Birthday Greetings

The Grand Priory of Great Britain

wishes the Grand Master

a very Happy Birthday.

ad multos annos

St Tropez Bravade

Fr Simon Henry, ECSLJ, & Confrere Matthew Jackson, BLJ, spend last week in St Tropez for the annual Bravade.

Fr Simon:
"The 453rd annual Bravade for the Saint took place over three days. Processions, salutes, Masses and devotions took place all over the town, with many people in traditional Provencale costume. The Bravadeurs all have to be St Tropez born and bred and are technically the private soldiers and sailors of the town. The bust of St Tropez is carried with great honour around the town and saluted with exceptionally loud gun volleys at every opportunity. The Tropéziens take great pride in the Saint and the Bravade and the traditions stretch back 453 years. I was priviliged to take my turn escorting the saint along the port and through part of the town (thus giving the Curé and others a break, as the procession lasts for hours and only finishes at midnight with Benediction in the parish church."
You can read the story of the Saint and his connection with the town here.

Bravadeurs choose local dignataries and others to throw into the air three times on the way from the thanksgiving Mass. Here Fr Peter Watts, Curé of Grimaud and Fr Simon in his cassock are subjected to the tradition!

The Bravadeurs prepare to salute.

The Curé of St Tropez, Fr Michael Hayes, blesses the Bravadeurs.

Clerics processing through the gun-smoke filled square.

The procession sets off around the town.

The sailors salute the Parish Priest.

St Tropez in glory.

Mgr. Domininque Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon holds the Pax Brede as each of the Bravadeurs comes up to reverence it.

Bishop Rey and the Curé of St Tropez in procession around the town. veryone carries a little bouquet of red and white flowers - the colours of St Tropez. The visiting Bishop Riocreux was also escorted in procession by members of the Military and Hospitaller Order of of St Lazarus.

Charity Dinner

The Grand Prior presenting a cheque to Col Geoffrey Cardozo

The Grand Prior of Great Britain, HE the Baron of Fetternear, hosted a Charity Dinner last Saturday at the Cavalry & Guards Club, Piccadilly, in aid of the charity Veterans Aid. A wonderful time was had by all & £1,000 was raised for the charity.

Wishing you a Blessed Easter.

Christus Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia!

O God, who, on this day, through Thine only-begotten Son, hast conquered death, and thrown open to us the gate of everlasting life, give effect by thine aid to our desires, which Thou dost anticipate and inspire. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

For the honour of the Crucifix!

Since its foundation in the 12th century the vocation and purpose of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem has been to defend Christendom, and to care for the weak and oppressed. From the Ottoman Turks who sacked the Holy Land, to the modern attacks upon Christian moral values in our own century, Knights of St Lazarus have taken up arms, literally and figuratively, to defend the Christian Faith.

On his website the Grand Master Emeritus, H.R.H. Charles-Philippe d'Orléans, Duc d’Anjou, has been calling us that to defend the Faith in our own day.

In Avignon, seat of the Papacy from 1309-1377, an exhibition called "I believe in miracles" has been running based around a photograph of a Crucifix immersed in urine! Posters of this blasphemous image, called "Piss Christ", are displayed publicly in the streets of the city. All this in the run up to Holy Week and Easter.

The French Ministry of Culture, the town council and the regional council are currently funding this exhibition. Among the sponsors of this blasphemy are SNFC (the French Rail Company) and the Cartier Foundation.

In the USA and Australia, this blasphemous photo, made in 1987, was banned.

However, after only 1 week an online petition against this blasphemy had 31,076 signatories. There was also vociferous opposition from such luminaries as HRH Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orleans, the Deputy Mayor of Paray-le-Monial Jean-Marc Nesme, Archbishop Jean-Pierre Cattenoz Archbishop of Avignon, Father Regis De Cacqueray, Superior District of France of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, etc.. ..

Alain Escada, General Secretary of Civitas, a group of young French Catholics "animated by the fervent desire to initiate concrete actions contributing to the restoration of the social and political reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in our homeland", has been at the forefront of the fight against this nastiness. As he puts it:

Is it necessary to repeat? If this show contained a "work" offensive to Muslims or Jews, this exhibition would be permanently closed and a public apology would follow. No, Catholics will no longer tolerate being treated as second class citizens.

For the honour of Christ, let us make our voices heard.

