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DRINKING FROM
THE WATERS OF FAITH
NOVEMBER 2013
A programme of prayer, scripture and tradition to help prepare those
approaching membership in the Order of Malta. An initiative of the NSW Branch.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
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Order of Malta, NSW Branch
33 – 37 West Street Darlinghurst NSW 2010
P: +61 2 9331 8477 | F: +61 2 9331 8433
E: [email protected] | W: www.smom.org.au
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
CONTENTS
03
07
13
22
27
33
34
35
36
SESSION 1: What is Prayer?
SESSION 2: Who is Jesus?
SESSION 3: The Eucharist
SESSION 4: A Faith that does Justice
SESSION 5: A Foundation of Ethics
Bibliography
Suggested Programme of Formation for Postulants
The Eight-pointed Cross
The Daily Prayer of the Order of Malta
INTRODUCTION
The following five sessions introduce the participant to a
number of websites and readings that could be valuable
resources for a renewal in some of the key issues of
contemporary faith.
These websites have vast material available for further
exploration for the interested reader.
Why not explore them at your leisure?
Each session has a brief chapter of the long history of the
Order of Malta designed to introduce the reader to the rich
story of this community of faith.
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HOW TO USE THE
PROGRAMME
STEP 1: PRAYER
Start with a time of prayer. Find a quiet place
where if possible you will not be interrupted.
The following is a website developed by Irish
Jesuits that many find useful, based upon
the gospel readings of the day. The web
address is: www.sacredspace.ie
STEP 2: WEBSITE MATERIAL AND READING
Certain units will suggest a website or a
short video containing informative material.
In certain units there will be printed material
to enrich the topic.
STEP 3: PAPAL DOCUMENTS
Quietly read and reflect upon the reading of
the Papal or Conciliar document.
STEP 4: ORDER OF MALTA
Read the material on the history of the Order.
INTRODUCTION TO
WEBSITES
May we introduce certain recommended
websites:
1.
Fr Michael Fallon
www.mbfallon.com.au
Michael is an Australian Missioner of
the Sacred Heart, who has been working
successfully with adults over thirty years
introducing them to sacred scripture in his
lectures and writings.
His website is a rich resource of explanation
of the gospels, the identity of Jesus and the
mystery of the Church. Becoming familiar
with this material has been a valuable
insight for many adults searching for a fuller
understanding of their faith.
2. Fraynework Multi Media
www.resource.fraynework.com.au
This website has been developed for use by
the Melbourne Catholic Education Office to
support the continuing education of teachers
in Catholic schools. It has proved to be a rich
resource as well for the general population
of adult Catholics searching for information
about the contemporary church and the
issues it faces.
3. Sacred Space – a resource for prayer
www.sacredspace.ie
This website provides the user with a gentle
approach to reflective prayer based upon
the scriptural readings of the day’s mass.
Designed by Jesuits in Ireland.
4. Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI
www.ronrolheiser.com
Fr Ronald Rolheiser is a Canadian Oblate
of Mary Immaculate who has built up an
international reputation as a author, speaker
and columnist
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
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SESSION 1
WHAT IS PRAYER?
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
03
STEP 1: START WITH PRAYER
In the long history of the church, many
methods of prayer have been developed.
One of the most enduring has been the
‘Ignatian method’ taken from ‘The Spiritual
Exercises of St Ignatius’.
The following website follows this method
of setting ourselves in the presence of God,
meditating on the gospel of the day and
being gently drawn into prayer.
WHAT IS PRAYER? SESSION 1
become still, and give ourselves wholly to
meditating on the word of God.
Sacred reading is slow reading. Each word
and phrase is savoured. The key to it is to
allow the text to ‘speak’ to you. A word or
phrase will emerge for deeper contemplation.
Slowly repeat this word or phrase over and
over, savouring its meaning for your life.
Just go to the website and follow the
suggestions for the day. It is a simple and
effective guide to adult prayer.
This is known as the movement from the
head to the heart. You may be moved to pray
spontaneously or you may become more
and more silent, allowing the Spirit of God to
take over and pray within you.
www.sacredspace.ie
STEP 3:
STEP 2: EXPLAINING ONE WAY TO PRAY
There are many paths to prayer in the Catholic
Christian tradition. Here is one method.
How to pray with Sacred Scripture
This is often called Lectio Divina.
Sacred reading, or lectio divina, is the art of
praying the Gospels. Sacred reading was
originally done in community. In the earliest
monastic communities, when few could
read and books were rare, the Scriptures
were read in common. The monks and
nuns memorised words and phrases and
contemplated them throughout the day.
For us today, sacred reading is generally
done individually. It requires of us a slowingdown time and silence, and a simple being
with the word of God.
We need to let go of the anxieties of life,
An interesting article on prayer
PRAYER AS SEEKING DEPTH - Reflection on
Prayer by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI
In our more reflective moments we
sense the importance of prayer;
yet, we struggle to pray. Sustained,
deep prayer doesn’t come easy for us. Why?
First of all, we struggle to make time for
prayer. Prayer doesn’t accomplish anything
practical for us, it’s a waste of time in terms
of tending to the pressures and tasks of daily
life, and so we hesitate to go there. Coupled
with this, we find it hard to trust that prayer
actually works and brings about something
real in our lives. Beyond that, we struggle to
concentrate when we try to pray. Once we
do settle in to pray, we soon feel ourselves
overwhelmed by daydreams, unfinished
conversations, half-forgotten melodies,
heartaches, agendas, and the impending
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
WHAT IS PRAYER? SESSION 1
tasks that face us as soon as we get up from
our place of prayer. Finally, we struggle to
pray because we really don’t know how to
pray. We might be familiar with various forms
of prayer, from devotional prayers to different
kinds of meditation, but we generally lack the
confidence to believe that our own particular
way of praying, with all its distractions and
missteps, is prayer in the deep sense.
One of the places we can turn for help is the
Gospel of Luke. More so than any of the
other Gospels, his is the Gospel of prayer. In
Luke’s Gospel there are more descriptions of
Jesus in prayer than in all the other Gospels
combined. Luke gives us glimpses of Jesus
praying in virtually every kind of situation: He
prays when he is joy-filled, he prays when
he is in agony, he prays with others around
him, and he prays when he is alone at night,
withdrawn from all human contact. He prays
high on a mountain, on a sacred place, and
he prays on the level plane, where ordinary
life happens. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus prays
a lot.
And the lesson isn’t lost on his disciples. They
sense that Jesus’ real depth and power are
drawn from his prayer. They know that what
makes him so special, so unlike any other
religious figure, is that he is linked at some
deep place to a power outside of this world.
And they want this for themselves. That’s
why they approach Jesus and ask him: “Lord,
teach us to pray!”
But we must be careful not to misunderstand
what constituted their attraction and what
they were asking for when they asked Jesus
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
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to teach them how to pray. They sensed that
what Jesus drew from the depth of his prayer
was not, first of all, his power to do miracles
or to silence his enemies with some kind of
superior intelligence. What impressed them
and what they wanted too for their own lives
was the depth and graciousness of his soul.
The power they admired and wanted was
Jesus’ power to love and forgive his enemies
rather than embarrass and crush them. What
they wanted was Jesus’ power to transform
a room, not by some miraculous deed, but
by a disarming innocence and vulnerability
that, like a baby’s presence, has everyone
solicitously guarding his or her behavior
and language. What they wanted was
his power to renounce life in self-sacrifice,
even while retaining the enviable capacity
to enjoy the pleasures of life without guilt.
