The Victory Mass took place in some splendour at St James's Spanish Place, with polyphonic choir, on Tuesday, Our Lady's Nativity, and the celebration of the victorious outcome of the Siege of Malta by our Blessed Mother's powerful intercession. This victory should give us confidence in our own troubled times to ask Our Lady for Her aid, in the firm confidence that our prayers will be answered; as God wills, not necessarily as we do.
Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr Richard Biggerstaff. Many Knights, Dames and Companions attended, a good return after the long absence of Lockdown. We give below the homily preached at the Mass by Monsignor John Armitage, newly appointed Chaplain of the Grand Priory. Please pray for the soul of Monsignor Antony Conlon, his late predecessor, may he rest in peace.
THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Homily; Mgr John Armitage
His humility was the true fount of his nobility, and his humility was inspired by the one who God called Mother, our Blessed Lady. In today’s first reading from the prophet Micha, we hear; The Lord says this, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel.”
At the heart of our Order, is the one who is “the least of the clans of Judah”, the woman who would rejoice and glorify the Lord, for He who is Almighty had worked great marvels in her life. The humility of our Lady arises from her recognition of God's great work in her life, for humility is the recognition that all I have, is freely given to me, by the God who loves me. The nobility of Blessed Gerard was born of a graciousness that comes from being a servant, walking in the footsteps of the one who washed the feet of the apostles, and said to Peter, “unless you let me wash your feet, you can have nothing to do with me”. Like Our Lady, Gerard had recognised in his own life that the Lord had done great things for him, and because of these great things he was able to do great things in the service of others, especially the Poor and Our Lords the Sick. Gerard had a noble heart, a great heart, because he was humble, not counting on his worldly status, for he had experienced the wonders of God's love in his life. It was in serving the Sick and the Poor that he discovered his strength, it was in the challenges of his times, faced with violence, disease and injustice that he gained the strength to serve others and not to count the cost to himself.
Whether it was in the growing needs of sick pilgrims in Jerusalem, or the courageous stand of the Siege of Malta that we remember today, or the challenges that we face in today’s pandemic, our Order needs men and women of great heart, whose nobility is firmly rooted in the humility of Our Lady and the example of Blessed Gerard.
During the Second Word War Pope Pius XII addressed the Order in 1941 “In these poor, these orphans, these wounded, these lepers, you own the title deeds of nobility received at Bethlehem from the King of Kings, who being rich, became poor, that by his poverty you might be rich. Nor are you content with aiding them by your gifts; you love and honour them as the privileged courtiers of our common king."
These profound words of the Pope, remind us that the title deeds of our nobility, as members of our Order lie in the service of the poor, the wounded and the lepers, and that they were given to us in Bethlehem by the King of Kings, who “being rich, became poor”.
From the moment of her Conception, Mary was blessed by God, blessed in order that salvation could come to the “people who walked in darkness”, it was through Mary’s yes, that these “people saw a great light” in her son, Jesus Christ.
Our world still walks in darkness, for so many of our brothers and sisters have not seen the great light. The birth of Mary, and the yes of Mary enabled that light to shine upon us. This light is known through a human encounter, for the Word became flesh and lived among us. Therefore, the world waits for women and men, who have said yes to God in their lives, to be beacons of light to those who live in darkness.
Each moment in history demands great sacrifices, acts of love and kindness, acts of graciousness and radical generosity to address the darkness that so besets our world. The challenge of renewal within our beloved Order, is not about administration, it is about a renewal of the personal and generous response in the lives of its members to say yes as Mary said yes, to say yes as Gerard said yes, to say yes in the footsteps of the thousands of members of our Order who over the centuries have served the Poor and the Sick and protected the Church by their example and loving service, always at a cost to themselves, and sometimes at the cost of their very lives!
At the Annunciation, the message of the Angel “greatly troubled” Mary, but he said to her “Do not be afraid, for the power of the most high will come upon you”. The feast we celebrate today reminds us of what is to come in Our Lady’s life, and what is to come in our life. Like her we may be afraid, afraid of what is happening in the world, what is happening in our family and country. Like Mary we may be afraid of what God may be asking of us to be a “light in the darkness”. Yet the Archangel reassures us, as he reassured Mary, for “Nothing is impossible for God” and so we join with Mary Our Mother and say “Behold the handmaid, (the servant) of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Gods word.”
The painting shows the Lifting of the Siege of Malta, by Charles-Philippe Lariviere. Salle des Croisades, Versailles.
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