[Editors note: This is Part II in an ongoing series on Catholic masculinity by Sir Raymond de Souza. You can read Part I here.]
Nowadays, the propaganda myth of ‘toxic masculinity’ prevents the development of authentic Catholic masculinity. Fathers will do well if they pay attention to the education of their sons according to the Catholic model presented by the concept of chivalry.
Medieval chivalry embodied the ideal of Catholic masculinity, balancing purity with fortitude, piety with strength, prudence with heroism. It was the sacrament of Confirmation lived in its plenitude.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, being the King of Kings and also the King of the Knights, had made the ultimate sacrifice, and gave His life for mankind. He died for His Spouse, the Church. He was the model for all knights. The knights, therefore, as vassals of God, must also give their lives for Him, if necessary.
This desire to sacrifice oneself for God was epitomized in the final prayer of the famous Knight, Pierre D’Overnne, as he was dying in combat against the Muslim infidels in the Crusades. As the moment approached when he was about to receive the kiss of death, he uttered, “Lord Jesus, Thou hast died for me. And I now die for Thee”.
The Teutonic knights also had a beautiful act of faith and heroism in the Crusades. A group of them had unfortunately run out of water and food in the desert, and knew they were going to die of starvation and thirst. The few survivors related that, as they laid down their exhausted bodies in the hot desert sand, under the inclement sun, they arranged their bodies in the shape of a cross, so that the Angels in heaven, when they looked down upon the earth, would see that they were Christian Crusaders, who died for the love of the cross of Christ!
The swords of the crusaders were shaped like a cross, sometimes having a relic of a saint on the transept of the hilt and blade. And when they gave themselves to prayer, they simply stuck their sword in the sand and prayed in front of the cross-shaped sword. In this way, they united the sacrifice of the cross to their determination to use the sword to defend the Church and the Holy Land.
Among the bishops of the time some were heroic, men who understood the mission of the knights and encouraged them. For instance, in the famous medieval poem of Garran, the archbishop of Reims said “Ye Knights, never forget that God made you to become the walls of the Church!” That is why sometimes is found in the gigantic portals of the great gothic cathedrals the statue of a knight, as if standing guard to keep it.
Hence the second commandment of chivalry: Thou shalt defend the Church.
Even today, among the knights of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a papal order of knights, they are invested by a bishop, who, sitting on a throne dressed in quasi-medieval regalia, raises a sword and touch it on both shoulders of the man being knighted. It is a sacramental of the Church, created to inspire in Her sons a spirit of chivalry to defend the same Church. When the bishop touched the shoulder of the prospective knight, the latter was invested and became a Knight, ready to fight for the faith and to lay down his life, if need be, for the Holy Mother Church.
This has been the motivation of the investiture of knights for centuries, the symbolism of the sword on the shoulder. It was the highest honour given to a man. Women, not being called to battle, were not knighted. Even St Joan of Arc, who led men into battle herself, did not receive the sacramental, and was not knighted.
But today, this remnant of that great Catholic spirit is in danger of being buried in an unholy sepulchre by the ‘new orientation’ of the same Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. The apparent decision of the Grand Master to advocate the abolishment or replacement of the use of the sword in the ceremony of investiture of a knight will, if widely implemented, be the death knell for this remnant of Catholic chivalry in the world. All true Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, being the spiritual descendants of the crusaders who defended the Holy Land, should be justly alarmed and moved to advocate for a reversal of any decision to so dramatically alter the investiture ceremony.
The sad thing is that the Knights of today were never consulted about the removal of the sword in the investiture ceremony. Even the dames of the Holy Sepulchre were never consulted if they wanted to see their husbands, brothers and sons no longer receiving the touch of a sword on their shoulders, but being invested in a way similar to the women who become dames.
This breakdown of masculinity and placing the knights on the same level as the dames cannot bring good results to an order already emasculated in many ways. Equality between men and women seems to be the new woke paradigm.
When the spirit of chivalry is dead among Catholics, the sacrament of Confirmation loses its grip on souls. Cowardice reigns supreme. But the fearful are listed as the first ones who do not enter heavenly Jerusalem! Apoc. 21:8: “But the fearful [or cowards], and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death”.
All true Catholic women want their husbands, sons, and brothers to be real Catholic men, leaders, marked by Christian courage, who are prepared to sacrifice themselves to defend those whom they love, the Church, country, and family, not snowflakes who fear and faint by touching a sword.
In St Luke’s Gospel (22:36), Our Lord and King exhorted the apostles to have swords: “if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one”. But today, the miserable failure of Catholic masculinity in the Church leads men to do the opposite: sell their swords to buy mantles.
How could a Catholic man today fulfill the second commandment – to protect the Church? First, by believing all that the Church teaches and obeying all Her commandments. Then, as a true defender of the Faith, learning how to defend her, how to explain what the Church is and teaches; by learning from Tradition and Scripture, guided by the Magisterium; in a word, putting on the armour of Christ (Ephesians 6) and learning how to brandish the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. St Peter is clear about the necessity of learning apologetics (I Peter 3:15); also, not covering up the scandals that stain Holy Mother Church, as perpetrated in many places in the world, with homosexual priests and bishops, pro-abortion politicians receiving holy communion, and the treasonous silence of so many in the hierarchy who do nothing to save souls.
It would have been better if they had never been born… (St Matthew 26:24).
Sir Raymond J de Souza, KHS, is a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, Defenders of the Faith. www.RaymonddeSouza.com
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