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Chivalry and Christendom

  In order to build Christendom, that is, the social and political reign of Our Lord, the Church has set up two great institutions. First of all, the imperial or royal coronation, a sacramental which gives a participation in the kingship of Christ and graces in proportion. Later, when the central power became vacant after the death of Charlemagne, the Church reminded the simple barons and knights that they had, at their level, the same mission as the king or the emperor. The Church then Christianized the rite of dubbing by modelling it on the ceremonial of the coronation. It too gives mission and graces. It is by means of these institutions of coronation and knighthood that Christianity went from chaos to its apogee.

  To defend this Christendom, the Church then resorted to two other institutions: the Crusades, with the temporary vow of the Cross, and the military orders or orders of chivalry, permanent in nature, with religious vows for some and private vows for the laity living in the world. So how do we defend or rebuild Christianity today? By using the institutions of the Church created for this purpose: they are, by definition, the best means to achieve the end that is set for them, hence their durability and universality.

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The Order of the Knights of Our Lady

  It is on the basis of these two institutions of knighthood and orders of chivalry, that, in order to respond to the will of the Sovereign Pontiffs to restore everything in Christ, the future Dom Marie-Gérard Lafond created in 1945 the Order of the Knights of Our Lady - or Militia Sanctæ Mariæ - with the support of the Reverend Father Dom Gabriel Gontard, abbot of Saint Wandrille, and then of various bishops.

   The Rule was given the imprimatur by His Excellency Bishop Michon of Chartres, who canonically erected the Order at Notre-Dame de Sous-Terre, the crypt of his cathedral. Subsequently, the Order received similar canonical status in Regensburg, Germany, Sion, Switzerland, Braga, Portugal and Santander, Spain.       

   Unfortunately, the Order also experienced a break after Vatican II. However, faithful to the ancient Rule of the Order, some knights formed a traditional branch of the Order to continue its mission.

   Its Constitutions, which were approved by decree of the Canonical Commission of the Priestly Society of St Pius X, indicate that, like Archbishop Lefebvre, the Order refuses, in this time of crisis, to submit to instructions, even from Rome, which would be contrary to the constant teaching of the Church: it defends the Faith of all time.

    Let us add that pale imitations of the Order have since been occasionally attempted, and still are, without legitimacy or success.

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Becoming a Knight of Our Lady

 To enter the Order, being a good Christian is necessary, but not sufficient. It is also necessary to have a disposition of spiritual pugnacity proceeding from pure Charity and ordered to the universal Common Good. The mission of chivalry in general, as well as of the Order in particular, is not specifically personal sanctification, nor charitable action, nor apostolate, but rather the reign of Christ over the institutions of society: family, profession, city, nation.

  After six months of preparation and consecration to Our Lady according to the spirituality of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, the postulant is received into the Order as a squire. After two years of formation, he can become a donate by making temporary renewable private vows. Finally, the Master of the Order calls certain donates who are sufficiently trained and firm in the fight to the profession and to adoubement.

  The recipient then takes the three private vows on a definitive basis: vow of conversion of morals, following the way of life described by the Rule; vow of fidelity to the Order, that is, obedience to its hierarchy within the limits of the Rule and of fraternal mutual aid; and vow of defense of the Church, a vow analogous to the crusade vow, to defend the Church and its institutions even at the risk of one's life.

  He then receives the white mantle stamped with the cross of the Order, and spends the night in prayer: it is the vigil of arms. The next morning, after Mass, he receives the dubbing. The knights undertake - and the other members of the Order commit themselves - to say the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin and the Rosary in their entirety each week, to make a daily mental prayer, to attend the monthly chapter of their commandery, to continue their formation and to participate in the activities of the Order.

  Wives of members of the Order may be received as sisters, and their daughters as maidens or female cadets. Sisters who make profession with their spouses become Ladies of the Order. There are also pages and cadets, who have the advantage of being able to continue throughout their lives what they started as children.

  The Order of the Knights of Our Lady is not one of those orders of "chivalry" in the sense used today for orders of merit, honors and decorations in general. Nor is it a simple Catholic movement or association.

  By its Rule, its observances, its discipline, as well as by the commitment it demands, the Order of the Knights of Our Lady constitutes a stable framework for the activity of the layman, single or father, who really wants to devote himself to the fight for the social reign of Our Lord, while deepening his spiritual life and his doctrinal knowledge.  This is the vocation of the laity par excellence.

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The fight for Christ the King

  If the essential role of the Third Orders is the personal sanctification of their members, the Order of the Knights of Our Lady has as its end, in addition to this indispensable sanctification, the struggle for the triumph of Christ the King over the nations and the political and social institutions of the City, and the restoration of Christian Civilization, that is to say, of a Christian Social Order or Christendom, what we call today the social reign of Our Lord.

  Whatever many Catholics think, even among the most faithful, this is not an outdated or chimerical goal, even if it seems far away. The Roman Pontiffs have always recalled it with vigor, refusing to give in to the historical evolutionism of the liberals and the sense of history of the Marxists. In his 1910 Letter on the Furrow, St. Pius X warned us: We must energetically remind ourselves of this in these times of social and intellectual anarchy, when everyone poses as a doctor and legislator: the city will not be built otherwise than God built it, society will not be built if the Church does not lay the foundations and direct the work, no, civilization is no longer to be invented, nor is the new city to be built in the clouds. It has been, it is, it is the Christian Civilization, it is the Catholic City. It is only a matter of establishing and restoring it unceasingly on its natural and divine foundations against the ever-rising attacks of unhealthy utopia, of revolt and impiety: omnia instaurare in Christo.

   It was to this crusade that Archbishop Lefebvre called the laity in 1979 when he declared: We must have a crusade (...) in order to recreate Christianity, as the Church desires (...) with the same principles.

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