Alain Escada,

Secretary General of the Civitas Institute

If you click on the link below to sign the petition you will see that it is sponsored by a whole host of Catholic organisations (including the site of Prince Charles Philippe d'Orleans). Please click on this link & sign this petition:

"The armed men fight and God will give victory" Saint Joan of Arc.

Ancien Habillement d'un Chevalier de l'Ordre de St. Lazare

Ancien Habillement d'un Chevalier de l'Ordre de St. Lazare

This print, showing a Knight in the 'ancient costume of the Order', was probably from "Histoire et costumes des ordres monastiques, religieux et militaires, et des congrégations séculières des deux sexes." printed in France by Benjamin Jollivet in the middle of the 19th century.

The interesting thing about this depiction is that the Mantle has sleeves and the knight carries a scimitar. It would seem to suggest that this was the Habit of the Order while still in the Holy Land (before the fall of Acre in 1271), though it more likely to be a flight of 19th century fancy! Still, with that sword in his hand this knight certainly means business. He couldn't, of course, be shouting "Atavis et Armis!" since that only became the motto of the Order in 1778.

Piping for St Patrick

Confrère William Hackett BLJ looking resplendent on the Feast of St.Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland. William was in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, raising funds for,and promoting, the Order of St Lazarus.

Fiat justitia!

In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, the Correctional Division of the Court of appeal of Riom acquitted Prince Charles‐Philippe d'Orléans, Duc d'Anjou, of all involvement in a case of industrial espionage.

In 2005 the Prince was falsely accused of having participated, as a former manager of a business intelligence company, in a destabilization operation which was intended to discredit the pharmaceutical company Théa.

This decision definitively puts an end to five years of unjustified court proceedings against Prince Charles-Philippe. His good name and reputation are now fully restored.

Throughout this difficult ordeal the Prince has behaved with great dignity and has sought to protect the Order of St Lazarus from any adverse criticism. The whole Order rejoices with him that his ordeal in now over and his honour restored.

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Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni, Venice

The Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni

San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon lying immediately west of the Lido; completely occupied by a monastery that is the mother-house of the Mekhitarist Order, the island is one of the world's foremost centers of Armenian culture.

The island's isolation, at some distance from the principal islands which form the actual city of Venice, made it an ideal location for the quarantine station and leper colony founded there in the twelfth century, receiving its name from St. Lazarus, patron saint of lepers. Abandoned in the sixteenth century, in 1717 it was given by the ruling council of Venice to a group of Armenian monks who had escaped from Turkish persecution. In 1712 they had placed themselves under the protection of the Pope, and eventually made their way to Venice. Mekhitar and his seventeen monks built a monastery, restored the old church, and enlarged the island to its present 30,000 square metres, about four times its original area.

Its founder's temperament and natural gifts for scholarly pursuits immediately set the Mekhitarist Order in the forefront of Oriental studies: the monastery published Armenian historical, philological and literary works and related material, renowned for their scholarship and accuracy as well as for the beauty of the editions, on its own multilingual presses, which shut down in 1991, although an eighteenth century printing press can still be seen in the museum. S. Lazzaro houses a 150,000-volume library, as well as a museum with over 4,000 Armenian manuscripts and many Arab, Indian and Egyptian artifacts collected by the monks or received as gifts.

The monastery, with its gardens noted for its peacocks, also has a long tradition of hospitality to scholars and students, among whom Lord Byron, who studied Armenian there during much of the year 1816, is remembered by a permanent exhibition.

In May 2005 the Monastery played host to around 200 members of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem who made their way to Venice for an international gathering comprising a number of organisational, spiritual and social events.

The 49th Grand Master of the Order, HRH Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orléans, Duc d'Anjou, presided at full day meetings of the Grand Magistry and the Governing Council of Heads of Jurisdictions on the Island of San Lazzaro, which has historical connections with the Order of St Lazarus since the first home of the Order was the hospital of St Lazarus in Jerusalem which had been established by Armenian monks. A Commandery of the Order was erected on the island in the twentieth century.

Many members of our own Grand Priory were present on 20 May 2005 when the Abbot-General, His Grace Elia Kilaghbian, was installed as Commander of the Eternal Commandery of San Lazzaro by the Grand Master during an Armenian rite Mass in the Abbey Church.

Mass in the Armenian rite during which His Grace Abbot-General Elia Kilaghbian
was installed as Commander of the Eternal Commandery of San Lazzaro.

His Grace Abbot-General Elia Kilaghbian with HRH Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orleans

and His Eminence László Cardinal Paskai, OFM.

Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orléans

The Grand Priory of Great Britain

wishes Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orleans

a very Happy Birthday.

ad multos annos

THE LEPER IN ENGLAND: WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF English Lazar Houses

I thought this extract from a short work by ROBERT CHARLES HOPE, F.S.A., F.R.S.L., might be of interest to members.

It is from a lecture delivered in Christ Church Schoolroom, Scarborough, on Thursday, March 5th, 1891.

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There was a special order of Knights founded very early, in Jerusalem, united to the general order of the Knights Hospitallers, whose especial province was to look after the sick, particularly Lepers.... We first hear of them in England, in the reign of King Stephen, when they seem to have made their headquarters at Burton-Lazars, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, where a rich and famous Lazar House was built by a general subscription throughout the country, and greatly aided by the munificence of Robert de Mowbray. The Lazar-houses of S. Leonard’s, Sheffield; Tilton, in Leicestershire; Holy Innocents’, Lincoln; S. Giles’, London; SS. Mary and Erkemould, Ilford, Essex; and the preceptory of Chosely, in Norfolk, besides many others, were annexed to it, as cells containing fratres leprosos de Sancto Lazaro de Jerusalem. The house received at least 35 different charters, confirmed by various sovereigns. Camden in his Britannia, p. 447, says that “The masters of all the smaller Lazar-houses in England, were in some sort subject to the Master of Burton Lazars, as he himself was, to the Master of the Lazars in Jerusalem.”

The rules of these Lazar-houses were very strict. The inmates were allowed to walk within certain prescribed limits only, generally a mile from the house. They were forbidden to stay out all night, and were not on any account permitted to enter the bakehouse, brewhouse, and granary, excepting the brother in charge, and he was not to dare to touch the bread and beer, since it was “most unfitting that persons with such a malady, should handle things appointed for the common use of men.” A gallows was sometimes erected in front of the houses, on which offenders were summarily despatched from this world, for breach of the rules.

The comforts in these houses varied greatly as the house was richly, or poorly endowed. At some of the smaller ones, the inmates would seem to have depended almost, if not entirely, on the precarious contributions of the charitably disposed for their very sustenance. At Beccles, in Suffolk, one of the Lepers of S. Mary Magdalene’s, was by a royal grant empowered to beg on behalf of himself and his brethren. Sometimes, these poor and wretched outcasts would sit by the roadside, with a dish placed on the opposite side, to receive the alms of the good Samaritans that passed by, who would give them as wide a berth as possible. The Lepers were not allowed to speak to a stranger, lest they should contaminate him with their breath. To attract attention, they would clash their wooden clappers together.

In the larger and richer houses, the inmates were well provided for. The account of the food supplied to the inmates of the Lazar House of S. Julian, at S. Albans, c. 1335-1349, is very curious:— “Let every Leprous brother receive from the property of the Hospital for his living and all necessaries, whatever he has been accustomed to receive by the custom observed of old, in the said Hospital, namely—Every week seven loaves, five white, and two brown made from the grain as thrashed. Every seventh month, fourteen gallons of beer, or 8d. for the same. Let him have in addition, on the feasts of All Saints, Holy Trinity, S. Julian, S. John the Baptist, S. Albans, The Annunciation, Purification, Assumption, and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for each feast, one loaf, one jar of beer, or 1d. for the same, and one obolus[a] which is called the charity of the said Hospital; also, let every Leprous brother receive, at the feast of Christmas, forty gallons of good beer, or 40d. for the same; two qrs. of pure and clean corn—which is called the great charity; also at the Feast of S. Martin, each Leper shall receive one pig from the common stall, or the value in money, if he prefer it.” The pigs were selected by each leper according to his seniority in having become an inmate; also, each Leper shall receive on the Feast of S. Valentine, for the whole of the ensuing year, one quarter of oats; also, about the feast of S. John the Baptist, two bushels of salt, or the current price; also, on the feast of S. Julian, and at the feast of S. Alban, one penny for the accustomed pittance; also, at Easter, one penny, which is called by them ‘Flavvones-peni’; also, on Ascension Day, one obolus for buying pot herbs; also, on each Wednesday in Lent, bolted corn of the weight of one of their loaves; also, on the feast of S. John the Baptist, 4s. for clothes; also, at Christmas, let there be distributed in equal portions, amongst the Leprous brethren, 14s. for their fuel through the year, as has been ordained of old, for the sake of peace and concord; also, by the bounty of Our Lord the King, 30s. 5d. have been assigned for ever for the use of the Lepers, which sum, the Viscount of Hertford has to pay them annually, at the feasts of Easter and Michaelmas.

At the Lazar House, dedicated in honour of “The Blessed Virgin, Lazarus, and his two sisters Mary and Martha,” at Sherburn, Durham, which accommodated no less than 65 Lepers, a more varied, and at the same time less complex dietary was in vogue. The daily allowance was a loaf of bread weighing 5 marks and a gallon of ale to each; and betwixt every two, one mess or commons of flesh, three days in the week, and of fish, cheese, and butter, on the remaining four. On high festivals, a double mess, and in particular on the Feast of S. Cuthbert. In Lent, fresh salmon, if it could be had, if not, other fresh fish; and on Michaelmas Day, four messed on one goose. With fresh flesh, fish, or eggs, a measure of salt was delivered. When fresh fish could not be had, red herrings were served, three to a single mess; or cheese and butter by weight; or three eggs. During Lent, each had a razer of wheat to make furmenty, and two razers of beans to boil; sometimes greens or onions; and every day, except Sunday, the seventh part of a razer of bean meal; but on Sundays, a measure-and-a-half of pulse to make gruel. Red herrings were prohibited from Pentecost to Michaelmas, and at the latter, each received two razers of apples. They had a kitchen and cook in common, with utensils for cooking, etc.:—A lead, two brazen pots, a table, a large wooden vessel for washing, or making wine, a laver, two ale and two bathing vats. The sick had fire and candles, and all necessaries, until they became convalescent or died.

Each Leper received an annual allowance for his clothing, three yards of woollen cloth, white or russet, six yards of linen, and six of canvas. Four fires were allowed for the whole community. From Michaelmas to All Saints, they had two baskets of peat, on double mess days; and four baskets daily, from All Saints to Easter. On Christmas Day, they had four Yule logs each a cartload, with four trusses of straw; four trusses of straw on All Saints’ Eve, and Easter Eve; and four bundles of rushes, on the Eves of Pentecost, S. John the Baptist, and S. Mary Magdalene; and on the anniversary of Martin de Sancta Cruce, every Leper received 5s. 5d. in money.

This luxurious living was not without its leaven. The rules of the House were strict, and enforced religious duties on its inmates, of a most severe and austere nature. All the Leprous brethren, whose health permitted, were required daily to attend Matins, Nones, Vespers, and Compline.

The bed-ridden sick were enjoined to raise themselves, and say Matins in their bed; and for those who were still weaker, “let them rest in peace.” During Lent and Advent, all the brethren were required to receive corporal discipline three days in the week, and the sisters in like manner.
From the rules of the Lazar House of SS. Mary and Erkemould, at Ilford in Essex, which accommodated 13 Lepers—we learn, in 1336, that the inmates were ordered “to preserve silence, and, if able, to hear Mass and Matins throughout, and whilst there, to be intent on prayer and devotion. In the hospital, every day, each shall say for morning duty a Pater-noster and Ave Maria thirteen times; and for the other hours of the day—1st, 3rd, and 6th of Vespers; and again, at the hour of concluding service, a Pater-noster and Ave Maria seven times; besides the aforesaid prayers each Leper shall say a Pater-noster and Ave Maria thirty times every day, for the founder of the Hospital—the Abbess of Barking, 1190—the Bishop of the place, all his benefactors, and all other true believers, living or dead; and on the day on which any one of their number departs from life, let each Leprous brother say in addition, fifty Paters and Aves three times, for the soul of the departed, and the souls of all diseased believers.” Punishment was meted out to any who neglected or shirked these duties.

As soon as a man became a prey to the disease, his doom on earth was finally and irrevocably sealed. The laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, were awful in their severity to the poor Leper; not only was he cut off from the society of his fellow-men, and all family ties severed, but, he was dead to the law, he could not inherit property, or be a witness to any deed. According to English law Lepers were classed with idiots, madmen, outlaws, etc.

The Church provided a service to be said over the Leper on his entering a Lazar House. The Priest duly vested preceded by a cross, went to the abode of the victim. He there began to exhort him to suffer with a patient and penitent spirit the incurable plague with which God had stricken him. Having sprinkled the unfortunate Leper with Holy Water, he conducted him to the Church, the while reading aloud the beginning of the Burial Service. On his arrival there, he was stripped of his clothes and enveloped in a pall, and then placed between two trestles—like a corpse—before the Altar, when the Libera was sung and the Mass for the Dead celebrated over him.

After the service he was again sprinkled with Holy Water, and led from thence to the Lazar House, destined for his future, and final abode, here on earth.

A pair of clappers, a stick, a barrel, and a distinctive dress were given to him. The costume comprised a russet tunic, and upper tunic with hood cut from it, so that the sleeves of the tunic were closed as far as the hand, but not laced with knots or thread after the secular fashion of the day. The upper tunic was to be closed down to the ankles, and a close cape of black cloth of the same length as the hood, for outside use.

A particular form of boot or shoe, laced high, was also enjoined, and if these orders were disobeyed the culprit was condemned to walk bare-footed, until the Master, considering his humility said to him “enough.” An oath of obedience and a promise to lead a moral and abstemious life was required of every Leper on admission. The Bishops of Rome from time to time issued Bulls, with regard to the ecclesiastical separation and rights of the afflicted.
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The whole text can be found here.

Impression from a seal matrix of Burton Lazars hospital

Having received a gift of land from the Earl of Arundel at Wymondham, Norfolk, in c1146, the Order of St Lazarus became properly established in England somewhere around 1157 after his noble cousin, Roger de Mowbray, had returned from the Second Crusade. Mowbray must have known of the Lazarite hospital of Jerusalem, and with the support of King Henry II he granted a manor and lands to the Order for the foundation of a leper hospital in Leicestershire. The veteran crusader and patron of several monastic orders died in the Holy Land in 1188. The Preceptory he founded near Melton Mowbray became known as Burton Lazars, a name that remains to this day. It prospered and attracted further patrons, including King Edward I.

AD 1400-1500
Found in Suffolk, England

The Latin inscription on this seal refers to Burton Lazars in Leicestershire, the chief English house of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. Length: 60 mm; Width: 39.5 mm
The British Museum PE MLA 1887,0727.31

For a fascinating account of the Seal and its discovery see this article by Dr David Marcombe, Director of the Centre for Local History at the University of Nottingham, and the author of Leper Knights: the order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem in England, c.1150–1544.

40th Grand Master - Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau

Philippe de Courcillon, marquis de Dangeau,

Grand Master of the Order of St. Lazarus and Mount Carmel, by Hyacinthe Rigaud.

On 24 December 1693 King Louis XIV chose Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau as Grand Master of the united orders of St Lazarus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In a religious ceremony Dangeau then swore loyalty to the king on 18 December 1695. His reception as head of the Order was celebrated with great pomp on 29 January in a church in Versailles. The new Grand Master sought to raise the prestige of the order.

Louis XIV receives the oath of Dangeau as Grand Master, 18 Dec 1695, by Antoine Pesey.
(source: Ministère de la Culture, base de données Joconde.)

Dangeau's major innovation was the establishment of family (sometimes styled hereditary) Commanderies, actually called "Gradual, Masculine and Perpetual Commanderies" in an act that received royal approval on 9 December 1693. Members of the Order, with the agreement of the Grand Master and Council, were permitted to establish a family property (or donation of funds) as a Commandery. Knights who made such donations were regarded as "Founder Commanders". [Commandeur fondateur] Certain of these Commanderies could be established with the right of succession to a Commandery, and heirs of such Commanderies who could prove their Catholic faith could apply for the Cross of the united Orders with no further requirements. Inheritance of a "gradual and perpetual" Commandery did not automatically confer knighthood in Saint Lazarus as the would-be knight still had to apply for the Cross and be received as a member according to the forms required in the Statutes. Six "gradual and perpetual" Commanderies were established initially, of which one ceased to exist with the renunciation of its founder. The first was that of the des Courtils family, the Commandery of La Motte (1701), then that of Saint François, of the Bailleul family (1710), that of Saint Charles, of the Bory family (1711), the fourth that of Saint Michel de Bruxelles (1712), and the fifth that of Saint Anthony of Castille, founded in 1712 by a Spanish nobleman. That of Saint Eulalie of Barcelona, founded in 1709, converted to "gradual and perpetual" in 1711, ceased to be such when the Commander, Don Juan Graëls, renounced the right to nominate a successor in 1714.

During Dangeau's administration there were four hundred and thirty five new members received, with many being unable to make the proofs for Knight of "Justice". Dangeau was succeeded in 1720 by Prince Louis de Bourbon, Duc d'Orléans, the son and heir of the French Regent, Philippe, Duke of Chartres.

Arms of Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau (1693 - 1720)
He bore: Argent, a Bend lozengy Gules, in chief a Lion rampant Sable.