SERVE THE FAITH DEFEND THE CHURCH PROMOTE CHRISTIANITY AND PEACE
Such are the aims of our brotherhood, canonically founded by Benedictine monks in France in the early part of the last century
Our Mission
The regular and militant company of the Knights of Our Lady (Militia Sanctae Mariae) is committed
to transforming the world we live in according to Our Lord's plan.
Those brothers that complete the training are called to undertake a solitary full night's vigil of Adoration and then
dubbed following the ancient 'Benedictio Novi Militis' ceremonial. Through this sacramental ritual from the 'Pontificale Romanum,
maintained in continuous practice by the Militia Sanctae Mariae and its Prelates, they are created Knights of the Church, with the graces this state confers to
those to whom the sacred mission of 'expanding God's Kingdom here below' is entrusted.
Our History
Dom Gérard-Marie Lafond, OSB, at the tail end of the Second World War on August 6th 1945, while still a young man and not yet the Benedictine Abbot of Wisques he would later become, rode up to the seventh century Abbey of Saint-Wandrille in Normandy on his bicycle. The son of a noted expert on medieval antiquities (as well as the son and grandson of secular knights), the young Gérard's father knew its abbot Dom Gabriel Gontard and, convinced by the war that society must be rebuilt on a morally sounder footing, the man who would become the MSM's Founder had come to propose a draft Rule for an Order of Chivalry with an ambitious societal mission... and to secure the 'Benedictio Novi Militis' for a chosen few. Dom Gontard would, in his time, eventually dub 30 Knights of Our Lady and, in so doing, become the first of 17 prelates of the Church (later including Dom Lafond himself) to do so up until the present day.
Our Members
No mere romantics, we believe our Rule of Life, our values and our actions to be both compatible with today’s world and relevant, nevertheless recognising that it is a struggle to get many to fully appreciate and be prepared to live by them. While we in no way “play at knights” and follow a lifestyle that the Knights of the Church must adopt in the 21st century, we likewise resist becoming a simple fraternity, NGO, or modern secular Church Group. This limits our appeal to a core group of potential members but, at the same time, perhaps to those best equipped to take leadership roles in society and, through their God-given talents, the mediation of Our Lady, and the Grace conferred upon them at dubbing, maximise our impact in the world. Following appropriate periods of formation dependent upon our state in the Order, we take our convictions and turn them into action.
Think you would be a good fit? Retrieve the forms for Auxiliary Members, Servants of Our Lady or Brothers-at-Arms found in our "Statutes and Forms" tab, and take the first steps toward a life of meaning and of purpose!
Our Affiliations
