18 JANUARY 2021

Martin Luther King Jr Day

15 January 1929 - 4 April 1968

Some of Dr King’s powerful quotes:

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8 JANUARY 2021

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6 JANUARY 2021 : EPIPHANY

Epiphany is an ancient Christian festival and is celebrated across the world in numerous ways.

The word comes from the Greek έπιφάνεια (epiphaneia) which means the “manifestation” or the “showing forth” of Jesus to non-Jews (the Gentiles) after his incarnation (his birth).
In the Western Church we usually relate this to the arrival of the Magi at the house where the Holy Family were living, some 2 years after the birth of Jesus.
In the Orthodox or Eastern Church the word is Theophany (θεοφάνεια)
meaning the appearance of God.

According to the Holy Bible in the Gospel of St Matthew (Chapter 2:verse 11) they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Gospel account indicates that the Magi had been following a star
which led them to the house where they found Jesus, his mother Mary and Joseph:

The star which the Magi followed can remind us of the lovely Epiphany Carol
by William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898):

As with gladness, men of old
Did the guiding star behold
As with joy they hailed its light
Leading onward, beaming bright
So, most glorious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly household bed
There to bend the knee before
Him Whom Heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
 In that homestead plain and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

 Or as the Gospel of St Matthew (Chapter 2, verse 10) puts it:

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”

 

This event is re-enacted by some children:

Epiphany could also represent the flight of the Holy Family into Eygpt
in order to escape Herod's anger and the murder of boys under 2 years in Bethlehem:

 In Eastern churches, Epiphany usually celebrates the baptism of Jesus by St John the Baptist,
in the River Jordan:

Alternatively it also commemorates Jesus' first miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee,
where he turned jars of water into high quality wine:

All of these celebrations and images seek to illustrate 'Epiphany'
'the showing forth' or 'revelation' of Jesus to non-Jews (that is, the Gentiles) -
on various occasions during His life.

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NEW YEAR'S DAY : 1 JANUARY 2021

Dymunwn flwyddyn newydd fendithiol a heddychlon i chi
(We wish you a glorious and peaceful New Year)

The first second:

Here are some words from Minnie Louise Haskins’ poem which the then Princess Elizabeth (now Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) gave to her father, the late King George VI, to say during his Christmas broadcast in 1939:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.  That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.”

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NEW YEAR'S EVE 2020

The last minute:

Great Clock, Elizabeth Tower, London

THE FEAST DAY OF ST jOHN THE EVANGELIST
27 December 2019

One of special days (a Feastday) which the Order observes is that of Saint John, the Apostle and Evangelist.

In the first extract from the Holy Bible below we read St John's own accound of his encounter with Jesus.  The second piece is from St John's Gospel.  St John is sometimes depicted as an eagle and similarly used in church lecterns to hold the Bible - carrying the Word of God across the world.

The Epistle

1 St. John 1.1-end

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, That God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un-righteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The Gospel

St. John 21.19-end

Jesus said unto Peter, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, That that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose, that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

A Prayer

Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church,
that, it being enlightened by the doctrine
of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John,
may so walk in the light of thy truth,
that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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SNOW AT CHRISTMAS ?

Have you ever wondered whether it actually ever snows at Christmas-time in the Holy Land?

You may remember the Christmas carol usually sung to a tune by Gustav Holst with the words written by Christina Rossetti in about 1872, entitled: "In the bleak mid-winter" :

So the question is whether Rossetti was writing with "poetic licence" or did she know that it did occasi onallysnow at Christmas-time in the Holy Land?

The answer is a definite 'Yes'.  It certainly does snow there and the following photographs taken on 12 and 13 December 2013 show it snowing in Bethlehem and Jerusalem:

A Palestinian youth throws a snowball in front of the Dome of the Rock
at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem
on 12 December 2013
as a winter weather front hit the region,
bringing early snow and a steep drop in temperatures.

The first Knights Templar believed that the Dome of the Rock was the original Temple of Solomon.  Consequently, when they made the site their headquarters, they came to be known as the Knights of the Temple - in short the Knights Templar - hence our name today.

