Old Anglican Catholic Church, USA
"An Historic Traditional Evangelical Anglican Church"
Why Chivalry and Why Christian Knighthood?
Christians are Being Persecuted Today
In more than 60 nations around the world today Christians are being persecuted for their faith. In some of these nations it is illegal to own a Bible, to share your faith in Christ, change your faith or teach your children about Jesus. Those who boldly follow Christ, in spite of government edict or radical opposition, can face harassment, arrest, torture and even death. Yet Christians continue to meet for worship and to witness for Christ in every one of these restricted nations. Some quick facts:
- More Christians were martyred in the 20th century than in all other centuries combined [christianity.com].
- It is claimed that 105,000 Christians are martyred for their faith each year [Deseret News, 2011].
- Currently over 100 million Christians are being persecuted worldwide [Reuters, 2013].
- 70 percent of the world's population lives in a religiously intolerant environment [Pew Forum, 2011].
- North Korea: in 2014 it continues to be the worst country in the world for persecution.
- Nigeria: In 2010 Christians suffered terror from Muslim extremists. Whole village massacred.
- Iran: Its parliament believes Muslims who change their faith should be put to death.
- India: up to 70,000 in Orissa have been forced to flee their homes in riots against Christians.
- Indonesia: Between 2000-2002 Muslims slaughtered 10,000 Christians.
- Iraq: half of Iraq's Christians have fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
- Egypt: Under Islamist pressure, Coptic Christians are being forced from their homes.
- Syria: By 2012, most of the 80,000 Christians in Homs had been 'cleansed' from their homes.
- Europe: persecution is coming in by stealth through EU equality directives.
What Christians Face in Today’s World
(Worthy News, 13 November 2014) Schoolgirls Abducted by Boko Haram Won't be Freed. On All Hallows Eve, the leader of Boko Haram announced that the 200 or more schoolgirls his Islamists had abducted in April from Chibok in Borno state, Nigeria, will not be freed as they have already converted to Islam and married off to Muslims, according to Barnabas Aid. In a video, Abubakar Shekau also denied that Boko Haram has agreed to a ceasefire, despite the Nigerian government's claim to the contrary. Since Chibok, other kidnappings by Boko Haram have continued unabated; an estimated 2,000 (mostly) Christian females are thought to have been abducted by the group's jihadists. Captives who managed to escape Haram captivity have recounted horrendous sufferings including forced labor, forced conversions, forced marriages and forced sex (rape). Many still show signs of post-traumatic stress.
(Worthy News, 9 November 2014) Pakistan: Christian Couple Burned Alive. A Christian husband and his pregnant wife were beaten and then burned to death Tuesday by a mob of angry Muslims at a brick kiln in Chak village, Punjab Province, Pakistan, according to International Christian Concern. Incited by Islamic clerics who falsely claimed that the couple had committed blasphemy by burning pages of the Quran, Shahzad Masih, 28, and his wife, Shama Bibi, 25, were trapped in a factory office for days before being horribly murdered by Muslim vigilantes in a kiln. "On November 1, the couple was locked up at the owner's office. They were tortured for three days and then accused of desecrating the Quran," Haneef Masih, a local Christian, told ICC. "The clerics made announcements though the mosque's amplifiers and instigated the Muslims to kill the blasphemers." A mob of more than 500 Muslims had violently removed the couple from the room where they had been held, stoned them and then tied them to a vehicle and dragged them to the brick kiln where they were apparently burned alive. According to Barnabas Aid, five policemen tried to intervene, but were unable to stop the massive Muslim mob. The couple had four children, two boys and two girls, and Bibi was also five months pregnant. "The brutal killing of Shahzad and Shama once again highlights the extreme danger of religious fanaticism that Christians in Pakistan face on a regular basis," said Todd Daniels, ICC regional manager. "The accusation of blasphemy can be used for any dispute and can often prove deadly as it did today, inciting a mob to brutally murder this young couple."
