The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (in Latin, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani), is an order of knighthood and recognized order of chivalry under the direct protection of the Holy See. According to its constitutions, the popes are the sovereign of the order and members include knights, dames, and prelates of the order (clergy).
Clergy are knight members who are priests, bishops, or deacons. When they are invested, these men are made full members of the Order. Priests are given the optional appellation "Very Reverend." As such, clergymen with membership are entitled by long-standing custom to wear the rochet and white mozzetta - instead of the mantle worn by lay members - and a biretta according to their ordinary rank.
Around their neck they don the "jewel," the Jerusalem cross in scarlet enamel, surmounted with the golden military trophy of the Order, suspended by a black ribbon in watered silk. The rochet is generally Roman tailored, made of starched linen with hand-made lace apparel.
Below is an illustration of a "prelato con mozzetta dell'Ordine," taken from the Statutes of the Order (published in the Holy Year 1950), illustrating the privilege of choir dress for clergy with rochet and mozzetta. The neck decoration is worn in addition to this, along with the biretta.
Below is an example of how the jewel is worn around the neck of a prelate when in formal dress for a black tie banquet, a typical occasion when prelates done the ferraiolo. Notice how the decoration is placed over the ferraiolo. The painted portrait is of Bishop Ernesto Eugenio Filippi, for many years the Archbishop of Monreale in Sicily. He served in the Vatican's diplomatic corps and was later inducted into the order.
Below is an example of how the jewel is worn around the neck of a priest celebrating Mass. Notice how the ribbon is worn over the alb, under the stole and chasuble, with the cross visible.
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| Photo courtesy of G Photography and Films |
Below is an example of how the arms of the Order are displayed on a chasuble, in the Roman tradition. This sort of chasuble can be custom ordered from the papal tailor Gammarelli in Rome. It comes in handy for certain Masses of the Order, such as the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, held every year on September 14th.
The Order has always been most punctilious in matters of dress and ceremony. Below is the section of the old Statutes that addresses the question of choir dress for priest members, mentioning the rochet and mozzetta. These Statues have since been updated twice. For historical purposes this 1950 version is being referenced.
Clergy are also permitted, according to strict rules of heraldry, to incorporate the Jerusalem Cross, the coat-of-arms of the Order. In former years, this was only permitted for prelates, emblazoned in a quarter of the shield on their personal coat-of-arms, illustrated below in the Statutes, published in 1950.
Although historians are uncertain in regard to the precise year in which the Order was founded, it is believed to date back to the time of Sir Godfrey of Bouillon, who established the knights to guard the empty tomb of Christ after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099. Pope Pascal II approved the Order in a papal bull of approbation in 1113.
Around that time, the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre were founded, a religious order that followed the Rule of St. Augustine. With the fall of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem the knights and canons regular were driven out of Palestine. They therefore fled to nearby Cyprus where the escaped members established an Abbey.
From there they spread to Italy and lived the life of religious knights, maintaining a rule of life as canons regular with all attached duties and privileges. Priories and monasteries of the Order were eventually established across Europe in France, Spain, Poland, Belgium. This included convents for female nuns in Belgium, England, the Netherlands, France, and Spain. In the Vatican, Pope Celestine II gave the Order the oratory of Sant'Egidio on Feb. 11, 1144.
Eventually the male branch of the religious order was suppressed in 1489 to be combined with the Order of Malta. Meanwhile, part of the male branch continued in other parts of Europe until the nineteenth century. In addition, the female branch, founded in the fourteenth century (the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre), is still in existence today.
Below are various historical images of the canons, taken from circa 1790, with one image of the canonesses.
The Equestrian Order's mission is primarily to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land (historically, pro sacris Palestinae locis). It exists to arouse both prayers and assistance for the land of Jesus. It sustains and assists the religious, spiritual, charitable, social works and rights of the local Christians. Worldwide, Catholics pledge their support, praying always for the freedom and exultation of Holy Mother the Church. Members pray daily in a special way for the Church in the Holy Land.
The Order is admittedly exclusive and limits its membership to elect members - to those priests and laymen who have demonstrated they are in a special way friends and supporters of the missions of the Church in the Holy Land, patrons either by their labors or generosity. The obligation demands that members be of decorous and social class and that they live a life of noble virtue (nobilium).
Worldwide there are some 30,000 members of the Order and they help support the schools of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, educating over 20,000 students in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus. Each year the Order donates about $10 million to the Latin Patriarchate to sustain its operations. Members sponsor various initiatives to shed light on the plight of Christians in the Holy Land, such as group pilgrimages or visiting speakers, small concerts/musical performances, etc.
While the Cardinal Grand Master resides in Rome, the order's ex officio Grand Prior is the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who resides in Jerusalem. He is the Archbishop of the Latin Church for the Archdiocese of Jerusalem, with jurisdiction over all Latin Rite Catholics in the Holy Land. Today, the Latin Patriarch has his own titular and honorary canons of the Holy Sepulchre, who are canons attached to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (the titular canons are those incardinated into the Latin Patriarchate, while the honorary canons are all others worldwide).
His Eminence Nicholas Cardinal Canali, once the Grand Master of the Order, shared these words with members (clergy and laymen alike) in the Holy Year 1950:
"No vain and empty pride of decorations and uniforms - however honorable and meritorious they may be - should flatter with its allure those whom the Supreme Pontiff Pius XII honors with the name of Crusaders. The only legitimate pride is that which the ardent Apostle of the Gentiles inculcated among the Galatians: 'God forbid I should glory save in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.' The one boast we may make is that of being and of proving ourselves, in the sight of God and man, truly militant under the Standard of the Risen Christ, Who, upon the empty Sepulchre, vanquishes death, and raises aloft the crusading banner of salvation, of life and resurrection."
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