Jerusalem - Christmas 2013

Jerusalem - 13 December 2013

Jerusalem - 13 December 2013

Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity
12 December 2013

Jerusalem Cross

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CHRISTMAS DAY 2020

 We are pleased to send our most heart-felt Good Wishes and Blessings to the hundreds of individuals who read items on this website every day of the year.  On this special day we pray that God will keep you safe in His Love and in the New Year ahead grant us all a Peaceful time in the knowledge that He is ALWAYS with us.

One of our Assistant Chaplains, Tony, has recorded the following carols and we hope that you will enjoy listening to them.

 
Oh Holy Night

https://youtu.be/CcUn4Y3fIiQ

Mary Did You Know

https://youtu.be/KsG7PrzTUkw

Silent Night

https://youtu.be/J1btRbyoHYs

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At this most Holy and Joyful Christmas time we sent our very Best Wishes and Blessings to all of the
Knights and Dames of the Sovereign and Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem throughout the world
and to the hundreds of others who visit these pages on a daily basis.

A Blessing

May God
(the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - Ever and Only One)

bless, preserve and keep you safe

in His Love and Care today

and in the New Year ahead

Amen.

‡ The Grand Prior of All Britain and Grand Prior of Wales

In the Holy Bible, the Gospel of St John tells us who the Babe at Bethlehem is - none other than Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, the Creator and Lord of All .....

John 1: 1 ─ 14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  9 That was the true Light, which gives light to every man coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

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ADVENT SEASON 2020

[Advent Sunday 29 November 2020 to Christmas]

O Lord our God,
make us watchful and keep us faithful
as we await the coming of your Son our Lord;
that, when he shall appear,
he may not find us sleeping in sin
but active in his service
and joyful in his praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
                                          Amen.

 

Advent and Candles

 

Welcome to Advent, our theme for this year is one of light in the darkness.

 

 

Imagine for a moment, the world just before the birth of Christ; a world that was dark, in need of salvation, a world that was lost and believed in its own righteousness, a world of empire and of human laws.

The Light arrived in the most inauspicious of circumstances, born to a carpenter and his bride-to-be in a stable in Bethlehem.  This event was largely ignored by the human world at the time but let’s not rush ahead.  Advent is a special season in which we look at the events that led to the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

The first candle is a candle of hope; the hope that those early prophets such as Daniel and Samuel had in God, the faith that they held, knowing the Holy Spirit would move, and bring a new possibility, a new way, a change for good, a hope that in this moment things would never be the same again.

And so we can light the candle for this first period in Advent:

 

 

We hold that hope of change, especially at this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty and increasing secularisation.  But there is good news, we get to be hope-givers to a weary and hurting world.  We get to share our hope so that others are liberated and can also walk free from chains of despair, or addiction, or fear.  We have that faith that God will send the Holy Spirit, His Light upon us.

And so we pray:

Creator God, who saw a world in darkness.  And when you saw your people losing hope, you kindled the flame within them and sent hope to the world that was not an empty hope but a hope that has moved through your people and that has touched the hearts of many ─ the hope that we can bring and live out, that we can inspire others and bring your kingdom closer.  Amen.

Advent 2

Our theme for the second period of Advent is peace.  When I say that word … “Peace”, what comes to mind?  Perhaps a pristine snow-draped mountain, a deserted beach, a quiet fireside and a good book?  Or maybe it’s an image less tangible, or maybe peace is more of a feeling?  A state of being?  A person whose presence brings peace?

Most renditions of the Christmas story begin with the angel Gabriel telling Mary she is to bear a son.  Yet in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’ birth story parallels that of John the Baptist.  Months before visiting Mary, Gabriel appeared to Zechariah to announce that Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son to be named John.  Because he is so old, Zechariah, not unlike Abraham (see Genesis 18: 10-12), questions whether paternity is possible, like Mary’s initial response to her improbable pregnancy.  But while Mary’s question is answered, Zechariah is chastised for doubting, then struck mute for the duration of his wife’s pregnancy.

