Newsletter January 13

Volume 8, Issue 1 January 2013

News & Activities 2

Commandery of Gozo 2

Historical titbits 3

Grandmaster’s message 4

Biographies of GMs 4

Philanthropy of the G Priory 4

Inside this issue:

Ordo Sancti Lazari Newsletter: Grand Priory of the Maltese Islands

incorporating the Commandery of Gozo

Editor: Chev. Prof. C. Savona-Ventura

Email: [email protected]

Unsigned articles are written

by the editor. Any relevant

news items or articles are

solicited. Kindly send material

in electronic format to the

editor.

Senior Officers of the

Grand Priory

Grand Prior:

Chev. Dr Joseph R. Pace

Chancellor:

Chev. Michael Ciavola

Commander of Gozo:

Chev Paul Banavage

Christmas message from the Patriarch H.B. Gregorios

News & Activities

PAGE 2 ORDO SANCTI LAZARI

NEWSLETTER: GRAND PR IORY OF THE MALTESE ISLANDS

VOLUME 8, I SSUE 1

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content="deny" /> Sword fighting event

3rd November 2012: An annual remembrance Mass for deceased members of the Grand priory was held at the Victory Church at Valletta celebrated by the Senior Chaplain of the Grand Priory. This was fol-lowed by a lunch.

7th-9th December 2012: An Art Auction for Charity was or-ganised with the aim of supporting a chari-ty of the Archbish-op’s choice. The Archbishop H.E. Paul

Cremona blessed and inaugurated the event. Choral Singing was pro-vided by Consoeur Marie Therese Vassallo.

22nd Decem-ber 2012: A Christ-mas Lunch was or-ganised at the Vec-cia Restaurant at

Xemxija serving to bring together the members of the Grand Priory.

26th December 2012: A number of mem-bers assisted with the National activity L-

Strina whose scope is to collects money on a nation-wide level for the H.E. the President Com-munity Chest Fund. The money collected is even-tually distributed among needy communities and

families. A donation was made by the Grand Priory towards this fund.

Order of Charity On the 17th December 2011, the affiliate Order of Charity organised a lecture for medical practitioners and the public about the philan-thropic work being done by surgeon Dr. Donald Sammut among the lepers in Nepal. This work is partly supported by funds donated by the Order of Charity. It must be reminded that the Order of Charity in 2010 donated a total of Euros 17303 to various organisations working with lepers all over the world. The Grand Priory members are strong-ly encouraged to support Order of Charity’s fund-raising activities by becoming members. The Grand Priory is also looking for means to support the remaining local lepers. One must remember that the original raison d’ etre of the Order was the care of lepers.

News & Activities from the Grand Priory The Social & Fundraising Committee of the Grand Priory have been quite active in the last months organising a number of fund-raising activities generally targeted for an needy institution.

15th September 2012: A reception was held at Torri Lanzun at San Gwann to enable the introduction of new postulants scheduled for the October Investi-ture to meet with the other members of the Grand Priory and the Commandery of Gozo. During the re-ception attended by both heads of the jurisdictions, the postulants were presented with their brevets.

29th September 2012: The Grand Priory partici-pated in the National night long Notte Bianca Programme held annual-ly at Valletta manning the Pilar Church and hosting an exhibition about the Order within the Church. A Choral Singing activity was giv-en by the Joy Gospel Group. The occasion served to increase the Order’s profile with the pub-lic and dignitaries who visited the Church.

5th October 2012: A fund-raising activity with a lec-ture and demonstration of Sword Fighting

from the Cru-sades to the Mod-ern Age performed by the Malta His-torical Fencing As-sociation was held at the MonteKristo Estates at Hal Farrug. This was followed by dinner and a raffle. All proceeds

were directed to support the work of the Medical Missionaries of Mary who are planning to start a new mission in South Sudan. Total of €1000 were donated by the Grand Priory following this event. These were formally handed over to Sister Irene Balzan, a Mal-tese sister of that Order, during the launch of the art auction on the 7th December.

20th October 2012: A Solemn Investiture was held at Tal-Pilar Church in Valletta followed by a Gala dinner at the Radisson Blu Resort at St. Julians. The Investi-ture was attended by a number of International guests from the Commandery of Londinium, the Grand Priory of Belgium, and the ommandery of Boi-gny.

Members of the Grand Priory with the Archbishop of Malta

Notte Bianca Exhibition

Commandery of Gozo—Events 15th September 2012: A

number of new Command-ery members received their bevrets in a joint activity held with the Grand Priory at Torri Lanzun.

16th December 2012: The Feast of St Lazarus was

commemorated by Mass held at the MSSP Retreat house in Zebbug, Gozo led by the Commandery Chaplain. This was followed by lunch. A donation of €1200 worth of toys was made to the Parish priest of Zebbug to be distributed among children in need in the village and sold during the Fund raising Christmas Bazaar.

Sword fighting event

PAGE 3 ORDO SANCTI LAZARI VOLUME 8, I SSUE 1

Historical titbits—The Russian connection: more evidence

The last issue in August dealt with the visit made by King Louis XVIII while in exile made to the Court of Em-peror Paul I of Russia in the late 18th century. This arti-

cle received the attention of our foreign confreres. While on a humani-tarian mission in Novgorod - Russia in 1991, Confrere Chev Klaus-Peter Pokolm had the op-portunity to view the painting of Vasi-ly Vasilievich Levashov sited then

behind a curtain in the Museum of Novgorod. In the meantime another picture of a late 18th centu-

ry Russian members of the Order of Saint Lazarus has come to light.

Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov Generalissimo Suvo-

rov [born in Moscow 1730, died in St. Pe-tersburg 1800] was admitted to the Order on the 20th April 1800. The painting clearly depicts him wearing three eight-pointed neck crosses. From right-to-left—the first cross com-posed of an green eight-pointed cross and a white cross be-longs to the Sardinian Order of St. Maurice and St. Laza-rus; th second white eight-pointed cross belongs to the Order of St. John [then expelled from Malta], while the final green eight-pointed cross belongs to the French Order of St. Lazarus.

Of noble birth - family was also from Novgorod—Suvorov entered the army in 1748 and served with dis-tinction in several wars distinguishing himself in battle becoming a colonel in 1762. Suvorov's full awards in-clude the Order of St. Andrew the First Called Apostle,

Order of St. George the Bringer of Victory First Class, Or-der of St. Vladimir First Class, Order of St. Alexander Nev-sky, Order of St. Anna First Class, Grand Cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, (Austria) Order of Maria Teresa First Class, (Prussia) Order of the Black Eagle, Order of the Red Eagle, the Pour le Merite, (Sardinia) Order of the Revered Saints Maurice and Lazarus, (Bavaria) Order of St. Gubert, the Golden Lionness, (France) Order of the St. Laz-arus (on 20. April 1800), (Poland) Order of the White Ea-gle, and the Order of Saint Stanislaus.

Count Peter Alekseyevich Pahlen Count Pahlen [born

in 1745, died 1826] was admitted to the Order in 1800. his painting depicts him wearing the white eight-pointed cross of the Order of St. John, and the neck and breast crosses of the Order of St Lazarus. Pahlen served initially in the house guards distinguishing himself during the Siege of Ochakov during the Russo-Turkish war. He was promoted to general in 1798 and eventually a count in 1799. He served as Military Governor of St. Petersburg from 1798 to 1800 . In august 1800, he was discharged from his govern-ship to be reappointed in October. Realizing his fragile po-litical situation, he joined the conspirators plotting Emper-or Paul I’s murder. He was present during Paul’s strangling on the 12th March 1801. Because of his actions, he was discharged from service and ordered to retire to his es-tates.

The historical evidence is very conclusive that in spite of

what has been written by the Order’s detractors in their attempts to diminish the status of the Order of St. Lazarus, the Order in France was NOT disbanded and not awarded further after 1788. There is no doubt that the then reigning Grandmaster and King-in-exile Louis XVIII had awarded the cross of the Order to Paul I and his entourage in 1800. King Louis XVIII continued to wear his decoration until his death and is depicted wearing this in a 19th century portrait paint-ed during the Bourbon Restoration.

Confreres of the Order with Levashov

The Military and Hospitaller

Order of Saint Lazarus of

Jerusalem

Grand Priory of the Maltese Islands

Commandery of Gozo

Further information about the Grand Priory can

be obtained from the homepage

www. stlazarusmalta.org

Philanthropic activities of the Grand Priory—2012

The Hospitaller’s Report has still to be completed. It however is important for the Grand Priory’s members to have an idea of the philanthropic activities carried out by them throughout the year totalling over €12000. Support for Syria in resonse to the appeal made by

the Patriarch — €2000 Donation made to the International Blue Cross —

€263 Donation to the Salesians’ Boys Brigade to honour

Dame Alda Fosbery’s wish — €100 Fridge for a refugee Somali family in need — €250 Support of cancer patient — €500 In addition , the Grand Priory this years has contin-

ued to support the work of its affiliate THE ORDER OF CHARITY that works to collect funds to fight lep-rosy—€1220.

Direct financial support for local lepers—€473 A significant sum was donated this year to the Med-

ical Missionaries of Mary for their hospitaller work in Africa—€4220

Donations to the Community Chest Fund—€1500 Pending donation to UMTAL, the Organisation for

the transport of sick and disabled Maltese and Gozitans to Lourdes—€2000.

Grand Master’s Christmas Message In the Grand Masters Christmas message he emphasized that Members of our Order are obliged to take an active position towards liv-ing our values and understanding our goal of changing society for the better. The Grand Master invites all our confreres and consoeurs to reflect on the moral values contained in Christ's teachings in the Sermon

on the Mount. He continues by saying the Beatitudes are a moral obligation, a dedication to make Jesus' teachings of compassion, forgiveness, humility, justice, love, service and truth a reality.

Christmas should encourage us to make greater efforts in

works of charity to mitigate, wherever possible, the ills affecting our society.

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Biographies of the Grandmasters

The Grand Priory of the Maltese Islands has recently published an ebook prepared by the Historian of the Grand Priory dealing with a available biog-raphies and heraldic arms of all the Grand Masters of the Order of Saint Lazarus, its administrators, and Secular and Spiritual Protectors. The publi-cation—ISBN 978-

99957-0-355-4—can be downloaded freely from the Grand Priory’s website at http://www.stlazarusmalta.org/res.html. This 77-page book-let should be owned by all members interested in the history of our Order. It brings to life the individuals who have led the Order from its origins in the Holy Land through the tick and thin of political machina-tions throughout the centuries. It also includes a sig-nificant array of portraits and photographs of the vari-ous grandmasters, administrators and protectors of the Order.