Knighthood, romance, and others opinions

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PaladinSword

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Hey all. I was going to get married a few years ago and I was very happy but unprepared. Things kind of fell apart and we didn’t go through with it as I was eventually left with no choice in the matter. All my life I had fantasies about being a knight and my former fiancé used to call me her knight. Well after we parted ways I reverted to the church and it really was and still is a miraculous experience. I joined the k of c and finally took the 4th degree about a year ago. I had never felt so self actualized and like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. My grandparents are a knight and lady of the holy sepulchre. I have been single now for almost three years and have been very ascetic and studious as well as discussive about our faith. They keep pressuring me to join the priest hood or become a monk. I’ve considered the deaconate but honestly I don’t really feel called. What do I say to them? It seems like everytime I’m at a family gathering they make insinuations about what I should be doing with my life. I am a hopeless romantic but I haven’t been in love for a while as I was devestated when my lady left me when I was at my weakest. Now that I am stronger I enjoy my life today and though I have some regrets I still feel the hand of God over some of the better parts of my life now that I didn’t seem to have before. I had a very immediate and dramatic conversion that makes a lot of people I know not just my grandparents say I should become a priest. I just don’t see myself in it. Knights who are clerics do not wear swords and the sword has been a very intense theological and psychological symbol for me as long as I can remember when it comes to my relationship with God. Any comments, suggestions?
 
Fwiw, all of my friends with swords use them-- western martial arts, fencers, reenactment groups, living history, etc.
You say the sword is a symbol for you.
Is it a decoration? An accessory?
Is it something functional? Recreational?
Is its use something athletic? A way to work out stress?

Friends and relatives are always going to pitch in their two cents about anyone’s future life decisions. 🙂 Discernment is up to you. But I find it odd that you would base your future path on what accessories are permitted to you… sort of like not wanting to pursue a degree in education, because you don’t want to wear baby blue graduation colors.

I do remember seeing some other Orders. It’s been many years, but I do remember one individual in particular-- he always came to the local FSSP service wearing a white cloak with a red cross on it. A Maltese cross, perhaps? It’s been a long time. I knew what Order he belonged to before, since there was some literature about it, but I can’t recall, and the Googles aren’t much help this morning. 🙂 Can’t remember if he had a sword or not… the cloak was floor-length, and he always sat in the back.

(Congratulations to your aunt and uncle for their service! That’s really something to aspire to!)

(And I’m totally with you that cloaks and swords should both come back into fashion. And yes, I have several of both. And I use them when I get the chance. :D)
 
I am in the sca and study rapier. I got my first rapier when I was six. I have also studied Korean and Japanese martial arts for over ten years and my whole immediate family is in martial arts. My parents are second degree blackbelts and instructors. They owned a dojo when I was growing up and they still teach with grandmasters studio and he is a ninth degree blackbelt. I have always felt more like I belonged to the warrior class than a cleric. I am a big fan of courtly love and chivalry. St Michael was my patron saint growing up.
 
Also being a 4th degree k of c I am a fully exemplified knight of the church and I have the title of sir knight. It may be one of the most modern orders of catholic knights and is more fraternal service org. The knights of the holy sepulchre is the oldest order of knights in the catholic church as far as I know since they started in Jerusalem. I may not be as highly esteemed as my grandparents but I am still a knight and once I was exemplified I felt like I had finally accomplished a lifelong desire.
 
Knights of the holy sepulchre wear white cloaks that are nearly floor length with a red Jerusalem cross on the shoulder and wear red berets. The ladies wear black capes with the cross on the shoulder and mantillas. When they have been to the holy land they are permitted to wear a seashell in the center of the cross called the pilgramage shell.
 
Just do your best to respectfully make it clear to them that do not feel called to the priesthood, and that you cannot follow God’s Will if you have no idea what that is.

I know a knight, and when he insinuated that I was called to be a nun (this was after I had told him for the third time that I did not wish to date him), I burst into tears of frustration. Most of my Catholic friends assume that because I have not found my future spouse yet means that I will never marry, which by extension means that I should be a nun (I am only 25). I don’t think God wants us to follow a vocation if our hearts are not into it. I have always felt called to be a mother… whether or not that means I will be a wife first (I might be called to adopt rather than to marry and have my own), seems to be up to God now.

Trust him, and he will show you the way. It just might take a while longer. I face having my parents disown me if I become a nun and my Catholic friends thinking that I am wasting time by not being a nun, or not dating every Catholic guy I meet.
 
I will pray for you. St. Michael is number 2 in my arsenal of saints. 😉
 
The play is a bit different from the silent movie (I heard the silent movie has a happier ending), but you should definitely give Part I of the play a shot. 😉
 
PaladinSword said:
I am in the sca and study rapier. I got my first rapier when I was six. I have also studied Korean and Japanese martial arts for over ten years and my whole immediate family is in martial arts. My parents are second degree blackbelts and instructors. They owned a dojo when I was growing up and they still teach with grandmasters studio and he is a ninth degree blackbelt. I have always felt more like I belonged to the warrior class than a cleric. I am a big fan of courtly love and chivalry. St Michael was my patron saint growing up.
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I don’t have much of an opinion of your priesthood and family issues but I do study medieval arms and armor and collect fine reproductions and custom pieces. It’s my hobby!

Anyway if you want a really nice high-quality rapier or later period sword then try these guys out.

armor.com

If you are drawn to any earlier designs (say before 1500 or so) go to these guys.

albion-swords.com

Check this discussion forum out which is the best on the net for those seriously interested in western medieval arms and armor.

myarmoury.com/home.php

99% of arms and armor sold out there is complete and utter garbage but these guys and a few custom smiths do great things.

It’s a fun hobby!

God Bless!
 
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood has been conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Since the Early Modern period, the title of knight is purely honorific, usually bestowed by a monarch, as in the British honours system, often for non-military service to the country.

Historically, the ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature, especially the Matter of Britain and Matter of France, the former based on Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (“History of the Kings of Britain”), written in the 1130s. Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur (“The Death of Arthur”), written in 1485, was important in defining the ideal of chivalry which is essential to the modern concept of the knight as an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of faith, loyalty, courage, and honour. During the Renaissance, the genre of chivalric romance became popular in literature, growing ever more idealistic and eventually giving rise to a new form of realism in literature popularised by Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. This novel explored the ideals of knighthood and their incongruity with the reality of Cervantes’ world. In the late medieval period, new methods of warfare began to render classical knights in armour obsolete, but the titles remained in many nations.

Some orders of knighthood, such as the Knights Templar, have become the subject of legend; others have disappeared into obscurity. Today, a number of orders of knighthood continue to exist in several countries, such as the English Order of the Garter, the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim, and the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. Each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood is generally granted by a head of state to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement.

Knighthood in the Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its origins in the 12th century until its final flowering as a fashion among the high nobility in the Duchy of Burgundy in the 15th century. This linkage is reflected in the etymology of chivalry, cavalier and related terms. The special prestige given to mounted warriors finds a parallel in the furusiyya in the Muslim world, and the Greek hippeus and the Roman eques of Classical Antiquity.

:angel1:
 
PaladinSword said:
Hey all. I was going to get married a few years ago and I was very happy but unprepared. Things kind of fell apart and we didn’t go through with it as I was eventually left with no choice in the matter. All my life I had fantasies about being a knight and my former fiancé used to call me her knight. Well after we parted ways I reverted to the church and it really was and still is a miraculous experience. I joined the k of c and finally took the 4th degree about a year ago. I had never felt so self actualized and like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. My grandparents are a knight and lady of the holy sepulchre. I have been single now for almost three years and have been very ascetic and studious as well as discussive about our faith. They keep pressuring me to join the priest hood or become a monk. I’ve considered the deaconate but honestly I don’t really feel called. What do I say to them? It seems like everytime I’m at a family gathering they make insinuations about what I should be doing with my life. I am a hopeless romantic but I haven’t been in love for a while as I was devestated when my lady left me when I was at my weakest. Now that I am stronger I enjoy my life today and though I have some regrets I still feel the hand of God over some of the better parts of my life now that I didn’t seem to have before. I had a very immediate and dramatic conversion that makes a lot of people I know not just my grandparents say I should become a priest. I just don’t see myself in it. Knights who are clerics do not wear swords and the sword has been a very intense theological and psychological symbol for me as long as I can remember when it comes to my relationship with God. Any comments, suggestions?
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Just curious, how old are you?
 
I don’t know if this helps be here is a list of Catholic knights organizations that I’ve come across on the internets. This isn’t a complete.

Papal Orders
•Supreme Order of Christ
•Order of the Golden Militia
•Order of Pius IX
•Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Gregory the Great
•Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Sylvester Pope and Martyr

Orders Recognized by the Holy See
•Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem
•Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
•Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem

International Alliance of Catholic Knights
•Knights of Columbus
•Knights of Peter Claver
•Knights of Saint Columba
•Knights of Saint Columbanus
•Knights of the Southern Cross
•Knights of the Southern Cross
•Knights of Da Gama
•Knights of Marshall
•Knights of Saint Mulumba
•Knights of Saint Virgil
•Fraternal Order of Saints Peter and Paul
•Knights of Saint Gabriel
•Knights of Saint Thomas the Apostle
•Order of Our Lady Queen of Peace
•Knights of Saint Thomas More

Other Orders
•Ancient Order of Hibernians
•International Order of Alhambra
•Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
•Order of Saint Michael of the Wing
•Order of Queen Saint Isabel
•Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vicosa
•Order of Santiago
•Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
•Holy Military Order of Saint Stephen Pope and Martyr
•Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
•Royal Military Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Faith
•Bavarian Order of Saint Hubert
•Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont
•Illustrious Royal Order of Saint Januarius
•Knights of the Altar (youth)
•Knights of the Holy Eucharist
•Knights of Divine Mercy
•Knights of the Blessed Sacrament
•Knights of the Holy Temple
•Knights of the Holy Queen
•Knights of the Most Precious Blood
 
mikeeh said:
International Alliance of Catholic Knights
•Knights of Columbus
•Knights of Peter Claver
•Knights of Saint Columba
•Knights of Saint Columbanus
•Knights of the Southern Cross
•Knights of the Southern Cross
•Knights of Da Gama
•Knights of Marshall
•Knights of Saint Mulumba
•Knights of Saint Virgil
•Fraternal Order of Saints Peter and Paul
•Knights of Saint Gabriel
•Knights of Saint Thomas the Apostle
•Order of Our Lady Queen of Peace
•Knights of Saint Thomas More

Other Orders
•Ancient Order of Hibernians
•International Order of Alhambra
•Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
•Order of Saint Michael of the Wing
•Order of Queen Saint Isabel
•Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vicosa
•Order of Santiago
•Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
•Holy Military Order of Saint Stephen Pope and Martyr
•Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
•Royal Military Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Faith
•Bavarian Order of Saint Hubert
•Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont
•Illustrious Royal Order of Saint Januarius
•Knights of the Altar (youth)
•Knights of the Holy Eucharist
•Knights of Divine Mercy
•Knights of the Blessed Sacrament
•Knights of the Holy Temple
•Knights of the Holy Queen
•Knights of the Most Precious Blood
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These are great organisations but they’re mostly fraternities rather than Knighthoods.
 
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