The Order of St Lazarus
MILITARY AND HOSPITALLER ORDER OF SAINT LAZARUS OF JERUSALEM
UNDER THE HIGH PROTECTION OF MONSEIGNEUR LE COMTE DE PARIS, DUC DE FRANCE, CHEF DE LA MAISON ROYALE DE FRANCE
SPIRITUAL PROTECTOR: HIS EMINENCE LÁSZLÓ CARDINAL PASKAI OFM, PRIMATE EMERITUS OF HUNGARY
MAGNUS XLIX MAGISTER CITRA ET ULTRA MARIA, PRÆCEPTOR BOIGNACI:
HRH PRINCE CHARLES-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS, DUC D'ANJOU
The Order of St Lazarus is one of the earliest of the Christian orders of chivalry still in existence, and is considered to have been established in the Holy Land by crusader knights somewhere between 1098 and 1130. The hospital of St Lazarus in Jerusalem is known to have comprised a distinctive religious community of monastic brothers and knights, many of whom had left other Orders because they had contracted leprosy or been otherwise disabled through warfare. In caring for one another while supporting the crusades, their activities were both military and hospitaller. Health issues remain one of the Order's charitable aims today, though its focus has now widened to encompass many other forms of humanitarian aid. The principal thrust of the Order's international Saint Lazare identity in the 21st century is the combat of problems related to water.
Charitable Work Today
Today the Order remains involved with the relief of leprosy in the third world, in conjunction with organizations such as LEPRA. Help for disabled people, the terminally ill and young people who are disadvantaged is also well established, with Commandery members fundraising for hospices, institutions and projects they have chosen to support both locally and abroad. The Order is also active in international emergency relief, complementing the work of similar bodies such as the Red Cross and the Order of St John.
Charitable work performed in the name of St Lazarus or Saint Lazare may be recognized by the traditional emblem of the green cross (which is the origin of the international symbol for healthcare). Over the last forty years, contributions towards such works from members and volunteers in the British Isles have been substantial.
During the Second World War the Order established an emergency corps in France whose selfless work for the sick and wounded led to the award of a number of Croix de Guerre to knights of St Lazarus by the French Government. In the 1980s, over €20m worth of EU aid was dispatched in more than 300 convoys to the needy of Poland, a fact recognized with gratitude by Pope John Paul II. The early 1990s saw €125m of European food aid distributed jointly by 
the Order of St Lazarus and the Red Cross in Russia, with further relief for those suffering economic hardships caused by the political turmoil in other Eastern European countries.
The principal project of Saint Lazare International at the moment is to assure the provision of fresh water supplies to some 40,000 Somali refugees and locals in Ethiopia. The unostentatious giving of time and money to help those who cannot help themselves continues to be the core of Christian chivalry. As St Augustine said, "If charity fails, of what good is all the rest!"