(26 October 2014) Muslims Kill 31 Christians in Taraba State, Nigeria. ABUJA (Worthy News) On Oct. 19, armed Muslims stormed two churches in Taraba state and killed 31 Christians as they worshipped, according to Morning Star News. Two pastors and 29 others were slain in the attacks in the villages of Gindin Waya and Sondi, said the Rev. Caleb Ahema, president of the Christian Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria. Ahema said the onslaught was the seventh attack on Christian communities in Wukari Local Government Area since February. "The attack on Christians in Taraba state is a planned genocide against Christians by Islamic insurgents who have invaded the southern part of the state, inhabited mostly by Christians, since February." Ahema said that the Muslims wore military uniforms and were members of the Islamist Boko Haram. Haram insurgents based in Borno state have reportedly encouraged ethnic Fulani Muslim herdsmen to attack Christians in Taraba and other states in order to impose Islamic law throughout Nigeria. While Fulanis have had longstanding property disputes with Christian farmers, church leaders believe these latest attacks on their communities are part of a war by Islam to eliminate Christianity in their country. "This is the third time that the Muslims have attacked Christians on a Sunday," Ahema said. "The attack led to the death of four persons in Gindin Waya and 27 persons in Sondi. Among the dead is the pastor of the Sondi church, Nuhu Useni, and his only male child." Ahema appealed to the Nigerian government to stop the blood bath. "Muslims seem determined to wipe out Christians in this country. What is happening? How come Christians have been attacked seven times now, and it seems as if the country has no good security intelligence gathering network?" Islamic insurgents killed 1,631 Christians in Nigeria during the first six months of 2014. Last year, 1,783 Nigerian Christians were also killed for their faith. The increase in Christian deaths this year accompanies an increase in the total number of people killed by Boko Haram. While Boko Haram is the moniker residents of Borno state gave the insurgents, the Islamist group calls itself the "Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad" or "The Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad." The U.S. finally designated Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization late last year.
(20 October 2014). Christian Mom's Death Sentence Confirmed by Pakistani High Court. ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) The conviction and death sentence of Asia Bibi under Pakistan's blasphemy laws has been upheld by the Lahore High Court, according to International Christian Concern. And if her sentence and conviction is confirmed by the Supreme Court, Bibi will be the first woman in Pakistan to be (lawfully) executed for violating its notorious blasphemy laws. A Christian mother of five, Bibi has been on death row awaiting appeal since her conviction by the Session's Court in 2010. Her appeal, which was delayed and rescheduled seven times, was finally held Thursday. After hours of arguments from lawyers on opposite sides of the appeal, Justice Anwar-ul-Haq confirmed Bibi's death sentence; Bibi and her lawyers now have 30 days to file an appeal with the Supreme Court of Pakistan. "We will soon distribute sweets among our Muslim brothers for today's verdict," said Qari Saleem who brought the initial complaint against Bibi. "It's a victory [for] Islam." The blasphemy accusation against Bibi came six days after a dispute that took place in 2009 between her and a group of Muslim women with whom Bibi had been harvesting berries. "The case against Asia Bibi is a great example of how Christians and other religious minorities are abused in Pakistan by fundamentalists wielding the controversial blasphemy laws," said William Stark, ICC's Regional Manager for South Asia. "The blasphemy laws were originally written to protect against religious intolerance in Pakistan, but the law has warped into a tool used by extremists and others to settle personal scores and persecute Pakistan's vulnerable religious minorities."
(16 October 2014) Sudan Air Force Bombs Church Complex in Nuba Mountains. KHARTOUM (Worthy News) The Sudanese Air Force dropped four bombs on a (Christian) church in the Nuba Mountains Friday. The Rev. Youhana Yaqoub of the Episcopal Church of Sudan in Al Atmor, South Kordofan state, told Morning Star News that the aerial bombs completely destroyed the church compound in Tabolo. "A family living at the church compound miraculously escaped the attack, although their whole house and property were destroyed." Yaqoub said the family thanked God for their safety as they watched their house burn from the bombs. Sudanese armed forces had previously destroyed the ECS church building in Al Atmor in July. Since the beginning of September, Sudan has dropped 19 bombs on South Kordofan villages.
The above are just a few incidents occurring within the past two months. Christians are under attack EVERY DAY! Who will protect them? Perhaps we need to reflect back on the tenants of Chivalry and Christian Knighthood.
1. Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches and shalt observe all its directions.
2. Thou shalt defend the Church.
3. Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them (Respect and defend the weak and persecuted).
4. Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born.
5. Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
6. Thou shalt make war against the infidel without cessation and without mercy (Show no mercy to the infidel. Do not hesitate to make war with them). *
7. Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties; if they be not contrary to the laws of God.
8. Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
9. Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone.
10. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.
* Note: It is a common misconception in today’s society that the word infidel is a uniquely Islamic term for those who do not follow the teachings of the false prophet, Muhammad. The origins of the word Infidel date to the late 15th century, deriving from the French infidèle or Latin īnfidēlis, from in- "not" + fidēlis "faithful" (from fidēs "faith", related to fīdere 'to trust'). The word originally denoted a person of a religion other than one's own, specifically a Christian to a Muslim, a Muslim to a Christian, or a Gentile to a Jew. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church developed a body of theology that deals with the concept of infidelity, which makes a clear differentiation between those who were baptized and followed the teachings of the Church versus those who are outside the faith. The term infidel was used by Christians to describe those perceived as the enemies of Christianity.
What Is a Christian Knight?
Christian Knighthood is a concept that was born in the age of the crusades. Long before that, beginning with Saint Augustine (354-430), and later continued by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) and even by Martin Luther (1483-1546), the question of the relationship between Christianity and warfare has been relevant, and it continues to be.
During the crusades this question took a unique shape. Moved by the desire to walk in their Lord's footsteps, Christians had been making pilgrimages to the Holy Land for centuries, when in 1099 Jerusalem was taken by Muslim forces. There was not enough manpower for the defense of the Christian-held lands and to patrol the pilgrim routes, nor to escort new arrivals from the ports. Many pilgrims lost their lives in the attempt to reach Jerusalem. As a remedy, a group of French knights, led by Hugues de Payens, formed a religious community that was given quarters at the site of the former Jewish Temple, and was thus called the Order of the Temple or the Knights Templar.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) took great interest in this new order and wrote the much-read treatise In Praise of the New Knighthood. Saint Bernard writes about two kinds of swords: Knights have always used the physical sword to fight battles, and monks have always used the spiritual sword to fight spiritual battles, but in a revolutionary way, in the Knights Templar the world has for the first time seen the combination of both. They were at the same time monks and soldiers and thus were best equipped to fight battles of both kinds. In that, the Knights Templar have become the model for many other orders that followed their example. Knights from the German lands formed the Teutonic Order and initially lived by the Templar rule. What all orders of Christian chivalry had in common was this unique dual role. They were both men of prayer and men of action, and this translates into our times.
From the above, we see that knighthood as we recognize it today originated as a Christian concept. Basically, a Knight is a Christian who is willing to lay down his life to protect other Christians and all the righteous.
The Christian Order of the Eagle
The Christian Order of the Eagle is derived from the original Order, “The Legion of the Eagle.” The modern Order is a Christian Order of Chivalry established in continuation of the original Legion of the Eagle, a military unit tasked with defending the Empire against the barbarians. Today's Christian Order is under the protection and leadership of the Metropolitan Primus of the Old Anglican Catholic Church, USA. Members, called Knights and Dames, are limited to practicing Christians of any denomination. The Order supports persecuted Christians and underground Christian Churches around the globe.
Symbolism plays an important role in The Anglican Faith. Symbols can help us to better encounter, engage, and learn about our Faith. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Sacraments and Rites of the Anglican Church. Religious societies and orders also use symbolism, much of which is rooted in antiquity. The symbolism of the insignia of the Christian Order of the Eagle includes a two-tone gold and silver design. Gold is used to represent the eternal light of Christ, and silver is used to represent purity and Evangelism. "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Psalm 11:7
The badge consists of a silver Eagle pendant suspended from a gold wreath. The eagle is symbolic of the divine nature of Christ. It is silver as a reminder to spread the pure Word of God to the world. Also, gold and silver have been frequently used to represent the heavens and earth respectively (i.e., the gold and silver keys of the papal insignia). The silver Eagle is indicative of the duality of the nature of Christ, both wholly God (symbolized by the eagle) and wholly man (symbolized by the silver). The gold laurel wreath is symbolic of eternal victory and a reminder that all true honor comes from God. The badge is worn suspended from a red ribbon with blue borders. Red is the color of martyrs and here symbolizes defense of the Christian Faith. Blue is the color of the Court of Saint Mary of Walsingham.
Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus. The title derives from the belief that Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout English noblewoman, in 1061 in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England. Lady Richeldis had a Holy House built in Walsingham which became a shrine and place of pilgrimage. The buildings were looted and largely destroyed, but the memory of it was less easy to eradicate. The site of the priory with the churchyard and gardens was granted by the Crown to Thomas Sydney. All that remained of it was the gatehouse, the chancel arch and a few outbuildings. The Elizabethan ballad, "A Lament for Walsingham," expresses something of what the Norfolk people felt at the loss of their shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.
Father Alfred Hope Patten SSC, appointed as the Church of England Vicar of Walsingham in 1921, ignited Anglican interest in the pre-Reformation pilgrimage. It was his idea to create a new statue of Our Lady of Walsingham based on the image depicted on the seal of the medieval priory. In 1922 the statue was set up in the Parish Church of St Mary and regular pilgrimage devotion followed. From the first night that the statue was placed there, people gathered around it to pray, asking Mary to join her prayers with theirs.
Throughout the 1920s the trickle of pilgrims became a flood of large numbers for whom, eventually, the Pilgrim Hospice was opened (a hospice is the name of a place of hospitality for pilgrims) and, in 1931, a new Holy House encased in a small pilgrimage church was dedicated and the statue translated there with great solemnity. In 1938 that church was enlarged to form the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Father Patten combined the posts of Vicar of Walsingham and Priest Administrator of the Anglican shrine until his death in 1958.
In passing on his guardianship of the Holy House, Richeldis's son Geoffrey left instructions for the building of a priory in Walsingham. The priory passed into the care of Canons Regular sometime between 1146 and 1174.
The motto of the Order is Honor Virtutis Praemium (Honor is the Prize for Virtue).
Becoming a Knight of the Christian Order of the Eagle
Apply for knighthood by completing the attached petition for membership. Applicants must be practicing Christians of any denomination and must possess impeccable character. Those who are accepted receive a sealed Letters Patent (Brevet) and the appropriate regalia (per the below donation guidance) to be worn with formal attire. Based upon qualifications and character certain applicants may be offered an appointment to an official office within the Order. The entire proceeds are distributed to six underground Christian Churches (locations are maintained in absolute secrecy to protect the pastors and congregations).
Donation for Grade Applying
Title / Post nominal
Knight / Dame (OEK / OED)
Brevet
$25
Title / Post nominal
Knight / Dame Officer (OEKO / OEDO)
Brevet and Breast Medal
$60
Title / Post nominal
Knight / Dame Commander (OEKC / OEDC)
Brevet, Breast Medal, Neck Drape
$120
Title / Post nominal
Knight / Dame Grand Cross (OEKGC / OEDGC)
Brevet, Breast Medal, Neck Drape and Breast Star
$175
our you may
10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV)