Looking at Zechariah for a moment it’s tempting to see him as being punished but I wonder if he was in fact blessed: how many of us would like to just shut out all things for a moment?  Muting the perpetual cycle of thought brings a calm, a quiet, it brings a greater peace.  We are called to mute our own thoughts.  With quiet minds and open hearts, we find rest in the peace that surpasses all understanding.

And so we can light the candles for the second period of Advent.  We hold onto that calm, that peace that the Lord sends, whatever form it takes.  We keep in mind how we don’t just receive the gift of peace from God but we also have a duty and a calling to share that peace with others, not just in our gathering as one family but out in the world also, to let others see it in our lives.

 

So we pray:

Loving God who knows the world your people are in today, who sees the distractions, the trials and the dangers we face.  Grant us your peace, a peace that comes from the knowledge that you are our God, that you stand beside us all, and that we are beloved in you father.  Amen.

Advent 3

Our theme for the third period of Advent is love.  How do we define love?  Is it nurturing?  Sacrificial?  Affirming?  Poets, scholars, playwrights and artists have wrestled with this question since the time of the Old Testament.  Indeed, we will all have our own ideas of what love is.

What if I said love is freedom?  There is an incredible sense of power and freedom in both giving and receiving love without condition or expectation.  The experience can be so profound that we lose track of whether we’re the giver or receiver.  This is the love Jesus would later preach on in his ministry.  The Love of God.

 

Love in advent is especially poignant, Mary’s love of God provides her with the courage to give herself to God’s plan.  We sometimes forget that she was a teenager, yet she displays a love and courage well beyond her years.  She, in receiving that gift of love, freely gives it in the purest way in her caring for and journeying with Jesus for his whole life.

 

Joseph, moved by his love of Mary commits himself to be a guardian, an adoptive father to Jesus.  Indeed we see the very real gamut of emotions that he feels before he returns to Mary’s side.  His love drives him to protect the baby Jesus, to teach him as he grew, to give him a trade and an idea of what it was to be a man.

And as we light a candle for the third period of Advent we think of the love that God showers on us so freely, the profound and limitless love that he gave to come and be among us, to give us the gift of salvation, of hope and to change everything in one loving act.

Let us pray:

Loving Lord, you devoted yourself to us the moment you created us and you reaffirmed that love when you came to earth on a cold night in Bethlehem.  You chose Mary and Joseph, and trusted them with this task.  You helped them to build a family based on love, with you at the core.  We ask Lord that you move in our lives too.  Let us love intently and freely.  Let us love as you love, Lord.  Amen.

 

 

Advent 4

Our theme for the fourth period of Advent is joy.  We so often confuse joy and happiness, but is happiness not fleeting?  We can all think of some examples: a delicious meal is interrupted and goes cold; a happy day out ends; a holiday becomes a past event.  Joy though is something that remains.  The moment of joy may pass but the feeling remains long after.

Joy is always so good that it has to be shared.  In telling the Christmas story, think of the last time you felt joy, real joy.  What happened in the lead-up to that moment?  The Gospel writers remind us that when things seem darkest, joy can come in unexpected places and in small packages.

A lesson I learned in my life before the church, working with children and teenagers is that they have such a unique way of seeing the world, they remind us of the joy of playing, giving, learning, and loving.  In the presence of such joy, our inner child can help us feel joy in a way we as adults are maybe not used to.  In that freedom of feeling, can we reflect the joy we feel back to those we meet daily, that joy that Christ brings?

As we have journeyed together this Advent we have looked at Hope, Peace, Love and Joy.  It’s no accident that they come in this order, they are interconnected and flow from each other.

A special thing happens as we open to the possibility of hope: we realise that we are not alone.  When we live in the understanding of peace, we act as a channel for it, as in the prayer sometimes attributed to St Francis.  When we give love, we are truly doing the Lord’s work and in that we find joy.  We find all of these in each other as we have walked this path together as one people under Christ.