What they wanted was Jesus’ power to be
big-hearted, to love beyond his own tribe,
and to love poor and rich alike, to live inside
of charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness,
long suffering, fidelity, mildness, and chastity,
despite everything within life that militates
against these virtues. What they wanted was
Jesus’ depth and graciousness of soul.
And they recognized that this power did not
come from within himself, but from a source
outside him. They saw that he connected
to a deep source through prayer, through
constantly lifting to God what was on his
mind and in his heart. They saw it and
they wanted that depth-connection too, for
themselves. So they asked Jesus to teach
them how to pray.
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Ultimately, we too want Jesus’ depth and
graciousness in our own lives. Like Jesus’
disciples, we also know that we can only
attain this through prayer, through accessing
a power that lies inside the deepest deep of
our souls and beyond our souls. We know too
that the route to that depth lies in journeying
inward, in silence, through both the pain
and the quiet, the chaos and the peace, that
come to us when we still ourselves to pray.
In our more reflective moments, and in
our more desperate moments, we feel our
need for prayer and try to go to that deep
place. But, given our lack of trust and our
lack of practice, we struggle to get there. We
don’t know how to pray or how to sustain
ourselves in prayer.
But in this we are in good company, with
Jesus’ disciples. And so a good beginning is
to recognize what we need and where it is
found. We need to begin with a plea: Lord
teach us to pray!
Fr Ronald Rolheiser OMI - www.ronrolheiser.
com
STEP 4:
Pope Benedict on Prayer
Because we know that prayer
cannot be taken for granted: we
must learn to pray, as if gaining
back this art. Even those who are very
advanced in the spiritual life need always
get to school to learn from Jesus to pray with
authenticity.
WHAT IS PRAYER? SESSION 1
We receive the first lesson from the Lord
through his example. The Gospels describe
Jesus in intimate and ongoing dialogue with
the Father in deep communion with the one
who came into the world not to do his will,
but the Father who sent him for the salvation
of man…..
Human life is a fabric woven of good and
evil, of undeserved suffering and of joy and
beauty that spontaneously and irresistibly
impel us to ask God for that light and that
inner strength that support us on earth and
reveal a hope beyond the boundaries of
death.
Catechesis from a Papal Audience - Vatican
City May 4, 2011
STEP 5: MODERN BY TRADITION – A
HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF MALTA: PART 1
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St
John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
(or the Order of Malta as it is better known)
has a unique status within the Catholic
Church. It is of hybrid nature – a religious
body but with its members – lay persons –
men and women or Knights and Dames –
being otherwise non-religious.
Established in mediaeval Jerusalem by a
Benedictine – Frà Gerard – around 1048 to
run a hospice for pilgrims to the Holy Land,
it is a religious entity with its membership
made up of eminent practising Catholics
who have made a contribution to church
and state.
True – it does have official chaplains as
religious advisers and they too are embraced
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
WHAT IS PRAYER? SESSION 1
within the Order, but their status is different
to that of the Knights and Dames.
Over its long history, the Order members
have pursued two goals: Tuitio Fidei, (the
advancement of their spirituality and the
protection of the faith) and Obsequium
Pauperum (aid to those in need). Of course
these two goals merge together in practice.
While this history of the Order will have a
focus on Obsequium Pauperum, such must
be viewed through the ever-present prism of
Tuitio Fidei.
The Order is an integral part of the Catholic
Church but at law a separate entity to the Holy
See, from its early days through to the present.
The 12th century Papal Bull conferring
sovereignty on the Order underlines its
independence from early times. In more
recent times, there have been two Popes who
were members of the Order – John XXIII and
Benedict XVI. Notwithstanding a number of
important institutional links with the Holy
See, it operates quite differently.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
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SESSION 2
WHO IS JESUS?
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WHO IS JESUS? SESSION 2
STEP 1: START WITH PRAYER
Take a few minutes again before this session
to relax into prayer.
Sometimes when he cured a person he sang
softly and gently a song of love.
The following website follows this method
of setting ourselves in the presence of God,
meditating on the gospel of the day and
being gently drawn into prayer.
Sometimes when he told his tantalising
stories he sang a haunting melody, the
sort of melody you find yourself humming
through the day without even knowing you
are doing it.
Just go to the website and follow the
suggestions for the day. It is a simple and
effective guide to adult prayer.
He sang about his Father in heaven the source
of all life who was caught up in an outrageous
love of each of us.
www.sacredspace.ie
Sometimes when defending the little people, the
poor, his voice grew strong and powerful until at
his own death, he sang so powerfully that his
voice filled the world and its history.
STEP 2: A PORTRAIT OF JESUS
The material we recommend here is a short
film by a Sacred Heart priest and scripture
scholar Fr Michael Fallon on the healing
ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. This material
was produced for the staff of Catholic Health
Care, but will be relevant to a hospitaller
order like our own.
Please type in
http://mbfallon.com
the
web
address:
and go to the ten minute video link on that
page on ‘Jesus’ Healing Ministry’ Part 1.
STEP 3: IMAGE OF JESUS
The gospel writers used many
images of Jesus: the bread of life;
light of the world; the way the
truth and the life.
This is an imaginative image of Jesus as a
singer.
In everything that he said and everything
that he did Jesus sang a song.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
His whole life was a song.
His young friends who first heard him were
hypnotized by the song and began singing
it to others.
They didn’t sing it as well as Jesus did,
they forgot some of the words, their voices
sometimes went flat, they even argued about
the melody but they sang to the best of
their ability and the people who heard them
thought in their turn that this was the most
beautiful song they had ever heard.
And so the song of Jesus gradually spread
out from Jerusalem into other lands.
Parents sang it to their children and it began
to be passed down through the generations
and through the centuries.
The song was about giving life to others that
they might have life in abundance.
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WHO IS JESUS? SESSION 2
Among the last places on earth that the song
reached was the land that would be called
Australia.
The melody was carried in convict ships and
among the families of early settlers with the
men who built our railroads and the women
who shaped our homes, those who explored
the outback and those who built our cities.
It inspired the women and men who built our
schools and designed our hospitals .
Happily the song continues to be sung.
[This analogy of Christ as singer previously
developed by Calvin Miller: The Singer Trilogy
1975]
If you were to ask me point- blank:
“What does it mean to you to live
spiritually?” I would have to reply:
“Living with Jesus at the center.”
There are always countless questions,
problems, discussions and difficulties that
demand one’s attention. Despite this, when
I look back over the last thirty years of my
life, I can say that, for me, the person of Jesus
has come to be more and more important.
Specifically, this means that what matters
increasingly is getting to know Jesus and
living in solidarity with him.
Henri Nouwen, Jesus: A Gospel, Orbis Books:
NY, 2001
The Life of Holiness in the World
The vocation of the lay faithful
to holiness implies that life
according to the Spirit expresses
itself in a particular way in their involvement
in temporal affairs and in their participation
in earthly activities. Once again the apostle
admonishes us: “Whatever you do, in word
or deed, do everything in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him” (Col 3:17). Applying the
apostle’s words to the lay faithful, the Council
categorically affirms: “Neither family concerns
nor other secular affairs should be excluded
from their religious programme of life”(45).
Likewise the Synod Fathers have said: “The
unity of life of the lay faithful is of the greatest
importance: indeed they must be sanctified
in everyday professional and social life.
