(Rivista Internazionale - December 1999: CELEBRATIONS FOR THE ORDER'S NINTH CENTENARY- 1/1)

CELEBRATIONS FOR THEORDER’S NINTH CENTENARY

THE FEAST OF
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica. H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master with the High Offices and members of the Sovereign Council, Heads of State and Government, numerous representatives of Heads of State, members of Imperial and Royal Families, attend the Mass concelebrated at the Altar of St. Peter’s Chair.

One of the most significant moments of the Order’s Nonacentenary was the meeting in the Basilica of St. Peter of over 2000 Knights and Dames from all over the world on 24 June, to attend the celebrations organised by the Grand Magistry in Rome.

His Eminence Cardinal Pio Laghi, concelebrated a pontifical mass with Cardinals, Archbishops and Chaplains of the Order at the Altar of St. Peter’s Chair. Attending the mass were H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, the High Offices, the Members of the Sovereign Council, the Prelate, Msgr. Donato de Bonis, the Heads of the National Organisations and the Ambassadors of the Order.

Participating, on the personal invitation of the Grand Master, were Heads of State and Government, including the Presidents of Central Africa, Latvia and the Republic of Malta, the Captains Regent of San Marino, the Foreign Ministers of Belarus, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cile, the Ivory Coast, Cuba, Guinea, Lithuania, Portugal, Senegal and Hungary. The personal representative of President Chirac, Gen. Douin, Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, also participated, as did those of President Ciampi, Vice President Mattarella, of the Ranieri of Monaco, Prince Albert, and of the Heads of State of Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Equador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Spain, Austria, Honduras, Guatemala, Paraguay, Perù, Thailand and Panama. Also present were all the Heads of Mission accredited to the Sovereign Order and numerous members of imperial and royal families, including the Grand Duchess Vladimirova of Russia, King Michael of Romania, the Prince of Braganza Dom Duarte, the Archduke Sigismund of Habsburg-Lorraine and the Duke and Duchess of Calabria. The celebrations concluded when the Knights, Dames and volunteers of the Ambulance Corps gathered afterwards in St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father John Paul II addressed the following words to them from his study window:

Dearest Brothers and Sisters!

On the occasion of the feast of St. John the Baptist, your Holy Patron, you have wanted to gather for a solemn celebration in the basilica dedicated to him. I welcome each of you and I greet the entire Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, called the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which has recently celebrated its Chapter General.

I greet especially the Prince and Grand Master Fra’ Andrew Bertie, the Cardinalis Patronus, Pio Laghi, the Prelate, Monsignor Donato de Bonis, the Grand Chancellor and the dignitaries of the recently renewed Sovereign Council. I wish you all successful work in the service of God, the Church and the Order.

For over nine hundred years your meritorious Order has been bearing faithful witness worldwide to its motto: Tuitio fidei, obsequium pauperum, corresponding to the evangelical command to love God and love thy neighbour. Fully convinced that the defence and expression of the Faith constitutes the basis of evangelisation, you want to offer your contribution so that the evangelical message can continue to illuminate the third millennium of the Christian era, now imminent. To this end you have pledged to act out your allegiance to Christ through the expression of love, which becomes service to your brethren, especially to the poor: what you call obsequium pauperum.

Your presence alongside the sick and the suffering, earthquake victims and refugees effectively testifies to this love for the least. It qualifies your religious and sovereign Order as a worthy establishment shouldering the burden of human suffering.

Remain strong in your allegiance to Christ, the Church and the poor. Bear always in mind the words of Jesus: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15.12), and again: "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25.40).

While I hope that your meritorious action may intensify, I entreat for each of you the maternal protection of your heavenly Patron, the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Philerimus, who has always accompanied you at home and in exile. May the Order’s holy Patron, St. John the Baptist, herald of the presence of Christ in the history of the world, also support you.

With these sentiments, I willingly impart the Apostolic Benediction to the Grand Master, to all you present and to the entire Sovereign Military Order of Malta, particularly to the sick and the suffering you assist in every part of the world.

The Cardinalis Patronus, H.E Pio Laghi addressed the following homily to participants during Mass at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter:

"We are here to celebrate together the birth of St. John the Baptist, our Patron Saint, and the Nine Hundredth Anniversary of the birth of our Sovereign Order; for this dual ceremony we have reunited in the Vatican Basilica, at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter.

It is certainly no coincidence that we are here and there is a good reason for the choice of this Basilica and this Altar. Just as there is a historical and spiritual link between our Order and the figure of St. John the Baptist, so there is a vital, indissoluble and centuries-old link between our institution and the Chair of St. Peter.

We are thus gathered in prayer here to affirm visibly our fidelity to those evangelical values for which the Order was created; to thank the Apostolic See for having officially recognised us as faithful children of the Church.

Founded 900 years ago by Blessed Gerard at the time of the Crusades as a hospice for pilgrims visiting the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, our Order was approved by Pope Paschal II, who placed it under the protection of the Apostolic See. Since then, a bond of an "existential" nature has been forged between us and the Roman Pontiff. Under the auspices and aegis of the Holy See, the Order was able to survive its various vicissitudes as it emigrated from one territory to another until it permanently installed itself on the banks of the Tiber, keeping intact its mission.

Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica. H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, at prayer during the Pontifical Mass.

John Paul II, on receiving the Letters of Credence from the Ambassador of our Order on 13 October 1997, acknowledged our institution’s "peculiar physiognomy of sovereignty" and its "supranational, religious and charitable character". The Holy Father stressed "the deep ties" between the Order and the Apostolic See: "ties that are nourished both by the religious affection of the Holy See, and of entire Christianity, for the Holy Land, and by the Order’s aims, so vividly defined in its motto: Tuitio Fidei, Obsequium Pauperum".

"A truly noble aim," the Holy Father added, "that has been admirably confirmed during the Order’s centuries-old history in the defence of the faith, often up to the supreme sacrifice, and in its charitable works for pilgrims, the sick and for any other human suffering".

To defend the faith! To be able to defend it effectively it is first of all necessary to have a thorough knowledge of the truths of this faith, and then to profess them openly, with that courage and firmness requested of a "knight" who honours his word. But it is not sufficient to know and profess: one has to publicly define the virtue of faith and promote it in this society which, immersed in consumerism and relativism, is so reluctant to accept the values of the Gospel: those of life, which is sacred, of the nature of the family established by God and of the dignity of the person, from conception to the grave.

The other aspect of our Order’s mission is the assistance and care for the sick and solicitous help for pilgrims; the sick receive support from each member of our institution and we are at their service; in them we see the figure of Christ, remembering what he said: "whosoever shall receive one of these little or needy ones receiveth me". The term "Our Lords the Sick and Our Lords the Pilgrims" is certainly no empty formality – and it must not be!

The Order performs humanitarian and charitable works through its national and international organisations, committees and foundations operating in around 100 nations, and its supranational and sovereign nature enables it to carry out its mission more easily.

Rome. St. Peter’s Square. Members of the Association of Italian Knights’ Ambulance Corps salute H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master.

The Grand Jubilee of 2000 is around the corner: the Order is preparing to celebrate it with renewed commitment, conscious of its historical and religious bonds with both Rome and Jerusalem. In his address to our Ambassador, the Holy Father wanted to highlight "the felicitous coincidence between the Order’s ninth centenary and the eve of the Holy Year". "There are not many institutions," he added, "which can boast such ancient origins… What more favourable circumstance to show people today how, throughout the great upheavals of history, the Order of Malta has remained constant to its original evangelical inspiration and has kept alive its most precious assets: faith and charity? The choice of being present and active in the two focal points of the Jubilee, Rome and Jerusalem, is very appropriate and deserves every success". The Pope renews our mandate and urges us to implement it: and we pledge to do so!

The celebration for the birth of our Patron Saint gives us the opportunity to reflect on the figure and mission of the Saint whose name our Sovereign Order adopted from the start. John the Baptist was a "prophet"; that it what his own father called him: "And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face to the Lord to prepare his way". Jesus, when he spoke to the crowds about John , asked "what did you go out in the wilderness to behold?" and replied: "A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet, among those born of women none is greater than John." A prophet who speaks in the name of God, who speaks the truth, even when it is inconvenient, and who heralds the beginning of a new era.

He was an ascetic: an uncompromising character living an austere life. He lived off wild honey and dressed simply. He was not – as Jesus Himself proclaimed – a "reed shaken by the wind, or a man clothed in soft raiment"; he was someone who could face persecution, imprisonment and even death, to keep true to himself and to moral principles.

He was a real witness: He did not only "foresee", but bore witness. To what? Not so much to an event or a thing, albeit important, but to a Person, to the Saviour who was to come. In fact He is already there and he points Him out "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".

Rome. Magistral Palace. The Secretary for Communication of the Grand Magistry of the Order, Prof. Gian Luigi Rondi Nasalli, who took care of the image of the Order to an international level for every celebration of the Ninth Centenary of the Order co-ordinating also the services and the relations between the national and international organs and with the massmedia through the Offices of the Secretariat for Communication, in joined action with the institutional organs of the Grand Magistry.

Pope Paul VI said that the world today certainly needs teachers but more than anything else it needs witnesses because they are more credible. "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, or if he listens to teachers he does so because they are witnesses" (Evangeli Nunziandi n. 41) It is thus through his example, through his life, that the Church will evangelise the world. Through the testimony of a man who kept faith with the Lord, who lived in poverty and isolation, free of the powers of this world – in one word in holiness.

A witness is not someone who has learnt from books or in school and speaks of what he has learnt; he is someone who speaks because he has seen and heard, touched it with his hand; he is someone who lives what he bears witness to. He also gives his testimony in a clear and unequivocal manner; he does not just recount but bears the responsibility of what he asserts. In bearing witness he involves himself, his whole life; he offers himself as a guarantee and, if necessary, he is also ready to give proof of what he says with his own blood, as the martyrs did.

This is because Christianity is not a "story" about a sensational fact. It is the event itself which is extraordinary, documented, proved and experienced personally. It is not only doctrine, it is especially a Person: Jesus Christ; and the relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ is "mediated" through the witness.

As members of the Sovereign Order of St. John the Baptist we must not only invoke our great Patron Saint, but we also have to imitate his virtues: to follow his example and become prophets, ascetics and witnesses".

Rome. Vatican City. The Holy Father, John Paul II, with H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, the High Offices and members of the Sovereign Council newly elected by the Chapter General, the Order’s Prelate, Msgr. Donato de Bonis, the Order’s Ambassador to the Holy See and the Grand Magistry’s Master of Ceremonies during the solemn visit for the Feast of St. John.

n The following day, in the church of the Magistral Villa on the Aventine Hill, after the mass celebrated by Cardinal Pio Laghi, all the members of the Diplomatic Corps met with the Prince and Grand Master and the Grand Chancellor, Amb. Count Don Carlo Marullo di Condojanni, for the traditional good wishes on the feastday of the Order’s patron saint.

n On the morning of 26 June H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, with the members of the Sovereign Council, paid a solemn visit to the Holy Father, and was received in the Vatican City with State honours. After a private conversation in the Holy Father’s study, the Grand Master met the Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano in the Apostolic Palace. The Prelate of the Order, Msgr. Donato de Bonis, and the Order’s Ambassador to the Holy See, H.E. Stefan Falez, were also present.

The visit to the Holy Father was preceded by a ceremony held in the Magistral Palace for conferring on the Grand Master the Collare dell’Ordine Piano, reserved for Heads of States, brought to him by the deputy Secretary of State, Msgr. Giovanni Battista Re.

n Before this, on 22 and 23 June, after the sessions of the Order’s Chapter General, the Prince and Grand Master and the Grand Chancellor inaugurated an International Exhibition of Pictures organised in the Grand Master’s Villa on the Aventine by the Grand Magistry. Three exceptional artists were exhibiting, Marta Alegrìa de Valladares, Pilar de Arìstegui de Abella and Sofia Maria Pinto da França, who are also the consorts of the Order’s ambassadors to Honduras, Spain and Portugal respectively. The exhibition, which remained open for the entire month of July, was visited by Knights and Dames meeting in Rome for the nonacentenary celebrations.

Rome. Magistral Villa. H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master with H.E. the Grand Chancellor and the Master or Ceremonies in front of the church during the traditional greetings of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the order.

n On the same afternoon of the exhibition inauguration, the Prince and Grand Master received the gift for the Grand Magistry of an ambulance for Holy Year pilgrims from Daimler-Chrysler. Also present were the Grand Chancellor, Amb. Count Don Carlo Marullo di Condojanni, the Vice President of Daimler-Chrysler, Matthias Kleinert, and the President of Mercedes-Benz Italia, Dr. Jochen Prange. Also participating in the ceremony, preceded by the benediction of the vehicle by the Prelate of the Order, Msgr. Donato de Bonis, were the Chapter Members, the Grand Commander. Ven. Bailiff Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein, the Grand Hospitaller, Baron Albrecht von Boeselager, and the Order’s Ambassador, Günther A. Granser, who was responsible for bilateral relations during Daimler-Chrysler’s support for the Order’s humanitarian works.

Tthe ambulance donated by DaimlerChrysler and Mercedes Benz Italy to the Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Order for the Order’s First-Aid Station in St. Peter’s Square during the 2000 Jubilee.