And so as we light the candle for joy let’s remember the joy of the Holy Family.  There is the joy that Mary would have felt as she felt baby Jesus kicking; the joy of Joseph as he watched his beloved wife move throughout the trimesters of pregnancy and the joy that the two of them must have felt the moment they held their new-born son in their arms knowing that their almost impossible journey had led to this moment when they saw the joy for all humanity, who lay in their arms.

Let us pray:

Dear God, thank you for all the joyful moments that we have experienced in this most difficult of years.  Thank you for all the times when we have helped people and been helped ourselves so that we have had a chance to give and receive the joy that comes from the unity of one Christian family.  Thank you for the birth of baby Jesus and the joy that this has given people.  We pray Lord, help us to experience true joy this Christmas.  Amen.

 

 

Final thoughts.

Is it me or, with the passing of the old year, does it feel as if we’ve finished one movie and are moving into the sequel?

I was thinking about the season of the New Year, what it means; new beginnings, new starts and the possibilities that brings.  Not much will have changed in the world by the time you read these words, Covid-19 will still be out there, we will still be in lockdown but what if we don’t need the world to be new, what if it us who need to be new?  Hear me out ─ in 2020 we were caught off guard, we didn’t know how to handle a global pandemic ─ but now we have learned to adapt.

Yes, we all miss the normal we are used to, but as St Paul himself tells us: “Be on the alert.  Stand firm in the faith.  Be people of courage.  Be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13)  I don’t know about you but I find those words comforting, there are many lessons we could learn from our brothers and sisters in antiquity.  They were not hiding from Covid-19 but from the Romans, yet they endured, they outlasted their foe.

That’s what I believe 2021 will hold for us, like those who followed Moses into the desert, like those who met in secret in Rome, those who bucked the trend in Corinth, we must walk in faith: that God will be alongside us.  The road we walk in 2021 will not be an easy one but we will walk it together in faith, in love and in fellowship.

As always, my brothers and sisters, my prayers for you are that you are happy and safe.

Darren

[Assistant Chaplain]

FROM THE GRAND PRIOR & SPIRITUAL PROTECTOR
OF THE GRAND PRIORIES OF ALL BRITAIN AND OF WALES

A BLESSING

      Go forth into the world in peace;

      be of good courage;

      hold fast to that which is good;

      render to no one evil for evil;

      strengthen the fainthearted;

      support the weak;

      help the afflicted;

      honour everyone;

      love and serve the Lord,

         rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; and

      May Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,

      scatter the darkness from before your path,

      and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory;

and

      Mae Bendith Duw Hollalluog,          The blessing of God Almighty,

      y Tad, y Mab a'r                            the Father, the Son, and

        Ysbryd Glân,                                  the Holy Spirit,

      a fo yn eich plith ac                        be among you and

      a drigo gyda chwi yn wastad.          remain with you always.

      Amen.                                           Amen.

 

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NOVEMBER

The Time of Remembrancing

Armistice Day : 11 November 2020

       
                1918 - Battlefield, France                                   2019 - Thiepval, France

                                                  Westminster Abbey November 2020

The Queen paid a private visit to the Abbey and stood at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior:

Her Majesty bowed her head to honour all those killed while serving their country, as a floral tribute inspired by her bridal bouquet was placed on her grave.

It was the Queen's idea to have a small, private service to mark 100 years since the unidentified British serviceman was laid to rest there on 11 November 1920, in the presence of her grandfather George V and her father, the then future King George VI.

She was driven from Windsor Castle  to Buckingham Palace, where the royal standard briefly flew to mark her first visit to her official London residence since March.

Wearing a black coat, hat and gloves, the Jardine Star brooch pinned under her poppy and a black mask trimmed with white, she then arrived at the Abbey with just her equerry, Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah.

Inside, she stood close to the black Belgian marble tombstone lined with poppies in the western nave of the building as the Dean of Westminster Abbey, The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, led prayers.

The Queen then moved to look at a bouquet of white and lilac orchids, myrtle and greens, created by a palace florist to reflect the one she carried on her wedding day, touching them briefly before her equerry knelt to place them on the tomb.

After a moment of silent reflection and more prayers, Piper to the Sovereign, Richard Grisdale, played the lament “The Flowers of the Forest” from the organ loft overhead.