Therefore, to respond to their vocation, the
lay faithful must see their daily activities as
an occasion to join themselves to God, fulfill
his will, serve other people and lead them to
communion with God in Christ”(46)
Pope John Paul 11, Christifideles Laici
STEP 4: MODERN BY TRADITION - A HISTORY
OF THE ORDER OF MALTA: PART 2
The Military Role of the Hospitallers
Within some fifty years of foundation, the
Hospitallers also became a military order.
This was required largely because of the
need to defend their premises in Palestine
against the increasingly hostile Moslem
warlords.
This hostility had intensified
because of the sack of Jerusalem in 1099
and the behaviour of the Crusaders after the
city fell to them. At that time all members
of the Hospitaller Order of St John swore the
three oaths – poverty, chastity and obedience
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
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WHO IS JESUS? SESSION 2
– a characteristic of religious orders even
today. Their discipline was strict. Although
all of them became soldiers they continued
to care for the sick in their hospitals.
Eventually the Moslems recaptured
Jerusalem and regained control of the whole
of Palestine and Syria. In 1291 the Knights
Hospitaller were obliged to leave Jerusalem.
Rhodes
From 1309 Rhodes was to become the
new home for the Knights who were now
a naval as well as a military power. From
Rhodes they could maintain links with the
cities of Asia Minor and also harass Moslem
shipping. Rhodes had a good harbour, its
land was fertile and it had ample forests to
supply timber for shipbuilding.
The Knights however were never to lose
sight of their Christian faith and origins plus
their primary role as Hospitallers. It was an
important basis of their survival for it meant
that in spite of military setbacks from time to
time they still generated moral and financial
support.
On Rhodes the Knights continued their
ministration of the poor through hospital
work. The hospital constructed by them in
1478 is still substantially intact and is now
the Archaeological Museum. It was in
advance of any hospital then to be found
in the West.
On admission to the Hospital the patients
were required to bathe, confess and make
their wills before the Prior. They were not
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
permitted to disobey orders of the physicians,
or to change the prescribed treatment, but
were always treated with tenderness and
respect. Irrespective of means each had
their own bed, protected by curtains, and
might choose their food which was served
as in the past from silver vessels. Both these
measures were very significant and not just
because they represented a departure from
the accepted norm in Europe. Individual
beds and the service of food from metal
vessels and not wood were important aspects
of healthcare because they minimized the
danger of cross infection from contagious
disease.
There were several important measures
introduced in Rhodes, including one
under Grand Master d’Aubusson (15031512) creating a health commission. Its
membership consisted of representatives
of the Order and citizens of the island as
well as the physicians and apothecaries of
the Hospital. During plague epidemics a
strict quarantine was enforced. All persons
who had been exposed to the disease were
isolated for a period of forty days (reputedly
the origin of the term “quarantine”). If the
exposure had been through their fault, a fine
of 50 ducats was levied.
Organisation of the Order
It was during the Rhodes period (1309-1522)
that the Knights settled on a more formal
structure. The members of the Order who
came to Rhodes from all over Europe were
from the beginning of the fourteenth century
grouped according to the languages spoken.
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There were thus, initially, seven such groups
or Languages (Tongues): Provence, Auvergne,
France, Italy, Aragon (Navarre), England (with
Scotland and Ireland) and Germany. In
1462 Castile and Portugal separated from
the Langue of Aragon and formed an eighth
Language.
The Order as a sovereign entity was ruled
then and now by the Grand Master. The
Sovereign Council of the Order for a long
time minted its own money and maintained
diplomatic relations with other states. His
Highness the Grand Master was also titled
Prince of Rhodes, and later, he was Prince
of Malta.
The high officers of the Order were
representatives of different Languages as is
still effectively the case today.
The defence of particular portions of the walls
of Rhodes, which were about three kilometres
in length, was allocated to particular
Languages. Each Language had an auberge
or inn which was its meeting place or club.
These are well preserved in Rhodes today.
Most are in a winding avenue known as the
Street of Knights and each has its own coat of
arms on the façade of the building.
The Knights always aspired to return to
Palestine and at their zenith on Rhodes they
controlled much of the seaways plus major
cities in Asia Minor and many of the islands
around Rhodes.
One of the best preserved examples of the
Order’s physical presence on the nearby
coast of what is now Turkey is the Castle of St
WHO IS JESUS? SESSION 2
Peter at Bodrum. The Castle was constructed
by the Knights and is today substantially as
they left it when they had to pull back in the
face of Moslem expansion. The walls of the
Castle bear the coats of arms of members
of the Order and of their patrons. This is
especially evident on the English Tower
which was built as a result of gifts made
by King Henry IV of England and certain
English nobles such as the Earl of Arundel,
brother of the Duke of Norfolk.
Once the Turkish Moslems had conquered
Constantinople (today Istanbul) in 1453,
reputedly the greatest walled city in history,
it was only a question of time before they
sought to capture Rhodes.
In 1522 Suleiman the Magnificent assembled
an enormous army and navy and laid siege
to Rhodes. His forces arrived in 400 ships
with a reported army of 100,000 men. The
assembling and supply of the large besieging
force was not difficult for the Moslems since
Rhodes was only 30 kilometres off the coast
of Turkey. The fortifications of Rhodes had
been strengthened by the Knights. They
were only about 500 in number, supported
by about 1,500 mercenaries and were greatly
outnumbered. The siege lasted four months.
Eventually the Knights were forced to
surrender. In 1523 they were allowed with
full military honours to leave in their ships
with all their followers and possessions on
their promise they would no longer wage
war against the Turks.
Some 4,000 residents of Rhodes exited with
the Knights.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
WHO IS JESUS? SESSION 2
Amongst the possessions taken were
precious relics of the Order and the much
venerated spiritual icon of the Virgin from
the mountain shrine at Philerme (Filerimos)
some fifteen kilometres from the city of
Rhodes. According to legend, the image of
the Virgin of Philerme (still an important and
revered icon of the Order today) was painted
by St Luke the Evangelist.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
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SESSION 3
THE EUCHARIST
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
14
THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
STEP 1: START WITH PRAYER
Take a few minutes again to relax into prayer.
The following website follows this method
of setting ourselves in the presence of God,
meditating on the gospel of the day and
being gently drawn into prayer.
Just go to the website and follow the
suggestions for the day. It is a simple and
effective guide to adult prayer.
www.sacredspace.ie
STEP 2: EXAMINE THE WEBSITE OF
www.resource.fraynework.com.au
and choose one of the items under the
general title of ‘Worship; that present
themselves. This is an extensive site of
information about the Mass.
STEP 3:
• A pious Jew would bless God when
breaking bread, seeing lightning,
purchasing something, watching a
sunset as well as other significant
moments in life.
• A pious Jew would pray in the Temple,
in the Synagogue and at home.
• As an adult, Jesus’ table ministry was
both an act of hospitality and an
invitation to forgiveness.
After The Resurrection
• The early Christian community would
gather for ‘the breaking of the bread’.
•Believers would gather in people’s
homes as well as borrowed rooms in
public buildings.
•The Good News was announced,
teaching
was
imparted
and
reconciliation was offered.
This is a long summary of the history of the
development of the Mass from the earliest
years. For reading.
• It was not uncommon to find spacious
homes of wealthy believers with large
dining rooms and a pool in an atrium
suitable for baptism.
High Points In The Fascinating History Of
The Mass
• These gatherings would normally have
included a meal with the Eucharist.
In The Time Of Jesus
• Jesus would have learned to pray as he
ate with his family at home.
• For a pious Jew every meal was a
sacred act.
• A meal and its blessing recalled God’s
faithful generosity.
• It was a reminder of the ancient and
faithful covenant with God.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
Emerging Christianity 100 – 313
•At first Christianity appeared as a
movement within Judaism, rather than
a religion distinct from it.
•It was not long before Christianity
spread to the non-Jewish world and
was recognized as ‘Catholic’ – that is,
all-embracing, open to all nations and
peoples of various religious backgrounds.
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THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
• Christians observed Sunday (the day of
the Resurrection, the beginning of the
‘new creation’) as the primary day for
public worship.
• Jewish Christians, of course, continued
to celebrate the Sabbath.
• By the end of the first century Christianity
grew to almost twenty thousand, and by
the year 300, it grew to five to seven
million in a Roman Empire of fifty or
sixty million. (Edward Foley p 42)
• Conflict with the Roman authorities
grew, often erupting into persecution.
• From Nero in the year 64 to Diocletian
(d.305) the authorities found reasons
to persecute Christian groups - though
sporadic over this time and often
confined to specific geographical areas,
the persecutions were separated by
long periods of peace.
•Christian groups followed a variety
of approaches to the Eucharist, but
there exists one early and valuable
description from an open letter to
the Emperor, written by the Christian
philosopher, Justin.
Rome Becomes The Centre
313 – 750
• The Emperor Constantine recognised
the right of all religions to exist (in
“The Edict of Milan”), and his support
of the Christian faith led to a process
of Christianization that would sweep
through the empire. From being
regarded as an illegal sect, Christianity
was transformed into the preferred
religion of the empire.
Middle Ages 750 – 1070
•Became a period of architectural
renaissance.
•Churches in this era were shaped
to respect the increased separation
between clergy and laity.
• Bells became of increasing importance.
•Christians crisscrossed
pilgrimage.
Europe
on
• In earlier times the altar was a wooden
table, often moveable, usually placed
in the body of the church so that the
community could gather around three
sides of it; the celebrant stood on
whatever side that allowed him to face
East, the place of the rising sun and
symbol of the resurrection.
• Over time the altar was pushed further
towards the back until it ended up close
or against the back wall of the church,
with the celebrant facing the altar and
his back to the people.
• Stone altars now became the norm.
• Relics of Saints were deposited in the
altar as a part of ritual of consecration
of a church.
• The celebration of daily Mass became
common.
• The development of an area for the
Choir (men and boys) was common; lay
people were restricted from designated
areas close to the altar.
•Screens were sometimes built to
separate the choir and altar from the
main part of the Cathedral.
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THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
•Impressive buildings for
worship were constructed.
Christian
•
Bishops
were
granted
various
honours and wore the insignia of civil
magistrates.
•From a time when the dominant
language was Greek, Latin emerged as
the language of Christian worship and
theology.
• Every book of the New Testament had
been written in Greek. The turn to Latin
would have a clear and lasting effect
on Christian life and practise.
•In worship there was a gradual
diminishment of the voice of the
worshippers, especially in places where
Latin was not the language of normal
believers.
• Much of the worship was sung rather
than spoken – there was little public
speech that was not musical to some
degree.
• The best-known body of Latin musical
chant, was known as Gregorian chant
which arose after a long and complex
history.
• During this period, the Sanctus (Holy,
Holy, Holy) about the 4th century, the
Gloria (Glory be to God) about the late
4th century and the Agnus Dei (Lamb
of God) about the 7th century, gradually
became part of the prayers of the Mass.
• In this period there was a movement
from more improvised prayer in the
Mass to more standardized liturgical
texts with Latin as their language.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
High Middle Ages 1000 - 1500
• Time of the Crusades and exploration
of the world outside of Europe.
•Reassertion of papal influence and
control of the church.
• Notable exercise of Roman direction of
liturgical practice and the Eucharist not
seen before.
•Development of ‘Breviary’ – the
obligation of clerics to pray the ‘Prayer
of the church’ was abridged into an
abbreviated and more manageable
form;
• Rise of the great Universities, such as
Paris, Bologna, Oxford;
• The rise of charismatic lay preachers,
such as Francis of Assisi;
• One of the most inventive periods in
the history of Church architecture;
•This era saw the development of
two significant architectural styles
for Cathedrals – Gothic and Italian
Renaissance;
• Gothic architecture embodied particular
views of what it meant to be church –
in which every ministry and person had
an assigned place and role in a welldefined hierarchical order;
•
Italian Renaissance - powerful
new social and artistic movement
emphasized the value, dignity and
unity of human nature.
• Private masses became popular;
• Increased veneration of the relics of
saints;
17
•Popes leave Rome for Avignon in
France 1309 – 1377
• Elevation of the host at the Eucharistic
prayer became common – only much
later was chalice elevated
• The emphasis in the celebration of
Mass became what the congregation
could see, rather than on what they
could hear;
Reformation And Counter-Reformation
1500 - 1900
THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
• Where previously the Eucharist was
reserved in a vessel suspended above
the altar (or elsewhere), tabernacles
fixed on the altar became common.
• Confessionals became a part of church
design; holy water fonts were placed in
church entrances.
• Fixed pews took the place of moveable
and more flexible seating.
Twentieth Century
• Reconstruction of Saint Peter’s in Rome.
• In 1900 there were 1.6 billion people on
the planet, in 2000 over 6 billion.
•Ecclesiastical upheaval and radical
reshaping of Western Christianity.
• In that time 200 million lives were lost
in violence and war.
• While Martin Luther fully accepted the
real presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
radical reformers who followed him
rejected much of that traditional
understanding.
• The development of philosophy and
political theory moved towards a clearer
understanding of the dignity of the
individual.
•In response to this upheaval, the
Council of Trent (1545 – 63) brought
a new uniformity in both doctrine and
rubrics of the Mass.
•In the face of challenges to the
traditional understanding of the
Eucharist mounted by the reformers
notably Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, the
Council of Trent proclaimed that Christ
was ‘ truly, really and substantially
contained ‘ in the Eucharist, which was
consistently referred to as the ‘Sacrifice
of the Mass’.
•Certain standards of architectural
design and furnishings became
common.
• Movements of human liberation called
for greater inclusion and equality
across the divides of gender, ethnicity,
social class and age.
• From the time of Pope Pius X the church
called for more active participation
among lay people at Mass.
• Experiments with the use of the local
language (rather than Latin) were
made in places such as Yugoslavia, as
early as 1929.
• ‘Dialogue masses’ in which the priest
and the congregation would engage
in a series of statements and response,
were being used as early as 1939.
• Pope Pius XII published “Mediator Dei’ in
1947, in which lay worshippers were called
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
18
THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
to a more active participation at Mass in
contrast to their former passive role.
•The Second Vatican Council (1962
– 65) produced a pivotal document
entitled the ‘Constitution of the Sacred
Liturgy’ in the reform of how the Mass
and many of the sacraments were to
be celebrated. A stronger emphasis
was placed on ‘active participation of
the congregation’ and the Mass was
celebrated in the vernacular.
Reference: A Friendly Guide to the Mass,
Tony Doherty
Garratt Publishing 2010
STEP 4:
We can free our life and the
world from the poisons and
contaminations that could destroy
the present and the future.
We can uncover the sources of creation and
keep them unsullied, and in this way we can
make a right use of creation, which comes
to us as a gift, according to its intrinsic
requirements and ultimate purpose.
This makes sense even if outwardly we
achieve nothing or seem powerless in the
face of overwhelming hostile forces.
So on the one hand, our actions engender
hope for us and for others; but at the same
time, it is the great hope based upon God’s
promises that gives us courage and directs
our action in good times and bad.
Spe Salvi Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict
XVI November 2007
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
STEP 5: MODERN BY TRADITION - THE
ORDER OF MALTA: PART 3
Malta
The knights having been a sovereign
power in Rhodes now found themselves
momentarily without a home. In 1530 they
were granted the islands of Malta and Gozo
by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor with
the approval of Pope Clement VII. The Deed
of Donation by the Emperor is in the Archives
of the Order of St John in the National Library
in Valletta. It is a superb example of the art
of the legal conveyancer. It recites that the
gift is made so that the Knights “should no
longer be compelled to wander the world”. It
provided that the Knights were to pay as a
due a falcon, to be presented to the Emperor
each year on the Feast of All Saints. It also
established that the Order should remain
neutral in any war between Christian nations.
The Knights became
Government of Malta.
the
Sovereign
Consistent with their spirituality and defence
of the faith they also continued via their
traditional Hospitaller involvement in the
care of the sick and the poor. This was to
be combined with a military, now naval,
focus on the Moslems. It was again only a
question of time before Suleiman responded
to the mounting interference by the Knights’
maritime forces with his trade and shipping
in the Mediterranean.
There then followed in 1565 the Great
Siege of Malta, probably one of the most
famous and best recorded martial exercises
19
in history. The Siege lasted from May to
September in that year. Despite much loss
of life, the defenders held firm and the Turks
finally withdrew on the 8th of September, the
Nativity of Our Lady. From then on the town
of Birgu that had been home to the Knights,
became known as Vittoriosa in honour of
this significant victory, and the date became
Malta’s national day. This represented the
first major defeat for the Ottoman Empire
for hundreds of years. If Malta had fallen,
it would have given the Moslems strategic
control of the Mediterranean and threatened
Christendom.
Their defeat marked the commencement of
the decline of the Ottoman Empire. In 1571,
in the famous Battle of Lepanto, the Turkish
fleet was destroyed by a combined fleet
which included the galleys of the Order.
The Great Hospital in Valletta
After the historic victory of Lepanto, the
Knights made Malta their then undisputed
home. They built a beautiful new city,
Valletta. It was richly endowed with beautiful
churches and places of worship and named
after Jean de la Valette, the Grand Master at
the time of the Siege. St John’s Co-Cathedral
is a gem of Baroque art and architecture. It
was built as the conventual church for the
Knights. The Grand Masters and several
Knights donated gifts of high artistic value
and made enormous contributions to enrich
it with only the best works of art. Above all
the Knights continued their commitment
under Obsequium Pauperum to the care of
THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
the sick and constructed the Great Hospital,
which once again was ahead of its time.
As a brief aside it is of interest to note that
the Great Hospital with its relative proximity
to Turkey was to be utilized some 240
years later in the treatment of seriously
injured Australian and New Zealand troops
evacuated from the beaches of Gallipoli.
Malta became known as the Nurse of the
Mediterranean, reinforcing the hospitaller
tradition established by the Knights.
The building known as the Holy Infirmary
is still intact although now no longer used
as a hospital. It was 155 metres long, airy
and spacious. Each patient had a separate
area with his own bed and mosquito netting.
When not at sea in the galleys, the Knights
were obliged personally to serve meals to the
patients. All eating and drinking implements
were made of silver, “not for ostentation but
for decorum and cleanliness”.
The Infirmary was adorned by a series of
paintings by Mattia Preti depicting episodes
in the Order’s history. He was an Italian
painter of standing who spent some years
on Malta carrying out commissions for the
Order. Even more distinguished was the
great Caravaggio allegedly a Knight of Malta
who took refuge in Malta following a serious
criminal charge in Rome. His great and
only signed masterpiece “The Beheading of
St John the Baptist” (the patron saint of the
Order) and other works still hang today in
the Cathedral in Valletta.
Part of the Order Hospital was a “rota”
or wheel in a contiguous building. It
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
consisted of a room with a large rotating
bed, communicating with the road outside
through a discreet opening in the wall.
Through this window unwanted often
illegitimate babies (then called foundlings)
were discreetly left on the bed so that the
infirmary staff could collect them and look
after them. The structure was built in such
a way that the person depositing the infant
could do so without being seen from the
inside and thus without revealing their
identity. The children were kept there until
foster mothers could be found. Records
reveal that between 1787 and 1788, 212
babies were admitted. The Infirmary also
offered hospitality to many pilgrims travelling
to the Holy Land. They were given food and
shelter. Passages were sought by them on
ships directed towards the East.
The Infirmary was staffed by a well qualified
medico-surgical group of men. In 1725
the records indicate that the professional
personnel included three senior physicians,
three junior physicians, three senior surgeons,
two junior “experienced” surgeons and six
medical practitioners and a phlebotomist,
with two assistants,” applying leeches,
cataplasms and vesicants”. The nursing staff
consisted of a certain number of “servants or
guardians” but the food was distributed and
served by Knights and novices who looked
after the sick during meals.
In 1676 the Holy Infirmary founded the
University School of Anatomy and Surgery
in Malta which was to become one of the
oldest and most famous in Europe. The
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
20
study of anatomy was made compulsory
for all medical students and they regularly
had to attend lessons and demonstrations
on the dissection of cadavers. In order to
facilitate this study, it was determined that
the bodies of patients who had died in the
Infirmary could be dissected by the senior
anatomy teacher. At that time, such an
opportunity for studying anatomy was rare.
An early account of the Holy Infirmary was
depicted in a chronicle of March 1687 by
an emissary of His British Majesty, who said
“..passing through the gate, I went around
the Pharmacy, which was very well stocked.
Then I visited the Doctors’ rooms and
entered the Square Courtyard. An intense
perfume permeated it! There was a garden
of oranges and lemons. From here I passed
into another Courtyard which, in turn, had
a certain number of citrons, and their sweet
fragrant perfume wafted freshly in all the
rooms arranged around it. Although there
were numerous patients the atmosphere was
pleasant, sweet and clean…..All the patients
were served by Knights with silver plates…”
As Turkish power waned, so also did the
importance of the military standing of the
Knights of Malta – as they were known – for
there was less pressure on them to maintain
their soldierly regimen and discipline. By
1798 when Napoleon’s fleet came to Malta
on its way to Egypt, the Knights were not
able to repeat their great deeds of the
past against the Turks. Malta surrendered.
Napoleon took away the treasures of the
Knights including all the bullion and silver
plate. Almost all went to the bottom of the
21
THE EUCHARIST SESSION 3
sea along with most of his ships at the Battle
of the Nile where Nelson scored a great
victory.
The British seized Malta and, in breach of the
Treaty of Amiens in 1802, failed to return it
to the Knights. The British held Malta until
the Maltese secured their independence in
the 1960’s.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
22
SESSION 4
A FAITH THAT
DOES JUSTICE
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
23
A FAITH THAT DOES JUSTICE SESSION 4
STEP 1: START WITH PRAYER
Take a few minutes and relax into prayer.
The following website follows this method
of setting ourselves in the presence of God,
meditating on the gospel of the day and
being gently drawn into prayer.
Just go to the website and follow the
suggestions for the day. It is a simple and
effective guide to adult prayer.
www.sacredspace.ie
STEP 2:
Recent History of Church and Social Justice
The modern era of Catholic Social Teaching
finds a convenient starting point with the
19th-century Pope Leo XIII, who recognised
in the rise of the industrial revolution a
significant threat to the working class. While
rejecting socialism, Leo directed the world’s
attention to the existence of unbridled
capitalism. He articulated the Church’s
commitment to the principles of social justice,
the dignity of labour and the defence of the
poor – a commitment that would continue
to unfold over the subsequent century of
Catholic social teaching.
Some few years after the Vatican Council, a
formal meeting of Latin American bishops
with the Pope stated that action for justice
and work for the transformation of the world
were a significant part of preaching the
gospel – not just some optional extra.
During his long ministry, Pope John Paul II put
into action a wide range of social teachings;
his opposition to international Communism
was balanced by his scathing critique of
free-market capitalism; his condemnation of
abortion was part of a defence of life that
included efforts to have the death penalty,
where it existed, abolished and he spoke
out strongly about the insanity of modern
warfare.
This awareness of the need for action for
social justice for a believing Christian,
began to expand the nature of ministry and,
indeed, holiness itself. The horizon of what
preaching the gospel would mean would
include engagement with the significant
social issues of the day. As a group of
believers, the church was charged to engage
wholeheartedly in the great human struggles
for justice wherever they might exist. The
challenge for the Church today is to confront
the many intractable problems facing the
planet.
Fr Tony Doherty ‘So You’re seeking to Renew
Your Faith”
STEP 3:
Social Justice
In a neat summary, a group of high school
students abbreviated the philosophy of
Catholic social justice to seven simple
statements:
1. All people are holy, made in the image
of God.
2. People are both holy and social. When
one suffers we all suffer.
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
A FAITH THAT DOES JUSTICE SESSION 4
3. People have a basic right to life, food,
shelter, healthcare, education and work.
4. The ‘Jesus’ test of a community (or society)
is how it treats its neediest members.
5. Money, work and business exist to serve
people, not the other way around.
6. We are all called to work for justice for all
people.
7. We are called to care for God’s fragile and
exquisite creation.
Pastoral Renewal Exchange, Sheffield U.K.,
September 2002
STEP 4:
A Prophetic Mantra About The Poor
by Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI
Nobody gets to heaven
without a letter of reference
from the poor! That’s a quote
attributed to James Forbes, an
interdenominational pastor in New York City,
and it wonderfully captures something that
the ancient prophets of Israel underlined
many centuries ago.
The great prophets of Israel had coined
this mantra: The quality of your faith will be
judged by the quality of justice in the land.
And the quality of justice in the land will
always be judged by how “widows, orphans,
and strangers” are faring while you are
alive. That phrase, “widows, orphans, and
strangers”, was code for the three weakest,
most-vulnerable, groups in society at the time.
For the great prophets of Israel, ultimately we
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
24
will be judged religiously and morally on the
basis of how the poorest of the poor fared
while we were alive.
That’s a scary thought which becomes
scarier when we see how Jesus strongly
endorsed that view. While this needs to be
contextualized within Jesus’ message as
a whole, we have in Matthew’s Gospel the
famous text about the Last Judgment where
Jesus tells us that, at the end of day, when
we stand before the great King on the day of
judgment, we will be asked only one set of
questions and they all will have to do with
how we treated the poor: Did you feed the
hungry? Give drink to the thirsty? Welcome
the stranger? Clothe the naked? Visit the
sick? Visit prisoners? I doubt that any of us
would have the raw courage to preach this,
just as it is written in the gospels, from any
pulpit today. And yet Jesus meant it. Nobody
gets to heaven without a letter of reference
from the poor.
Now there’s a whole series of challenges in
this.
First: The demand to live lives that reflect
justice and real concern for the poor is an
integral and non-negotiable part of Christian
discipleship. It’s not something that is
grounded in some particular ideology which
I can buy into or neglect, as long as I am
living honestly and prayerfully in my private
life. It’s an essential part of the gospel, equal
in demand to praying, going to church, and
keeping my private moral-life in order. For a
Christian, it is not enough just to be pious,
good, and church-going. We need too a
25
A FAITH THAT DOES JUSTICE SESSION 4
concrete letter of reference from the poor.
Next: What that mantra of the prophets and
Jesus’ teaching on the Last Judgment also
teaches is that charity alone is not enough.
Charity is a great virtue, integrally part of the
greatest virtue of all, love. It may never be
down played. But charity isn’t necessarily
justice. I can be a wonderfully charitable,
kind, moral, and generous person in my
own life and still be unfairly profiting from
an historical, social, political, and economic
system that is unduly rewarding me even as
it is unfairly burdening and robbing others.
The things that I attain honestly through my
own hard work and which I am very generous
with in terms of sharing with others, can at
the same time be the product of a system
which is unfair to others. Taking care of
“widows, orphans, and strangers” requires
not just personal goodness and charity,
but requires too that I have the courage to
look at how my honest wealth may also be
partially the product of a dishonest system.
Who loses while I gain?
Finally: The mantra of the prophets and the
teachings of Jesus about the Last Judgment
should be a challenge to perennially
scrutinize myself with the question: Am I
actually reaching out to the poor? Do I have
real “orphans, widows, and strangers” in my
life? Is my commitment to the poor something
only in theory, an ideal that I uphold but
something that never actually impacts the
poor? It is easy to pay lip-service to this
ideal and it is even easier to write it into my
curriculum vitae so that I look good to others
and feel good about myself. However, as
Ruth Burrows asks: Does our rhetoric about
the poor actually help them or does it just
help us feel better about ourselves?
I concede that these are not easy questions
and we should be slow to answer them.
Sometimes all we can do is admit our
helplessness. I was once at a talk given
by Gustavo Gutierrez where, after the
presentation, a man stood up and, with
pained honesty, shared about his own
helplessness in reaching out to the poor:
What can one person do in the face of all
the global issues of injustice that beset us?
Gutierrez acknowledged the complexity
of the question and sympathized with
the man’s helplessness, but then added:
“Minimally, make sure that you always have
at least one concrete poor person in your life
to who you are specially attending. This will
ensure that your commitment will always at
least have some concrete flesh!”
A single letter of reference from the poor is
better than no letter at all.
STEP 5:
Papal teaching
We can free our life and the world from
the poisons and contaminations that could
destroy the present and the future. We can
uncover the sources of creation and keep
them unsullied, and in this way we can
make a right use of creation, which comes
to us as a gift, according to its intrinsic
requirements and ultimate purpose. This
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
A FAITH THAT DOES JUSTICE SESSION 4
makes sense even if outwardly we achieve
nothing or seem powerless in the face of
overwhelming hostile forces. So on the one
hand, our actions engender hope for us and
for others; but at the same time, it is the great
hope based upon God’s promises that gives
us courage and directs our action in good
times and bad.
Spe Salvi, Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict
XVI November 2007
STEP 6: MODERN BY TRADITION – THE
ORDER OF MALTA: PART 4
After Malta
With the fall of Malta in 1798, most of the
Knights returned to their countries of origin
and the Order was, once again, without a
home for nearly 40 years. The Tsar of Russia
sought to capture the Office of Grand Master
in 1801 and appoint himself to the position.
The Tsar’s action was entirely invalid and
contrary to the Order’s Rule. He was not
Catholic; he was not celibate; he was not
elected by a duly constituted meeting of the
Order and his so called election was never
approved by the Pope.
In 1834 the Order was re-established, in
Rome where it has remained ever since.
There it has its international headquarters,
enjoying extra-territorial status. The Grand
Magistery, where the Grand Master as
Prince of the Order officially resides, is in the
Palazzo Malta on Via Condotti, some 200
metres from the Spanish Steps.
The original hospitaller mission – Obsequium
Pauperum linked with Tuitio Fidei – became
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
26
once again the principle focus and activity of
the Order and at the end of the 19th century,
a significant revival of the Order of Malta
began. This was based not on any military
or naval role but on that which had always
been the primary justification for the Order.
Namely the care of our lords the sick.
False Orders
There is not sufficient time to fully discuss a
different issue which has emerged in recent
centuries, namely the many unauthorised
or un-recognised orders of St John, most of
which claim some identification with the
Order of Malta or its history. There are a large
number of such orders, including several in
Australia. Using symbols and names not
unlike those of the Order, they attempt to
pass themselves off as the Order of Malta.
Caution should be exercised with individuals
purporting to do so. In some cases they
may have undertaken useful charitable work
but in some overseas locations they have
been fronts for disreputable even criminal
organisation. By contrast there are several
orders which are recognized including those
of Papal Knighthood. These also include
The Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint
John of Jerusalem which runs the St John
Ambulance Corps. This body is recognised
by the Order of Malta.
27
SESSION 5
A FOUNDATION
OF ETHICS
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
A FOUNDATION OF ETHICS SESSION 5
STEP 1: START WITH PRAYER
Is Euthanasia ever right?
Take some time and relax into prayer.
Should the death penalty exist?
The following website follows this method
of setting ourselves in the presence of God,
meditating on the gospel of the day and
being gently drawn into prayer.
Can war be right today?
Just go to the website and follow the
suggestions for the day. It is a simple and
effective guide to adult prayer.
www.sacredspace.ie
STEP 2:
Examine this interesting website
contemporary questions of Ethics.
Just go to this website and choose one of
the questions which interests you and follow
through on the history and development
of the ethical thinking from our Catholic
tradition.
www.resource.fraynework.com.au then select
‘Ethics’
STEP 3:
on
All of us living in rapidly changing modern
societies are faced often with the task
of making moral choices in difficult and
complex situations.
We need guides.
We need to draw upon the rich tradition of
hundreds of years of reflection and ideas
that exist in the church.
This website is simply one of those
resources. It is clear, straight-to-the-point and
informative.
It is divided into sections:
Ethics; Scripture; the Church; Worship; Beliefs
In this unit it is suggested that we focus on
Ethics.
Questions such as:
Should limits be put on our loving relationships?
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
28
Papal Statement
The joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties
of the (people) of this age, especially those
who are poor or in any way afflicted, these
are the joys and hopes, the griefs and
anxieties of the followers of Christ.
Indeed nothing genuinely human fails to echo
in their hearts.
Preface, Pastoral Constitution of the Church
in the Modern World, Documents of Vatican
II, Pillar Books: N.Y. 1975
STEP 4: MODERN BY TRADITION – THE
ORDER OF MALTA: PART 5
The Order of Malta Today
It is appropriate to describe briefly the current
membership and government of the Order.
There are over 12,000 members of the Order
in some 59 countries. As indicated earlier,
the qualifications for membership are, in
summary, that the candidate be a practising
29
A FOUNDATION OF ETHICS SESSION 5
Catholic and have a record of community
service,
including
a
demonstrated
commitment to the work of the Order.
Membership is by invitation not application.
Admission is determined by the Sovereign
Council in Rome. As a member of a religious
order, Knights and Dames of the Order are still
required to focus on spirituality in their dayto-day living as well as on the concomitant
Hospitaller or humanitarian role.
New members of the Order are reminded
at their Investiture that they are joining a
religious Order which requires a serious
and practical commitment to their Catholic
faith. Nor has the essential government of
the Order changed much over the centuries.
Certain senior offices, including that of
the Grand Master, can only be occupied
by professed religious who take the three
traditional vows which had formerly
been taken by all members of the Order.
Membership of the governing body, the
Sovereign Council, is truly international.
There have been two significant changes
however in membership in the last century.
Candidates at least in the New World do
not have to demonstrate nobiliary proofs
and may be admitted on personal merit.
A proportion of the Order is thus now
composed of members of Magistral Grace.
In other words, they are admitted at the
discretion or grace of the Grand Master.
The other important change which followed
the decline of the military role is the
welcoming of women members of the Order
as Dames. In the tradition of humanitarian
or hospitaller service and reflecting modern
society the Dames play a vital role working
alongside the Knights.
The Order’s Sovereignty Today
The Grand Magistery of the Order is
responsible for the international governance
of the Order and for its Sovereign and
diplomatic role. The Order as a sovereign
entity in international law since 1113 is
presently recognised by 104 states and
supranational agencies with which it enjoys
diplomatic or official relation, usually with an
exchange of ambassadors.
It is important to note that given its sovereign
status, the Order by definition is not an NGO.
It has however important links with such
bodies including Malteser International and
CIOMAL.
Among the most recent diplomatic linkages
are those with Canada, Russia and TimorLeste. The number of states with which
the Order enjoys diplomatic or official
relations has increased by some 100% since
1995, thus demonstrating that over nearly
10 centuries of existence its vigour and
dynamism has been maintained.
The Order enjoys Permanent Observer status
with missions at the United Nations in New
York, Geneva and Vienna. It is also linked
through aid disbursement and otherwise
with a number of supra-national bodies such
as the European Union, WHO and UNESCO.
The Order’s diplomatic network facilitates the
emergency aid role with an ability to work at
DRINKING FROM THE WATERS OF FAITH
A FOUNDATION OF ETHICS SESSION 5
30
the UN and elsewhere on a government-togovernment basis and thus respond quickly
when disaster strikes.
the professionalism, efficiency, accountability
and transparency of the operations of both
entities.
Humanitarian Aid
Order Aid within an Australian and SE
Asian Context
The Order carries out much of its work in
the Hospitaller tradition at a regional level
through its National Associations and Priories.
It has a part time labour force of some 80,000
skilled volunteer staff ready to be called upon
at short notice plus a full time body of some
20,000 doctors, nurses and paramedics. Its
work includes disaster relief, assistance for
refugees, the conduct of leprosaria, hospitals
and infirmaries, help to the aged, and the
distribution of emergency aid to disasterstricken countries.
A very significant recent development was
the establishment in 2005, out of the Order
of Malta Hospitaller arm in Germany, of
Malteser International (MI) as an NGO entity.
MI has quickly achieved international status
as a professional deliverer of emergency
humanitarian aid and has been active
across the world including the SE Asian
region. It was very occupied for instance in
providing relief following the 2004 tsunami
especially in Aceh Province in Indonesia and
in Thailand, Sri Lanka and southern India. It
was also active in Myanmar after Cyclone
Nargis and in Cambodia and Thailand in
flood relief.
MI and the order itself are often used as
conduits for the distribution of aid money
by governments and supranational bodies.
This entrusting of public money testifies to
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Over the last decade both the Order and MI
have been the recipients of funds on different
occasions from AusAID, the Australian
Government aid agency.
The Order in Australia liaises with MI in its
Hospitaller role. The Australian Association’s
humanitarian effort is visible not only
domestically but with near neighbours such
as Papua New Guinea and the Solomons.
In Timor-Leste where the Order enjoys
diplomatic relations it has been responsible
for the re-establishment of an ambulance
corps in Dili and the linked training in
conjunction with the Australian Catholic
University of ambulance paramedics. It is
pursuing actively an involvement in several
other hospitaller roles including palliative
care and maternal health in concert with the
Timor-Leste Ministry of Health. It is also in
dialogue with the Catholic Church in TimorLeste on health issues.
Asian Expansion
A feature of the order in Australia –
established 1974 – has been a strong focus
on Asia over the last decade. The Australian
Association enjoys the linkages from the
Order’s diplomatic relations with a number
of SE Asian states including Cambodia,
Thailand, The Philippines and more recently
with Timor-Leste.
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A FOUNDATION OF ETHICS SESSION 5
The development of a presence for the
order on the ground in the region was a
responsibility entrusted to the Australian
Association by Sovereign Council more than
a decade ago. A new Order Association was
established in Singapore in 2005 initially
under Australian delegation. Steps are quite
advanced for an Order presence in Hong
Kong and Thailand with other countries
in the immediate region also under active
consideration.
Conclusion
This short history of the Order shows an
organisation possessing from its foundation
around 1048 very strong and enduring
values. It has a tradition and a record of
tenacity and of triumphing over adversity,
ever renewing itself in a way that is both
faithful to its original Hospitaller role and
relevant in current society, ever true to the
principle of “Modern by Tradition”.
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32
REFERENCES
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33
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism was approved by Pope John
Paul II on 25 June 1992, and promulgated by
him on 11 October 1992, the 30th anniversary
of the opening of the Second Vatican
Council, with his apostolic constitution, Fidei
Depositum.
Lumen Gentium, Constitution of the
Church, Vatican Council II
This is one of the principal documents of
the Second Vatican Council. This dogmatic
constitution was one of the most significant
products of the Council promulgated by
Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. As is
customary with significant Roman Catholic
Church documents, it is known by its first
words, “Lumen Gentium”, Latin for “Light of
the Nations”.
Apostolicum Actuositatem, Decree on the
Apostolate of the Laity, Vatican Council II
“This Exhortation intends to stir and promote
a deeper awareness among all the faithful
of the gift and responsibility they share,
both as a group and as individuals, in the
communion and mission of the Church.”
Deus Caritas Est, Encyclical Letter, Benedict
XVI
In English: God is Love, subtitled De
Christiano Amore (Of Christian love), is a 2005
encyclical—the first written by Pope Benedict
XVI, in large part derived from writings by
his late predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Its
subject is love, as seen through a Christian
perspective, and God’s place within all love.
The encyclical begins with a reflection on the
forms of love known in Greek philosophy—
eros (possessive, often sexual, love), agape
(unconditional, self-sacrificing love), philia
(friendship)—and their relationship with the
teachings of Jesus.
Promulgated November 18, 1965 by Pope
Paul VI
Christifideles Laici, Apostolic Exhortation,
John Paul II
Signed in Rome on December 30, 1988. It
is summary of the teaching that arose from
the 1987 synod of bishops on the vocation
and mission of the laity in the Church and
the World.
The goal of the document is to indicate the
road of lay participation in human society.
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34
SUGGESTED PROGRAMME OF FORMATION FOR POSTULANTS
DAILY
YEARLY
Today I will:
This year I will:
• say the prayer of the Order;
• remember those less fortunate than me;
• remember and pray for those members
who are deceased.
WEEKLY
This week I will:
• attend Mass;
• remember the poor and sick in my
prayers;
MONTHLY
This Month I will:
• undertake one of the sessions from the
guide book;
•consider attending the Order’s vigil
mass together with at least one of my
sponsors;
• consider undertaking some volunteer
work with the poor and sick.
QUARTERLY
This Quarter I will:
• aim to attend the Branch Meeting of
the Order;
• give assistance at Gorman House (for
alcohol and drug addiction);
• give some thought to others who I
might put forward for consideration as
members of the Order;
•aim to make myself more familiar
with one of the Church’s main texts
regarding the lay apostolate;
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• endeavour to attend a Day of Reflection
or retreat;
• take note of the calendar of events and
aim to attend the Lourdes Day Mass;
• consider if I can assist the Order in its
fundraising efforts.
OTHER
• I will consider participating in a pilgrimage
to Lourdes in the next three years.
AND IN ALL THAT I DO I WILL
REMEMBER THE NEEDS OF MY
FAMILY.
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THE EIGHT POINTED CROSS
The eight-pointed Cross which symbolises the
Order represents the eight Beatitudes and is
thus a visual memento of its spirituality. The
brothers of the hospital in Jerusalem wore
the cross on their church robes and mantles
to honour God and the Holy Cross.
The four arms of the cross symbolise the four
cardinal virtues.
Prudence – Good Judgement
Justice – Fairness
Temperance – Moderation in all things
Fortitude – Courage to stand up for what
is right
The eight points of the cross symbolise the
Beatitudes, the Christian principles blessed
by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5:3-10).
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall
be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit
the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
what is right, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of Heaven.
And blessed are you when men revile you
and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you, falsely on my account. Rejoice and
be glad for your reward is great in heaven.
In the 13th century the mantle with the white
cross was given to the new Knights with the
following words: “This cross was given white
to us as a sign of purity, which you must
carry in your heart as you wear it externally,
without spot or blemish.
The eight points that you see in this are a sign
of the eight beatitudes that you must always
have in you, and they are: 1) to have spiritual
contentment, 2) to live without malice, 3) to
weep over your sins, 4) to humble yourself at
insults, 5) to love justice, 6) to be merciful, 7)
to be sincere and openhearted, 8) to suffer
persecution.
All these virtues you must engrave on your
heart, for the consolation and preservation
of your soul. And for that reason, I command
you to wear it openly sewn on your clothing,
on the left hand side of the heart and never
to abandon it.”
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall
see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called children of God.
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36
THE DAILY PRAYER OF THE ORDER OF MALTA
Lord Jesus, Thou has seen fit to enlist me for Thy service amongst the
Knights and Dames of St John of Jerusalem.
I humbly entreat Thee through the intercession of the most holy Virgin
of Philerme, of St John the Baptist, Blessed Gerard and all the Saints, to
keep me faithful to the traditions of our Order.
Be it mine to practise and defend the Catholic, the Apostolic, the Roman
faith against the enemies of religion; be it mine to practice charity
towards my neighbours, especially the poor and sick.
Give me the strength I need to carry out this my resolve, forgetful of
myself, learning ever from Thy holy Gospel a spirit of deep and generous
Christian devotion, striving ever to promote God’s glory, the world’s peace,
and all that may benefit the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
Amen
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Order of Malta, NSW Branch, is grateful to Monsignor Tony Doherty AM for his work in the
preparation of this programme. His valuable guidance, unique insight, and wise counsel are
greatly appreciated.
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37
Order of Malta, NSW Branch
33 – 37 West Street Darlinghurst NSW 2010
P: +61 2 9331 8477 | F: +61 2 9331 8433 | E: [email protected] | W: www.smom.org.au
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