by Msgr. Michael Reed, rector of the cathedral, blessed the palms held by all who gathered for the procession into church.

Led by members of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults elect, candidates and sponsors, the procession entered the church with palms held high, gently waving. As Mass began, the tone shifted from Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem to his passion and death. Deacon John Parnham, assisted by other readers and the assembly, proclaimed the Passion of the Lord from the Gospel of Matthew (21:1-11).

In his homily, Bishop Ricard encouraged the assembly to live out the second reading (Phil 2: 6-11), taking on the attitude of Christ, to “empty oneself, in order to experience the complete trust, serenity and confidence found only in God.”

“We may not feel compelled to literally carry a cross along a busy highway, but God expects us to carry our crosses upon the highways of our lives. The Christian is one who embraces the cross, knowing God will ultimately deliver us from suffering and death. As we enter into the mysteries of Holy Week, we must die with Christ to be raised with him,” the bishop said.

Along with offering his thanks to the men and women of the order for their work, at the conclusion of Mass the bishop asked all present to consider generously supporting the Good Friday collection for the Holy Land. Called for by the pope, the collection provides funds not only for support of the holy places, but “above all for those pastoral, charitable, educational and social works which the church supports in the Holy Land for the welfare of their Christian brethren and of the local communities,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Web site.

Lady of the Grand Cross Jimmie Korndorffer, wife of section leader and Knight of the Grand Cross Jim Korndorffer, said that belonging is “quite an honor and the work of the order is tremendous.” Both she and her husband have attained the highest rank within the order.

Each year, the Southeastern Lieutenancy, the regional division of the international order, meets in conference. Typically, a keynote speaker at the conference is someone who ministers in the Holy Land. “Each year, they tell what the people are going through there, the stumbling blocks, trials and problems they face just to try to express their Christian faith. It’s a challenging organization to belong to when you consider the impact that we can have in such a dangerous place,” Jimmie Korndorffer said.

THE KNIGHTS: A BRIEF HISTORY

The history and work of the order parallels the tumultuous history of the Holy Land itself, dating perhaps as far back as the response to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In A.D. 81, Pope Anaclet assigned the custody of Christ’s tomb to a confraternity of hermits, the forerunners of the current order, according to “Origins, Structures and Present Work: Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem” (Western Lieutenancy Publications, San Diego, 2000).

With the later decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam, Jerusalem passed into Muslim hands. In 1070, the Seljuk Turks overtook the holy city. They persecuted Christians, barring them from access to holy places. One such place was the restored basilica covering Calvary Hill, first constructed by the emperor Constantine in A.D. 335 and later laid waste by invading Persians in 614, and by the Caliph of Cairo, Al-Hakim, in 1009.

Christian Europe responded with the First Crusade, culminating in the battle cry “God wills it,” attributed to Pope Urban II. This battle cry, in Latin, “Deus Lo Vult,” became the motto of the order. In July 1099, after three years of bloody battles, Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders, and the order began.

Today, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands in the center of the old city of Jerusalem, having been rebuilt once more by the Crusaders. It covers the ground where Christ was crucified and the area where his tomb was located and from which the Resurrection took place. The order works to support Catholicism in the Holy Land, and to ensure the restoration and conservation of the holy places of Christianity there, especially the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Along with the Franciscan friars, the order has helped to ensure that these sacred shrines are kept available to pilgrims from throughout the world.

In 1888, Pope Leo XIII confirmed permission to admit women to the order. This was not to be a “ladies auxiliary,” but women were to be admitted to all degrees of rank within the order on the same basis as men.

The insignia of the order, the “Red Cross of the Five Wounds of Christ,” consists of a large central cross surrounded by four smaller ones. The insignia dates back to the family crest of Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Brabant, leader of the First Crusade. The order has used the insignia, also sometimes called the “Jerusalem Cross,” since its inception in 1099. The Franciscan Custos (custodians) of the Holy Land use the same insignia.

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A millennium of conserving holy places

THE KNIGHTS: A BRIEF HISTORY

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