Her Majesty’s poignant gesture echoed that of her mother who, as Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, placed her own bridal bouquet at the same spot in 1923.  The Queen Mother’s touching tribute was made in memory of her brother Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who died aged 26 in the Battle of Loos in 1915.  It has inspired many royal brides to leave their own bouquets on the tomb – usually a day after the wedding.

This week marks the centenary of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and also of the Cenotaph, which was unveiled by George V during the unknown serviceman’s funeral procession on Armistice Day 1920.

The warrior’s remains were brought back from the World War One battlefields of Northern France and laid to rest in the Abbey, where thousands filed past to pay their respects.  It became a moment of collective mourning for the nation and one that the Queen was determined to commemorate.

A royal source said: “The grave of the unknown warrior is as relevant and poignant today as it was when Her Majesty's grandfather and father stood in the abbey at its side 100 years ago.  It holds enormous significance for the country and the royal family.  The Queen was keen that the centenary was marked appropriately.  A simple but deeply personal act reflecting a tradition started by her mother 97 years ago felt the right thing to do."

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9 November 2020

31st Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

9 November 1989

Covid-19 restrictions, unfortunately, have limited public observances of Remembarnce Sunday so below are some items which may assist you to contemplate, in silence, the sacrifices made by men, women and children across the world due to the wars and conflicts of the last 100+ years:

Remembrance Sunday : 8 November 2020

                            A Prayer for the Fallen

                                     Remember, O Lord

             all those who have died the death of honour and
       are departed in the hope of resurrection to Eternal Life,
                   especially the Officers, Men and Women
                          of our Sea, Land and, Air Forces,
               to whom it was given to lay down their lives
                     for the cause of Freedom and Justice.

                          In your heavenly place of Light,
        where pain, sorrow, tears and mourning are no more,
            give them rest, O Lord, the Lover of all people.

                         Grant this for Jesus Christ’s sake.

                                                Amen.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields.

Lt Colonel John McCrae was a Canadian soldier, physician and poet.  He wrote this poem on 3 May 1915.  In the above autographed copy of the poem from In Flanders Fields and Other Poems, his handwritten version ends the first line with "grow", unlike the printed copy in the same book where the first line ends with "blow".

All Souls' Tide : 2 November 2020

  

Non Nobis, Domine, Non Nobis,
Sed Nomini Tuo Da Gloriam

 

 At this All Souls' Tide we remember past Knights Templar
and particularly those who have kept the Christian Faith
in their lives, actions, homes, hearts and minds.

Especially we give thanks to God for those who have died for the Faith.

Therefore we recall those Knights Templar who have suffered martyrdom,
including Jacques de Molay (the last medieval Grand Master) and
Geoffroi de Charnay (the Master of Normandy)
who were cruellly burnt at the stake in Paris on 11 March 1314
on the false orders of the King of France, Philip IV (known as Philip the Fair)

Jacques de Molay - Coat of Arms

 

 

Depiction of the Martyrdom of
Jacques de Molay, Grand Master and
Geoffroi de Charney, Master of Normandy

Nearer to home we remember our Patron Saint, St Thomas Cantilupe (1218-1282),
also known as St Thomas of Hereford.
He was a Provincial Grand Master of the Order
and Bishop of Hereford (including parishes in Wales):

         

                      Credenden Hill Church                                    Hereford Cathedral                                          Hambledon Parish Church

Locally we recall our brother Knights Templar of the Grand Priory of Wales
who have passed from our sight in recent times:

Chevalier H John Sommerin (1946-2020)

Chevalier Brian W Ansen (1941-2018)
Chevalier David Bergstrom (1946-2016)
Chevalier Jonathan Griffiths (1955-2017)

In memoria aeterna erit iustus.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,

et lux perpetua luceat eis.

The just shall be in everlasting remembrance.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.

 

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I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you -
the riches of his glorious inheritance in his saints
[Ephesians 1: 18]

The well-known hymn "For all the saints" is a favourite with Templars.
It expresses our hope and trust in the future and
calls upon us to follow the example of our forebears: