First Knights

I here re-post my entry for July 2, 2008 on this the first anniversary of Thom Girard’s passing.  The accident occurred on June 30, but Marc survived into very early in the morning of July 1.  May our good knights rest in peace. I offered Mass for the repose of their souls this morning.

And when the last arrow
Was fitted and was flown,
When the broken shield hung on the breast,
And the hopeless lance was laid in rest,
And the hopeless horn blown,

The King looked up, and what he saw
Was a great light like death,
For Our Lady stood on the standards rent,
As lonely and as innocent
As when between white walls she went
And the lilies of Nazareth.

*******

Thom was one of our finest knights and a first rate example of all I wanted the knights to be: courageous, committed, kind, genuine and loyal.  Mark was his father’s son.

Thom has been the Grand Master of all our encampments, both last year and this year.  He had many years experience as a scout master, but more than that he had really imbibed the Spirit of Lepanto and understood how to communicate it to others.  He really was what I wanted all the knights to be.

Marc was inducted into the Knights at the spring encampment this year, after having been among the squires since we began the Knights several years ago.  When Thom became distressed as he was swimming with his daughter Hanna, Marc, who was swimming with his younger brother Lucas, told his brother to continue to the other side, went to the rescue and saved Hanna’s life and then attempted to save his father also.  Marc died a hero, a true knight.  He was his father’s son.

Please pray for the repose of their souls.  The one consolation I keep returning to is that now we have two knights who, in the words of St. Maximilian, have both hands free.

Thom and  Marc leave behind Carol, wife and mother, Jacqueline, daughter and sister, Adam, son and brother, Lucas, son and brother and little Hanna, daughter and sister.  Please pray for them also.  They are strong, full of faith and hope, but their suffering is hard to imagine.

Thom wrote an elaborate knight’s “ritual” by which we could induct the older boys into the Knights of Lepanto.  We have used it only once, for the induction of Marc back at the Spring Encampment.  I reproduce part of it here.  The words of the “Father” were pronounced by me, but the whole “ritual” was written by Thom.  This was a dialoque between father and son:

The Candidate then kneels before the priest.

Father:  In days gone by, there existed many orders of knighthood which recognized the skill and honor of their members.  In the service of their King, and in the defense of the noble ideals of chivalry, embodied in their Queen, did these orders achieve their exalted ranks. . .You have now been brought face to face with the Order of the Knights of Lepanto and have been adequately impressed with the seriousness of this obligation which you are about to take upon yourself.  As God is our King of Kings and Mary our Queen are you prepared to take the vow of the brotherhood?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I am.

Father:  Guards remove his penance . . .[after the penance is removed]  Will you be loyal to the Catholic Church, the Pope, to the Order of the Knights of Lepanto, and your brother Knights?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I will.

Father:  Good Brother, in our company you must not seek lordship or riches, nor honor, nor bodily ease.  You must seek three things:  to renounce and reject the sins of this world; to do the service of Our Lord and Our Lady; and to be poor and penitent according to your means.  Will you promise to God and Our Lady that henceforth, all the days of your life that you will do these things?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I will.

Father:  That you will live in chastity according to your means in life?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I will.

Father:  That you will uphold the good customs of this house?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I will.

Father:  That you will never leave the Order, neither through strength or weakness, niether in worse time or better?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I will.

Father:  In the name of God, of Our Lady, of St. Francis and St. Maximilian Kolbe and of our father Pope Benedict XVI, from its beginning and until its end, we accord you all the benefits of this house.  We promise you bread and water, hardship, work and the poor robe of this house.  Knight of the Patrocinium, bring forth the Great Sword of our order. . . .

Father: [holding the sword as the cross in front of the candidate] Acknowledge this sword, its brightness stands for faith, its point for hope, and its guard for charity.  Remember well that the sword of Chivalry should be drawn only in defense of God, or of those weaker than yourself. Do you acknowledge the values of this sword?

Candidate:  In the name of God, I do.

Father:  [returning the sword] Let the scroll be read.

Herald:  To all who can hear:  Whereas Marc has dedicated himself to high and noble service to God and the Kingdom of Heaven in war and in peace, we are minded to enroll him into the Knights of Lepanto.  We do hereby elevate and affirm Marc for his unique talents soon to be known throughout the world.  To which we set our hands this 24th day of May, as Christ is our King and Mary our Queen.

Thom gave all the speaking roles to the other knights and to myself during the ritual, but all the words were his, and it was all meant for Marc.

When we performed the induction of Mark, I had only had the time to glance at the ritual very quickly.  I had  complete trust that what Thom had come up with would be appropriate.

But when I read the words out loud to Marc:  “as God is our King of Kings and Mary our Queen are you prepared to take the vow of the brotherhood?” I thought to myself, “I hadn’t planned on anyone taking a vow right now.”  And then when I heard myself saying: “Will you promise to God and Our Lady that henceforth, all the days of your life that you will do these things?”  and Marc said yes both times, I thought, “I will have to revise this for next time.”  In any case, I figured that it was all intended in the right spirit, and expressed the Spirit of Lepanto so perfectly, so I said nothing.

Little did I know that Thom and Mark had providentially entered into the Knightly order together and were to seal their promise in this tragic and yet heroic event.  Thom and Marc used exactly the right words and they meant what they said.

Thom will be buried with the Great Sword of our order.  Similar arrangements are being made for Marc as well.  They promised to be true knights of Our Lady, and,

In the name of God, they were.

Living Off the Land

During the encampment last month, one of the activities for the boys was called “Living off the Land,” in which they were taught what plants on the property were edible and which were not. It was no surprise, then, that at the First Friday activities this month, certain little boys, at least one of which had not been on the encampment, were raiding all the presumably edible purple flowers.

I had not actually attended the class and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between dandelion leaves and deadly nightshade, so I did not really know what to tell the panicked mothers. The next day the friars found half-eaten purple flowers all over the parking lot.

Turns out they are clover flowers. Not a problem. Watch.

more about “Mary Victrix“, posted with vodpod

Spring Encampment 2009 Debriefing

There were eighty-nine Fathers and Sons at the 2009 Spring encampment this past weekend.  Thanks to everyone for making it happen and making it both spiritually profitable and fun!

Here are the links to a talk I gave to the younger boys and then to one to the older boys, courtesy of AirMaria! (The beginning of the one for the older boys is cut off–sorry.)  And take a look at the Roving Reporter’s coverage of the event.

We inducted Master Paul Ethier into the fellowship of the nights during the weekend as well as Adam Girard.  Significant are the facts that Paul was Marc Girard’s best friend and Adam his brother.  Both were invested in the tunic word by Marc shortly before his heroic passing from this world.  Congratulations to both of them and welcome to our fellowship. (Video of induction ceremony to follow.) VIDEO ADDED.

Concerning Nightwatch:  relish the good news!

Special Thanks to Robert from Corpus Christianum for his kindness in donating the funds for the purchase of five longsword wasters.  He tells us that the men of Corpus Christianum are “fully in support of [our] work in forming young men in Catholic chivalry and fealty to Christ the King and his Holy Mother.”

God bless these men.  I ask the Knights, Squires and Pages to support their holy work as well.

Click on the thumbnails below for a better look.  Comments welcome.

Little Soldier

Fr. Ignatius, Drill Seargent

Ambush!

Spiritual Swordsmanship

Jongleur de Dieu

Donated Wasters

Monkey on the Bars

I said, “No Girls!”

Living off the Land

Apprentice Hornblower

Father Son Chicken Catch

Bridging the Chasm

Under the Banner

Fleabag

The Thrill of the Climb

Good Listener

Group Shot

Caption Contest!

Opening Ceremony

Sparring Practice

The Spirit of Courtesy

Knights of the Round Table

Grand Marshal Hamming It Up

War Machines

Thom and Marc’s Watchfires

Nightwatch Neutralizes Attackers

By  The Stealth Bomber

GRISWOLD — Recoiling from a first-time defeat during the Fall Encampment of last year, the “Attack Team” adults of the Nightwatch Game were completely shut out by the much less experienced and younger “Defenders,” during the Spring Encampment, this Memorial Day weekend.  “We were defeated by superior group led by a mastermind,” said Mr. Dietz, the leader of the Attackers, who humbly acknowledged the tight spot in which his group now finds itself.

Shortly before the game began at 10:30 pm on Saturday night the Attackers managed to negotiate rule changes they thought would guarantee fairer odds. Instead, what they found was a group of Defenders undaunted by the sudden necessity to adjust strategy. The new “capture the flag” type objective only steeled the Defenders’ resolve to make swift work of the Attackers, which they did.

Now shaken by a two-time loss, the Attackers will be under considerable pressure to regain their prestige next time they take the field during the Summer Encampment.

The following statement has been released by the leader of the Nightwatch Defenders:

“You, men of Lepanto and diverse other lords of households, who have no right to this Watchfires of Sirs Thomas and Marc, be it known that you are here ordered and notified through me, Black Hood, to stay far from the precincts of our Watchfires, and sleep well on your soft air-mattresses; or I will produce a clash of arms to be eternally remembered. And since this is the second time you have failed to succeed in your base and wicked designs, I urge you for your own sakes to resolve upon a life of ease, since you are unsuited to a life of combat; I shall not write anything further.”

Encampment in Full Swing

And all fired up at the opening ceremony:

I will update this post as I am able.

Spring Encampment

Click on image for information page on the Spring Encampment (Friday, May 22 – Sunday, May 24).

The link in the sidebar will remain there.  Note that the dates for the Summer and Fall Encampments are given there as well.  Mark your calendars.

Catholic Men: Fr. Pablo Straub

This morning’s excellent homily for the Encampment by Father Straub:

The Grand Marshal

Watch over us.

Honor.

And for your viewing privileged, click image follow link to video of Marc’s Knighting.

Turncoat!

I, Father Angelo Mary, forswear my allegiance to the attackers of the watch fire and solemnly pledge my service and blood to the defense of truth and justice and to the aid of the ENCAMPMENT NIGHT WATCH from the last dog watch at eight bells of Saturday, October 11 to the morning watch at four bells on Sunday, October 12.

Let it be further known that the dastardly and cowardly attackers will no longer be at liberty to promulgate rules to their own advantage and the Squires of the NIGHTWATCH will be victorious in the integrity of honor and fairplay.

All are welcome to suggest rule changes and to congratulate me on my new allegiance.

. . . now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

Fall Encampment Time

Click on image for information page on the Fall Encampment (Friday, October 10-Sunday, October 12.